Peter Asher
Peter Asher is a musical renaissance man as a performer, manager, producer and more. Born in London amidst World War II, Asher’s ear for music came from his mother, who was a professor at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she also taught the famed record producer Sir George Martin. Peter’s knack for show business began as a child actor in the 1950s on stage and in front of the camera, performing in such shows as The Adventures of Robin Hood alongside Alastair Sim and John Mills. As a teen Peter teamed with Gordon Waller to form the duo Peter and Gordon. The pair’s biggest hit, “A World Without Love”, came courtesy of 16-year old songwriter, Paul McCartney, then boyfriend of Asher’s sister Jane. It was a smash, topping the charts in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Despite this early success on stage, Peter’s greatest achievements came as a manager and record producer in the late-1960s and early-1970s.
When Peter and Gordon split in 1968, Peter joined the Apple Records label as head of the A&R department and soon signed a young singer/songwriter and guitarist named James Taylor. Asher left Apple Records to manage Taylor full-time during the early 1970s and produced a handful of platinum selling albums. He won two Grammys as Producer of the Year in 1977 for JT and Simple Dreams by the young singer-songwriter Lind Ronstadt. That ear for music, which found James Taylor, was far-reaching and the breadth of his management and producing featured country-rock (J.D. Souther), blues (Bonnie Raitt), pop (Cher and Neil Diamond), alternative rock (10,000 Maniacs) and bluegrass (Steve Martin & Edie Brickell featuring the Steep Canyon Rangers) among many others. In 1995, Peter was named Senior Vice President at Sony Music Entertainment until 2002 when he was named president of Strategic Artist Management. In 2007, Asher teamed up with James Taylor and Carole King to produce the well-received Live at the Troubadour album, marking the 50-year anniversary of the famed West Hollywood nightclub and shedding light on the influence that the venue had on emerging musicians for half a century. Peter Asher remains committed to the music industry today as it continues to evolve and his 2017 radio show “From Me to You” on the Beatles channel (CH 18) on Sirius/XM Radio can be heard often. In 2015, Peter Asher was appointed the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his contributions to the British music industry.
When Peter and Gordon split in 1968, Peter joined the Apple Records label as head of the A&R department and soon signed a young singer/songwriter and guitarist named James Taylor. Asher left Apple Records to manage Taylor full-time during the early 1970s and produced a handful of platinum selling albums. He won two Grammys as Producer of the Year in 1977 for JT and Simple Dreams by the young singer-songwriter Lind Ronstadt. That ear for music, which found James Taylor, was far-reaching and the breadth of his management and producing featured country-rock (J.D. Souther), blues (Bonnie Raitt), pop (Cher and Neil Diamond), alternative rock (10,000 Maniacs) and bluegrass (Steve Martin & Edie Brickell featuring the Steep Canyon Rangers) among many others. In 1995, Peter was named Senior Vice President at Sony Music Entertainment until 2002 when he was named president of Strategic Artist Management. In 2007, Asher teamed up with James Taylor and Carole King to produce the well-received Live at the Troubadour album, marking the 50-year anniversary of the famed West Hollywood nightclub and shedding light on the influence that the venue had on emerging musicians for half a century. Peter Asher remains committed to the music industry today as it continues to evolve and his 2017 radio show “From Me to You” on the Beatles channel (CH 18) on Sirius/XM Radio can be heard often. In 2015, Peter Asher was appointed the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his contributions to the British music industry.