Peter Asher and Jeremy Clyde
Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, AZ, November 25, 2023
Reviewed by Lynn Timmons Edwards
This two-hour cabaret homage to the 1960s had everything a baby boomer could want; it featured two original artists whose voices have aged, but they still blend in clear folk harmony. Their show included music, photos, home and old television video clips. It featured the greatest hits of the duos each had been a part of (Jeremy Clyde of Chad and Jeremy and Peter Asher of Peter and Gordon), but it also offered some newer songs. Best of all, it was brimming with juicy stories right from the horses’ mouths.
Peter Asher became famous as the bespectacled harmony singer who appeared with his friend, partner, and fellow guitarist Gordon Waller (1945-2009). He was also the brother of actress Jane Asher, whose boyfriend for several years was Paul McCartney. He described McCartney as a full-service boyfriend; he could build shelves if you were opening a bookstore, and he could go into his bedroom next door to Asher’s and write a hit song when one was needed. Asher went on to become the A&R man at Apple Records, where he signed singer James Taylor and produced his first album. He has received 13 Grammy nominations and three wins, and he has spent much of his life managing artists such as Taylor and Linda Ronstadt. At 79, Asher has appeared 21 times at the MIM, but he was very happy to appear this time as part of a duo act.
Jeremy Clyde wore Buddy Holly-style glasses during his rock star days, so the first song was a cover of Holly’s “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” (Paul Anka). The years have been kind to Clyde, and at a handsome 82, he played and sang with ease. The icons were supported by the multi-talented Jeff Alan Ross, who accompanied on piano and guitar, and who was credited with the audio-visual displays. He also kept a close eye on Asher and assisted him with his microphone and instruments as needed.
This “duo that never was” had crossed paths back in the day, and fans often confused Peter and Gordon with Chad and Jeremy. Derrick Taylor, who oversaw the public launch of Apple Records in 1968, once found Asher and Clyde in his office at the same time and had them pose for a picture together. Asher quipped “now Taylor’s vision has come true!” Asher and Clyde first met in 1963 at the Pickwick Club before their separate musical partnerships with Waller and Stuart (1941-2020) took off. Why are they now performing together on one side or the other of 80? Maybe, like Marilyn Maye, they just love it.
Songwise, they didn’t stay in the ’60s too long. They sang Ed Sheeran’s song “Thinking Out Loud,” which Sheeran wrote, at the ripe age of 26, about aging. Asher is very funny; he had fun with the photo projections and noted that he now looks like Sheeran’s dad (I would say grandfather) and that he was most probably Mike Myers’ inspiration for his character Austin Powers.
Clyde’s post-rock-and-roll life was as a British actor. He gave us a rundown of the many characters he has portrayed whose lives ended in with a gruesome death. He shared video clips of roles that are familiar to American audiences, including General Robertson in Downton Abbey and a cabinet member James T in The Iron Lady, which starred Meryl Streep.
More of their stories dealt with the influence American rock and roll and Elvis Presley had on the bands of the British invasion. To honor Presley, the two offered a folksy version of “All Shook Up” (Presley and Otis Blackwell). Next came the hits, starting with “Lady Godiva,” which Asher admitted he had not been in favor of recording. Still it rose to number six on the U.S. charts in 1966. The tune gave Asher the chance to show off his banjo skills. “I Go to Pieces” (Del Shannon) was followed by “No Other Baby” (Dickie Bishop/Bob Watson), an old skiffle song that Chad and Jeremy recorded in 1964. Jeremy lamented that he and Waller got pigeon-holed into recording soft, romantic songs, and a look through the Great American Songbook resulted in a hit for them, “Willow Weep for Me,” written in 1932 by Ann Ronell. The first act closed with a Lennon/McCartney song that they asked us not to take literally, “I Don’t Want to See You Again.”
“The Theme from Batman” (the TV show) opened Act II and immediately raised the energy level. While Peter and Gordon were fans of the show and did get invited to visit the Batman set, and Chad and Jeremy appeared in two episodes of that sit-com. We also saw clips of their stints on The Patty Duke Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show. Clyde took the lead on “Distant Shores” (James William Guercio) with Asher adding a little harmony and some percussion.
An avalanche of name dropping and gossip was served along with a cocktail of baby-boomer musical memories. John Lennon met Yoko Ono at Asher’s art gallery, Indica. Asher was the best man in Marianne Faithfull’s wedding to his friend John Dunbar, which took place shortly before he introduced her to Mick Jagger. He does not take any responsibility for the Beatles break-up, but he does feel bad about Faithfull’s divorcing Dunbar and running off with Jagger. The full-circle topper was that we’ve recently learned in Faithful’s autobiography that she had a one-night stand with Clyde that Asher never knew about.
That gave Clyde a spot for his original song “For Awhile Now.” “Yesterday’s Gone” took me back to my teens. Both singers told their respective stories of coming up with a second hit record. The biggest curse in their day was to be a one-hit wonder. Of course, Asher had McCartney write Peter and Gordon’s “Nobody I Know.” Clyde sat out has Asher performed it, allowing Ross to sing the harmony.
Chad and Jeremy went back to their first album for their second hit, “A Summer Song.” It was panned on the British show Jukebox Jury. Ringo Starr happened to be a judge that day and said, “It’s a bit soft for Britain, but I think it could be a hit in America.” Indeed, it has remained a summer track for decades, and it was used in the films The Princess Diaries, Mount Rushmore, and Men in Black III. We know all the words.
The last offering of the evening was also a familiar Lennon/McCartney classic, “World Without Love.” Asher had an old reel-to-reel tape of McCartney singing the first verse. When Peter and Gordon decided to record it, Asher told McCartney, “We need a bridge!” The story goes that McCartney disappeared into his room for about eight minutes and came back with the finished song. It became a number-one hit for Peter and Gordon worldwide. The song was performed in front of a montage of old photos and the audience was shown the lyrics so that we could sing along. This number made a sweet ending to a cabaret that was heavy on stories but was musically solid and sincere.
