Peter Asher & Company at the Loft

Peter Asher has had an illustrious six decades in the music business, starting as half of the singing duo Peter and Gordon during the British Invasion in the 1960s. The string of hit singles lasted from 1964 until 1966, with Peter and Gordon recording 11 albums before disbanding in 1968. Asher then moved away from performing to working in the business side of the music industry.

In the 1970s, Asher became a record company executive, an artist manager and a record producer, working with James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and others. In 2017, Asher became a radio show host with a weekly, hour-long series on the Sirius XM Radio station dedicated to the Beatles called From Me to You.  In 2019, Asher became an author, publishing the book The Beatles from A to Zed compiling his personal reminiscences of the band.

Asher was never a composer, however. The repertoire for his two-night engagement at the Loft at City Winery NYC was a collection of songs he did not write but which were associated with his career or the careers of his band members. On the current tour, Peter Asher & Company consists of vocalists Asher, Kate Taylor and Cara Lee, guitarists Albert Lee, Bill Cinque and Steve Mayone, keyboardist Jeff Alan Ross, bassist Leland Sklar, and drummer Steve Holley. Asher had worked with many of these musicians individually, and this tour was a way to assemble a handful of his favorite collaborators

On past tours, Asher's show incorporated projected visuals chronicling his career; on this tour, the visuals were eliminated so that the focus could be more on the music. Some of the set was comprised of songs that Asher sang with Peter and Gordon, while a fair amount of the repertoire had a more distant connection, like songs he produced for other artists. He introduced each of his songs with a story, explaining for example how he sourced songs from Paul McCartney or how Peter and Gordon came across the novelty song "Lady Godiva."

Asher stepped away from the stage several times during the two-hour show to allow the other musicians the full spotlight. After Asher spoke about his time managing and producing Ronstadt, Cara Lee sang Ronstadt's "You're No Good." Taylor sang songs from her forthcoming Asher-produced album, Why Wait. Albert Lee sang and played lead guitar on several songs. Ross sang two songs from his days in Badfinger.

Peter Asher (right), with Kate Taylor and Albert Lee

Peter Asher slow dancing with Kate Taylor

Ultimately, however, the public came to hear Asher sing familiar Peter and Gordon songs, of which there are just a few. Peter and Gordon sang in union, so Asher sang this catalogue with his musicians, and often the other voices were louder than Asher's. Although he was barely audible, he received strong audience approval for "I Go to Pieces" and "Woman." The rousing closure was a fast and loud reworking of Peter and Gordon's biggest hit, the McCartney-composed "World without Love."

Nostalgia ruled the night. Were the songs performed better on this night than they were in original form decades ago? Probably not. The real value of the revue-styled concert was in reliving a period long past and allowing Asher to give his audience a peek behind the curtain with his historical footnotes.

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The Manhattan Beat covers New York City's live music developments as they happen. All photographs are by Everynight Charley Crespo, except when noted otherwise. For a list of Manhattan venues that are presenting live music regularly, swing the desktop cursor to the right and click on the pop-up tab "Where to Find Live Music." For a listing of upcoming concerts for live audiences, visit The Manhattan Beat's August 2021 calendar.