By Joe Viglione
As Jim McCarty tells the story of the Yardbirds on tour, Peter Asher is presenting his life in the world of rock and pop, and will be doing so in a two pm matinee at 7 Medford St., Arlington, across from Arlington Catholic High School which I escaped from around 1969. There is parking in back of the high school. Medford St. is off of Mass Ave., and there are multiple MBTA bus lines that stop directly at the theater.
You can get his book PETER ASHER A LIFE IN MUSIC by David Jacks on the website Peter Asher Book http://peterasherbook.com/PeterAsherBookPurchase.html
We spoke to Peter at 10 am on Thursday, March 15, 2025 which is much too early for me to do an interview, but …since it was Mr. Asher we had to make an exception. We talked about Doris Troy, the amazing woman who wrote “Just One Look” and worked at Apple Records with Peter, the multitude of songs being pitched to Peter and Apple with their open door policy.
We talked about musical duos: the Everly Brothers, Chad and Jeremy, Simon and Garfunkel, Peter and Gordon …and how the public embraced these musicians as they did full bands, leading to – in the 70’s – Seals and Crofts, Bardorf and Rodney, English Dan and John Ford Coley. Peter said the audiences would often confuse Chad and Jeremy for Peter and Gordon, and vice versa, and that they would play along and just accept the acknowledgment, even if it was misdirected. Funny thing is nowadays it is Peter Asher and Jeremy Clyde, the audience delusions actually coming true.
We talked about the amazing Kate Taylor album Sister Kate that Asher produced, how he met James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, but as Mr Asher was generous with his time, we didn’t go into his co-production of the new Barbara Streisand album.
See you at the Regent!