Peter & Gordon
Peter & Gordon was a British pop music duo that released records in the 1960s. It had numerous chart successes, both in Great Britain and despite the British invasion of the USA . With the title A World Without Love , the duo had a worldwide success in 1964.
history
The duo Peter Asher (born June 22, 1944 ) and Gordon Waller (born June 4, 1945 , † July 17, 2009 ) performed as a singing duo in cafes and clubs during their time at London's Westminster School . From 1962 they called themselves Peter & Gordon. In January 1964 they were discovered by the music producer Norman Newell in a London club. Peter Asher's sister, actress Jane Asher , was friends with Paul McCartney at the time, and Paul McCartney wrote the song A World Without Love for the duo , which appeared on Columbia in April 1964 on Peter & Gordon's first single . At the same time the song was released on Capitol Records in the USA . A World Without Love became an international hit that not only stormed to the top of the charts in the UK and the US, but also topped the charts in Ireland , Canada and New Zealand . In the following years, Peter & Gordon published several compositions by McCartney (with or without John Lennon ), with the latter using the pseudonym "Bernard Webb" for the song Woman to see whether successes can be achieved without a well-known name. The duo's success, produced by Norman Newell, was based on the Close Harmony style of singing as with the Everly Brothers . By 1967, British Columbia produced 21 singles with Peter & Gorden, which Capitol brought to market in the USA almost at the same time. 15 titles came into the British and American charts, including five other top 10 successes in addition to A World Without Love . Both record companies also produced several music albums with Peter & Gordon, seven of which were included in the LP charts in the USA.
Peter & Gordon had their only appearances in Germany in June 1966 as the opening act for the BRAVO Beatles blitz tour . In 1968 the duo broke up. Solo attempts by Gordon Waller failed. Peter Asher was initially A&R manager at the Beatles company Apple and later a successful manager and producer of James Taylor , Linda Ronstadt , Randy Newman and many others.
The song A World Without Love was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the list of the 500 songs that shaped rock 'n' roll the most . In August 2005, Peter Asher and Gordon Waller were on stage together for the first time in 38 years. Until 2009 they performed several concerts in the USA. Shortly thereafter, Gordon Waller died of a heart attack at the age of 64.
Discography
Vinyl singles
From page | Catalog no. | publication |
---|---|---|
Columbia / UK * | ||
A World Without Love / If I Were You | 7225 | April 28, 1964 |
Nobody I Know / You Don't Have to Tell Me | 7292 | May 29, 1964 |
I Don't Want to See You Again / I Would Buy | 7356 | September 11, 1964 |
I Go to Pieces / Love Me Baby | 7407 | November 20, 1964 |
True Love Ways / If You Wish | 7524 | March 26, 1965 |
To Know You Is to Love You / I Told You So | 7617 | June 11, 1965 |
Baby I'm Yours / When the Black of Your Eyes | 7729 | October 15, 1965 |
Woman / Wrong from the Start | 7834 | February 11, 1966 |
To Show I Love You / Don't Pity Me | 7951 | June 24, 1966 |
Lady Godiva / Morning's Calling | 8003 | September 9, 1966 |
Knight in Rusty Armor / The Flower Lady | 8075 | November 25, 1966 |
Sunday for Tea / Start Trying Someone Else | 8159 | May 23, 1967 |
The Jokers / Red, Cream and Velvet | 8198 | May 26, 1967 |
I Feel Like Going Out / The Quest for the Holy Grail | 8398 | April 11, 1968 |
You've Had Better Times / Sipping My Wine | 8451 | July 12, 1968 |
I Can Remember / Hard Time, Rainy Day | 8585 | May 19, 1969 |
Capitol / USA ** | ||
Don't Pity Me / Crying in the Rain | 5532 | October 26, 1965 |
There's No Living Without Your Loving / A Stranger with a Black Dove | 5650 | April 25, 1966 |
Lady Godiva / The Town I Live In | 5740 | September 24, 1966 |
Sunday for Tea / Hurtin 'Is Lovin' | 5864 | May 13, 1967 |
Greener Days / Never Ever | 2071 | December 30, 1967 |
* also released in the US by Capitol
** released in the US only
Vinyl music albums
title | Catalog no. | publication |
---|---|---|
UK | ||
Peter and Gordon | Columbia 1630 | 1964 |
In Touch with Peter to Gordon | Columbia 1660 | 1964 |
I go to pieces | Columbia 25 * | 1965 |
Hurtin 'N' Lovin ' | Columbia 1761 | 1965 |
Woman | Columbia 29 * | 1966 |
The Best of Peter and Gordon | Columbia 31 * | 1966 |
Peter and Gordon | Columbia 6045 | 1966 |
Somewhere | Columbia 6097 | 1966 |
United States | ||
A World Without Love | Capitol 2115 | 5/1964 |
I don't want to see you again | Capitol 2220 | 12/1964 |
True Love Ways | Capitol 2368 | 7/1965 |
The Hits of Nashville, Tennessee | Capitol 2430 | 10/1966 |
Lady Godiva | Capitol 2664 | 1/1967 |
Knight in Rusty Armor | Capitol 2729 | 3/1967 |
In London for Tea | Capitol 2747 | 6/1967 |
Hot Cold & Custard | Capitol 2882 | 11/1968 |
* Also published in the US by Capitol
Chart placements
Albums
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|
UK | US | |||
1964 | Peter and Gordon |
UK18 (1 week) UK |
- | |
A world without love | - |
US21 (14 weeks) US |
||
1965 | I don't want to see you again | - |
US95 (11 weeks) US |
|
I go to pieces | - |
US51 (15 weeks) US |
||
True Love Ways | - |
US49 (13 weeks) US |
||
1966 | Woman | - |
US60 (14 weeks) US |
|
The Best of Peter and Gordon | - |
US72 (12 weeks) US |
||
1967 | Lady Godiva | - |
US80 (13 weeks) US |
Singles
year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
---|---|---|---|---|
UK | US | |||
1964 | A world without love |
UK1 (14 weeks) UK |
US1 (12 weeks) US |
|
Nobody I know |
UK10 (11 weeks) UK |
US12 (9 weeks) US |
||
I don't want to see you again | - |
US16 (9 weeks) US |
||
1965 | I go to pieces | - |
US9 (11 weeks) US |
|
True Love Ways |
UK2 (15 weeks) UK |
US14 (11 weeks) US |
||
To know you is to love you |
UK5 (10 weeks) UK |
US24 (7 weeks) US |
||
Baby I'm Yours |
UK19 (9 weeks) UK |
- | ||
Don't Pity Me | - |
US83 (4 weeks) US |
||
1966 | Woman |
UK28 (7 weeks) UK |
US14 (12 weeks) US |
|
There's No Living without Your Loving | - |
US50 (7 weeks) US |
||
To Show I Love You | - |
US98 (2 weeks) US |
||
Lady Godiva |
UK16 (11 weeks) UK |
US6 (14 weeks) US |
||
The Knight in Rusty Armor | - |
US15 (9 weeks) US |
||
1967 | Sunday for Tea | - |
US31 (6 weeks) US |
|
The Jokers | - |
US97 (1 week) US |
literature
- Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3. revised Edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 516f - ISBN 0-312-02573-4 .
- Frank Laufenberg: Rock & Pop Lexicon . Econ Taschenbuch Verlag 1998, ISBN 3-612-26207-6 , Vol. 2, p. 1161.
swell
Web links
- Peter & Gordon in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Discography at www.discogs.com