{"id":3417,"date":"2011-08-16T02:00:27","date_gmt":"2011-08-16T09:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=3417"},"modified":"2011-08-16T02:00:27","modified_gmt":"2011-08-16T09:00:27","slug":"peter-asher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/08\/peter-asher\/","title":{"rendered":"PETER ASHER"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

PETER ASHER<\/h1>\n

Coaxing the best work from pop\u2019s most amazing voices <\/strong><\/h2>\n

By Jeff Tamarkin<\/strong><\/p>\n

When he and singing partner Gordon Waller began enjoying hits in the 1960s as Peter and Gordon, London-born Peter Asher made the most of his opportunity. In the recording studio, Asher kept a close eye on the steps that producers Norman Newell and John Burgess took to make now-classics like \u201cA World Without Love\u201d and \u201cNobody I Know\u201d sound the way they did. \u201cI learned about the technology of production and a lot about the process,\u201d recalls the three-time Grammy winner. \u201cAt the time it was all half-inch Studer tape recorders and four-tracks. I learned what limiters and compressors and microphones did. Watching Norman and John, I also learned different ways to relate to artists and musicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the duo\u2019s string of hits at last dried up, Asher knew precisely where he wanted to land: behind the board. He was in perhaps the best position in the world to do just that, given his close connections to the Beatles\u2014John Lennon and Paul McCartney, overflowing with so many great songs they were offering leftovers up for other acts to record, were the authors of several of Peter and Gordon\u2019s biggest hits. Drafted by McCartney to head up the A&R department of the Beatles\u2019 new Apple label, Asher promptly signed a promising young American singer and songwriter named James Taylor.<\/p>\n

Asher produced Taylor\u2019s self-titled Apple debut, then came to the U.S. to manage and produce the singer full time\u2014including Taylor\u2019s breakthrough album, 1970\u2019s Sweet Baby James<\/em>. Asher spent most of the 1970s producing hit albums for Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, and went on to work with Bonnie Raitt, Cher, Ringo Starr, Neil Diamond, Diana Ross, Randy Newman, Morrissey and 10,000 Maniacs, among many others. He and Waller joined forces once again in the mid-2000s for several onstage appearances as Peter and Gordon, a heartwarming reunion cut tragically short by Waller\u2019s death in 2009. Asher, who is now at work on a Buddy Holly tribute album scheduled to feature Stevie Nicks, Jackson Browne, Cobra Starship, the Fray and others, sat down with us at his Manhattan apartment to discuss his impressive\u00a0and still-growing r\u00e9sum\u00e9.<\/p>\n

How did you start producing? <\/strong><\/p>\n

The first record I ever produced was Paul Jones from Manfred Mann\u2014a song called \u201cAnd the Sun Will Shine\u201d [1968]. He was a brilliant singer and one of the best harmonica players in the history of the world. I wanted to get a really good rhythm section, so I used Nicky Hopkins on piano, Paul Samwell-Smith from the Yardbirds on bass, Jeff Beck on guitar and Paul McCartney on drums. That\u2019s how Paul came to ask me to produce at Apple, before he asked me to head A&R there. And what could be cooler than working for a great new record\u00a0label and the Beatles?<\/p>\n

How did you meet James Taylor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The connection was [guitarist and producer] Danny Kortchmar. He\u2019d backed Peter and Gordon, and was in a band called the Flying Machine with his old friend James Taylor. After we stopped touring and I was with Apple, James came over and played his tape. I was super impressed and I said, \u201cIt so happens I\u2019m now running this new label. Do you want a record deal?\u201d He said, \u201cYes, please.\u201d He was identified as a white folk singer, but he was trying to sing like Sam Cooke and Ray Charles. He didn\u2019t succeed at that, but integrating some of the soulful stuff that he was devoted to made him different from everybody else.<\/p>\n

How was it recording his debut?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We took an ad in the Melody Maker<\/em> to hire musicians, rehearsed and then went into the studio. It was eight-track at Trident Studios in Soho [in London\u2019s West End]. Everything had been four-track before that. The\u00a0co-owner of the studio, Barry Sheffield, was the engineer. When Paul [McCartney] came in to play bass on \u201cCarolina in My Mind,\u201d that was his first-ever experience with\u00a0eight-track. He subsequently brought the Beatles over and they did \u201cHey Jude\u201d at\u00a0Trident\u2014that was their first eight-track recording. I had elaborate production ideas for James\u2019 record, based upon my determination that people take him seriously and take the songs as being different. I was very concerned that people would say he was just another folk singer. The term \u201csinger-songwriter\u201d had yet to be invented\u2014if you played acoustic guitar and had long hair you were a folk singer.<\/p>\n

Did you use all eight tracks for James?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We put a lot of strings and horns and percussion on it, so we used the tracks. A big plus was that we didn\u2019t have to do the bounce-down. You\u2019d go to four and bounce down to one, and then bounce down to one again, which is why the stereo mixes end up being so bizarre. The mono mixes of all those early records are the only ones to listen to. We never took the stereo mixes seriously, because they sounded weird. We hated it! It was silly. Eight-track enabled us to\u00a0make a real stereo mix.<\/p>\n

How was Sweet Baby James<\/em> recorded?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it came to Sweet Baby James<\/em>, I realized that perhaps I\u2019d overdone it a bit on the debut album. James\u2019 voice is at its best when he sounds like he\u2019s telling you a story sitting in your living room. I came to L.A. and assembled the band. We brought in Carole King on piano because I loved her piano playing. \u201cKootch\u201d [Danny Kortchmar] was of course a given on the guitar. I found a drummer, Russ Kunkel, who was not a studio drummer at the time\u2014he\u2019d never done a session. And then we used a few different bass players. We rehearsed every day at my rented house\u2014it was empty, but we had a big sitting room with a piano and a stereo. We\u2019d rehearse two or three songs in the afternoon, then head over to Sunset Sound and record. Bill Lazerus was the engineer. That was also eight-track\u00a0and much simpler than the first album. The whole thing was done in two weeks.\u00a0It cost $7,600.<\/p>\n

What did you see in Linda?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My God, what wasn\u2019t<\/em> there? Somebody said, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to come see this girl at the Bitter End. She\u2019s amazing.\u201d There was this incredibly gorgeous girl wearing short-shorts and bare feet\u2014the epitome of California hotness in every respect. Then she turns out to be one of the greatest singers you\u2019ve ever heard in your life\u2014nailing these incredible songs with emotion, control and a big amazing voice.\u00a0I was overwhelmed.<\/p>\n

How did you start working together?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t immediately sign her. I had just started managing Kate Taylor, James\u2019 sister, and I wasn\u2019t sure whether that would be a potential conflict. Eventually we met again in California. I became both Linda\u2019s producer and manager, and finished the record she was in the middle of [1973\u2019s Don\u2019t Cry Now<\/em>]. Then we did Heart Like a Wheel<\/em> and things started to go crazy.<\/p>\n

Tell us about some of the other artists you\u2019ve worked with.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cher is great\u2014so determined and very hard-working. I like people whose voices are distinctive. One thing that Linda, Cher, Diana Ross and Natalie Merchant [formerly of 10,000 Maniacs] all have in common is that a few syllables in and you know who it is. Ringo Starr was wonderful. I wanted to get him back playing drums, which he did. I love his drumming. Neil Diamond\u2019s a great singer. His voice is so huge, so distinctive. And he\u2019s an underestimated\u00a0songwriter\u2014he\u2019s written some brilliant songs. Very straightforward guy, and very funny. Bonnie Raitt\u2019s so soulful. An underestimated guitar player too. I wanted her to play on everything and she kept going, \u201cI\u2019m not really a guitar player,\u201d but she really is. One of the best slide\u00a0players in the world.<\/p>\n

Is Diana Ross difficult to work with? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Not at all. I knew her socially, ever since we did [1960s TV show] Hullabaloo<\/em> with the Supremes back in the 18th century. (laughs<\/em>) And she was great. You really have to kick yourself when you think, \u201cI\u2019m sitting here listening to bloody Diana Ross!\u201d She still sings great and does every take differently. She likes to try stuff every time.<\/p>\n

What was Gordon Waller like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

He was big-hearted. He could be grumpy, but he was friendly with everybody. He was also an underrated singer\u2014he had an extraordinary voice. We sounded completely different. He had this big, resonant Elvis-y voice and I\u2019ve got this choirboy tenor, English, white, un-soulful voice. But\u00a0they worked together.<\/p>\n

How do you relate to artists?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m very hands-on, but not to the point of interfering with a creative process that is going well. I\u2019ll often have preconceived ideas on how the track should come out, but I try not to let that get in the way and at least listen to what other people come up with. There\u2019s no point in hiring great musicians if you\u2019re going to make them play only what you had in your head.<\/p>\n

How has your producer role changed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Surprisingly little. I love all the new\u00a0technology. People go, \u201cDon\u2019t you really\u00a0miss tape?\u201d I say, \u201cNo, I\u2019m so happy to\u00a0see the back of it.\u201d We can do things now that we could only dream of back then. Like all technology, it can be wildly overused, but the fact that you can do things you\u2019d only dreamed of\u00a0doing is very exciting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PETER ASHER Coaxing the best work from pop\u2019s most amazing voices By Jeff Tamarkin When he and singing partner Gordon Waller began enjoying hits in the 1960s as Peter and Gordon, London-born Peter Asher made the most of his opportunity. In the recording studio, Asher kept a close eye on the steps that producers Norman […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[1059,2399,2296,970],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3417"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3417"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3420,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3417\/revisions\/3420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}