Peter Asher has been at the intersection of pop culture for more than 50 years, most notably as half of ‘60s hitmaking British Invasion duo Peter and Gordon and then behind the scenes as producer and/or manager for such acts as James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Diana Ross and 10,000 Maniacs.
He’s “the legend behind music’s biggest legends,” as Asher is dubbed in the trailer, premiering below, for Peter Asher: Everywhere Man, a documentary directed and produced by Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller, the team also behind the 2021 film Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, A Song.
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The entertaining movie, released by Greenwich Entertainment, opens theatrically in New York on June 19 and in Los Angeles on June 26.
“Peter’s talents as a brilliant producer and manager formed only part of his reputation. Over and over again we found that he is beloved for his integrity, loyalty and honesty,” Geller tells Billboard. “This meant that doors opened quickly whether they were to artists who seldom give interviews–such as James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and Carole King–or to hallowed organizations like Apple Corps.” [Among the hats Asher wore included serving as head of A&R at the Beatles’ Apple Records label, where he signed Taylor].
The documentary is framed around Asher’s multi-media touring show, A Musical Memoir of the Sixties and Beyond!, captured at Bimbo’s in San Francisco, which tells the fabled story of his life and career, starting as a child actor in London. It follows through Asher’s career with Peter and Gordon, including a delightful portion spent on his friendship with Paul McCartney, who dated Asher’s sister Jane, lived with the Asher family for some time, and co-wrote Peter and Gordon’s breakthrough hit, “A World Without Love” with John Lennon. The show then moves into his equally fascinating post-Peter and Gordon life.
The directors/producers supplement the San Francisco show with new and archival interviews with Taylor, Ronstadt, Steve Martin, Eric Idle, Lyle Lovett, McCartney, Twiggy, Carole King, Robin Williams, Waddy Wachtel and many more artists whose lives Asher has touched.
“As filmmakers who came of age listening to and revering the singers, songwriters and musicians who appear in Peter Asher: Everywhere Man, we thought we were relatively savvy about their narratives, but until this project we had no idea about the myriad ways in which Peter shaped and influenced not only their individual origin stories, music and careers, but also some of the now-accepted paradigms about the music industry in general,” Goldfine says.
Before the film debuts theatrically, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will screen the documentary at its Foster Theater on April 15 as part of the 50th anniversary of the Cleveland International Film Festival, to be followed by a post-screening discussion featuring, among others, Geller and Goldfine and moderated by Alan Light.
