Search - Peter & Gordon :: The Ultimate Peter & Gordon

Great pop songsters without a doubt

Phil Rogers | Ann Arbor, Michigan | 12/13/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One of a pair of almost lookalike duos (the other being Chad & Jeremy); these guys hit with the beautiful Lennon/McCartney song "A World Without Love" and took it to the top of the charts. The songs the Beatles threw P&G's way were probably less suited for the Fab Four than for them; the duo really did something good for these songs, most especially with "I Don't Wanna See You Again", probably my favorite of their first three. "Nobody I Know", though probably the weakest, still comes in with at least 4 stars. They then switched gears from this groovy mid-tempo bounce into more a ballad mode, and stayed there for quite awhile. My favorite from this part of their career was their rendition of the Del Shannon tune "I Go to Pieces" which was a gorgeously mournful breakup/goodbye song. Buddy Holly's "True Love Ways" and McCartney's "Woman" are also quite stellar, and emotionally very satisfying. In the latter part of their short career, they got into humorous songs, a bit like the Kinks did around the same time, but of course with a very different sound than the Davies crew, and a lighter touch in terms of the lyrics. When I first heard these songs as a callow youth, they kind of left me cold (I was a bit of a serious bloke at the time). But I now feel they are as high quality as their more beautiful and emotionally stunning earlier songs. The standouts here are, of course, "Lady Godiva" and "Knight in Rusty Armor". "Knight" is particularly awesome melodically, and very, very generous in the humor department. Quite quirky and cute . . . you might say that. "Sunday for Tea" is also very much the number. Very British, you know!I often wonder how to compare their output/repertoire with that of Chad and Jeremy (both duos entered the U. S. charts for the first time in May of 1964). Chad & Jeremy never charted in Britain. They, when not doing big-time show tunes, have a rather folksy sound. Peter and Gordon were pure soft rock, and power pop once they entered their ballad phase. Though I might prefer Chad and Jeremy's overall vocal blend, it's really too close for me to call. I'd say, try them both out for size. [Chad and Jeremy lasted a bit longer, even going through a so-called psychedelic phase, which however I find to be overly theatrical, both vocally and otherwise. There were plenty of others who fell into that kind of groove around the same time (Earth Opera, the Mothers of Invention, Pink Floyd, the Fugs, Love . . . the list is quite long.) I guess I just never grooved in that direction, except for short little gems here and there.]"

If you have one Peter & Gordon album this should be it

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 04/27/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""The Ultimate Peter & Gordon," released in 2001, is the best collection available for a decade. Peter Asher and Gordon Waller were the rock duo who had the distinction of being the first group in the British Invasion other than the Beatles to have a #1 hit with "A World Without Love." Of course, the explanation for this success was that Asher's younger sister Jane was Paul McCartney's girlfriend during the first part of the Sixties. This connection paid off with two other hits for Peter & Gordon in "Nobody I Know" (#12) and "I Don't Want to See You Again" (#16). It is not surprising that the first three tracks on this collection are the trio of Lennon & McCartney songs. However, even without their recoding discarded Beatles songs Peter & Gordon would be remembered for their novelty hit "Lady Godiva" (#6).



A key thing to remember with these twenty tracks is that they are arranged in chronological order of when they were recorded rather than when they were released, for what that is worth (I am not enough of a fan to catch the value of the resequencing). What you have are the fourteen songs that made it to the Billboard chart, which means not only the songs you remember like the above along with "Woman" (#14) to go with ones you might have missed, such as "I Go to Pieces," "The Jokers," and "To Show I Love You." The other six tracks are a single that did not chart ("You've Had Better Times), a pair of B-sides ("Love Me, Babye" and "The Town I Live In"), and a trio of ablum tracks ("I Still Love You," "Broken Promises," "My First Day Alone"). It is hard to quibble with the results and if you only own one Peter & Gordon album this one has to be it because it easily lives up to its title.



With their softer, more acoustic sound, you can see Peter & Gordon as being more in tune with the folk-rock movement than with the British Invasion (Asher would go on to be a producer who helped define the mellow sound of California rock, which would seem to help prove the point). Notice that their folksier songs, like "Knight in Rusty Armour" and the Phil Ochs song "The Flower Lady" stand up a lot better than ones where the production values lean towards orchestrations, such as "To Know You Is to Love You," and "Baby I'm Yours." At the very least, Peter & Gordon represent the lighter side of the British Invasion, and you can have fun figuring out who their dark side counterpart would be. The only serious knock against them is that Asher and Waller were average songwriters at best (but notice that the album ends with a pair of songs the duo wrote individually)."

One great album of the 60's era duos

Deborah MacGillivray | US & UK | 04/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Peter & Gordon made a splash during the British Rock Invasion era, much as Chad and Jeremy did, offering beautiful, emotional songs with a softer sound. A sound that was a hybrid of the old Everly Brothers crossed with folk rock. Their instant rocketing fame came from Paul McCartney dating Peter Asher's sister Jane at the time and the writing team of McCartney & Lennon penning several songs for them. A World Without Love, Nobody I know and I Don't Want to See You Again were all written for the duo. McCartney even introduces and closes I Don't Want to See You Again, making sure they got a good push.



They went "soft", Spanish guitars, Gordon Waller opting (as Chad and Jeremy did) to play a 12-string guitar. They used full orchestra's behind them. Chad & Jeremy tended to do more original material. Asher and Waller come across a bit more polished because of the high production of the songs, and from the fact they used so many known artists. Aside from Paul & John, they used song by Del Shannon (so did the Beatles early on), Bill "Boogie Bill" Webb (for those in the know this is none other than McCartney writing by himself!!), Phil Spector, Buddy Holly and Jerry Harris & Kaufman (using a song done much better by Gene Pitney).



These are some powerhouse songs that hold up very well. Don't Pity Me still remains one of the best.



So if you are renewing your library or just wanting to discover the great rock duo, this is a super album."