I had to dig pretty deep to make this collection. I don't think anyone has put together a BBC sessions album of their music before. All of the songs here are officially unreleased, but they generally sound as good as released stuff, thanks to the high quality of the BBC transcription discs these come from.
I'd guess that what fame this duo has today is mainly due to Peter Asher (his partner being named Gordon Waller). For one thing, Asher became a very successful producer in the 1970s, as well as being the manager for singer Linda Ronstadt. He was lucky that Jane Asher was his sister, because she dated Paul McCartney from 1963 to 1968, and was even engaged to him at one point. So when the Beatles wrote songs that they didn't want to record themselves, they sometimes gave them to Peter and Gordon. Their first hit in 1964, "A World without Love," was written by the songwriting due of Lennon and McCartney, and hit number one in the US and Britain. Lennon and McCartney wrote other hits for them too: "Nobody I Know," "I Don't Want to See You Again," and "Woman."
While the Beatles written songs were key to making them stars, they went on to have some bit hits on their own, including "True Love Ways," "I Go to Pieces," and "Lady Godiva," each of which were million sellers.
Here's the Wikipedia entry for more info:
The vast majority of these songs come from BBC studio sessions. But there were a couple of big hits that either weren't done for the BBC, or those recordings haven't survived in the public domain. So for "A World without Love," "I Go to Pieces," and "I Don't Want to See You Again," I found live versions done for TV shows. "Nobody I Know" comes from a Swedish concert that was broadcast on the radio there. These don't sound quite as good as the rest, due to the crowd noise.
I also found one song done for a TV show that wasn't a hit but sounded good enough to merit inclusion, the Simon and Garfunkel classic "Homeward Bound."
The sound of Peter and Gordon wasn't that far from Simon and Garfunkel, with both duos emphasizing folk rock with harmony vocals. But musical trends changed drastically around 1967. Simon and Garfunkel evolved and endured, while Peter and Gordon petered out (pardon the wordplay). Their last BBC session seems to have been in 1967, and they broke up in 1968.
As is usually the case with BBC recordings from this time period, the BBC DJs (especially Brian Matthew - sigh!) talked over the music sometimes. For all the songs with "[Edit]" in their names, I used the X-Minus audio editing program to wipe out that talking while keeping the underlying music.
A few of the songs here seem to have never been officially released by the band, all covers: "Midnight Special," "Maggie's Farm," "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame," and "He Will Break Your Heart."
This album is 54 minutes long. It would have been longer, but there were a few songs I thought were clunkers that I didn't include.
By the way, another British duo, Chad & Jeremy, had a very similar career arc, having hits around the same time then also breaking up in 1968. I would have been interested to put together a BBC sessions album for them, but I can't find any BBC recordings by them at all.
01 A World without Love (Peter & Gordon)
02 Nobody I Know (Peter & Gordon)
03 I Go to Pieces (Peter & Gordon)
04 I Told You So [Edit] (Peter & Gordon)
05 True Love Ways (Peter & Gordon)
06 Midnight Special (Peter & Gordon)
07 To Know You Is to Love You [To Know Him Is to Love Him] (Peter & Gordon)
08 When the Black of Your Eyes Turns to Grey [Edit] (Peter & Gordon)
09 I Don't Want to See You Again (Peter & Gordon)
10 Baby, I'm Yours (Peter & Gordon)
11 Maggie's Farm [Edit] (Peter & Gordon)
12 Woman (Peter & Gordon)
13 Wrong from the Start [Edit] (Peter & Gordon)
14 A Boy with Nothing [Edit] (Peter & Gordon)
15 Morning's Calling [Edit] (Peter & Gordon)
16 Lucille (Peter & Gordon)
17 Homeward Bound (Peter & Gordon)
18 [Marie's the Name] His Latest Flame [Edit] (Peter & Gordon)
19 Knight in Rusty Armour (Peter & Gordon)
20 Lady Godiva [Edit] (Peter & Gordon)
21 He Will Break Your Heart [Edit] (Peter & Gordon)
22 Sunday for Tea (Peter & Gordon)
https://www.upload.ee/files/15267373/PeternG_1964-1967_BBSessions_atse.zip.html
The cover photo is from an appearance on the TV show "Hullabaloo" in March 1966.
You mentioned the Deep Purple show from 1974, I think a few people asked for it. Any chance please? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteTrust me, there was someone before you, with a P&G album on the beeb, a couple of years ago. also thank you very much
ReplyDeleteReally? Where can I find this? I'm very curious to see what songs were put on it.
DeleteThanks for the P & G! Your efforts are much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
DeleteChad & Jeremy had most of their success in the US (I didn't even know they were British!), so they may not have recorded for the BBC.
ReplyDeleteAh, you're right. I just looked it up, and didn't realize they only had one hit in the US. But that may not explain all of it. Consider that there were plenty of acts that got lots of BBC exposure despite having ZERO hits. "Episode Six" is one case in point - I've post two albums of their BBC stuff here, and much more was lost. Acts that fit the "easy listening" mode were favored, because the BBC had trouble warming up to serious rock and roll. Chad and Jeremy fit that mode perfectly. There are many more no-hit acts that appeared frequently on the BBC, and are generally forgotten today. Orange Bicycle, for instance - they had over 100 BBC sessions despite never even making the bottom reaches of any chart!
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Bicycle
My guess is Chad and Jeremy totally ignored the British market in favor of the US one, so they simply weren't physically around for BBC sessions.
My understanding is that Chad & Jeremy's career in the UK was sunk when people realized how upper-class they were. Supposedly the British public didn't consider "posh" people to be suitable for pop stardom. Could be an urban legend. It would still be surprising that they didn't play ANY BBC sessions. Jeremy Clyde did appear in a West End musical at the time, so they weren't averse to performances in England.
DeleteI was very fortunate to be able to see two of Peter & Gordon's reunion performances and to catch a Chad & Jeremy show as well. Today the two survivors, Peter Asher and Jeremy Clyde, actually do shows together at times, which are worth seeing as well. Looking forward to listening to these shows.
Interesting about the upper class theory. Although some other British music stars were upper class and it didn't seem to hurt them. Consider Peter Asher, for instance. I know his sister Jane was fairly upper class due to what I know about her relationship with Paul McCartney, so her brother had to be as well.
DeleteWas very fortunate to see Chad & Jeremy AND Peter & Gordon on the same bill in Las Vegas on 07/19/08 in Las Vegas.
DeleteYes of course. This is the song list. I hope it helps you.
ReplyDelete1. I Told You So
2. True Love Ways
3 Love Me Baby
4. Midnight Special
5. To Know You Is To Love You
6. When The Black Of Your Eyes Turns To Grey
7. Baby i'm Yours
8. Don't Pity Me
9. Maggie's Farm
10. Interview Peter & Gordon
11. Woman
12. Wrong From The Start
13. Young Girl Of Sixteen
14. Interview +To Show I Love You
15. Morning's Calling
16. A Boy With Nothing
17. Lucille
18. Interview + Lady Godiva
19. Stranger With A Black Dove
20. I Know A Man
21. Marie's The Name His Latest Flame
22. Interview + Knight In Rusty Armour
23. Lady Godiva
24. He Will Break Your Heart
25. Interview
26. Sunday For Tea
27. Lady Godiva
28. Interview + The Jokers
29. Legend In My Time
30. Sunday For Tea
Ah, okay, good to see it doesn't have anything that I'd want to include. What's it called and where does one find it?
DeleteIt was hosted on this blog (http://earlystitches.blogspot.com/) for years, when it was open to the public. I think the admin is the same as (https://roadrunnerbeatbeat.blogspot.com/). There were a lot of BBC on this site.
ReplyDeleteThanks. But that's a bummer because I never even knew that site existed. Do you have other unofficial BBC collections like that that you might share? That could help me a lot.
DeleteYes of course, we could exchange material. I'm only interested in some that contain the voice of dj's Brian Matthew, introducing the bands or songs. Just tell me where I can connect with you.
ReplyDeleteMy email is thompson22 @ runbox.com. (remove the spaces)
Delete