ABSTRACT
British popular music producer. Asher was born in London, and formed the folk-pop duo Peter & Gordon with Gordon Waller in the early 1960s. The duo had some international hits, most notably the number one “A World without Love” (Capitol 5175), written by the duo’s friends John Lennon and Paul McCartney (McCartney dated Asher’s sister through much of the 1960s); they continued to record through 1967. In 1968, Asher was invited to join the Beatles’s fledgling Apple label, serving as an A&R man. He signed singer/songwriter James Taylor, and produced Taylor’s first album. When Apple fell apart, Taylor went to Warner Bros., and Asher followed him there. He also produced Linda Ronstandt’s 1970s-era recordings, and several albums by the folk-rock group 10,000 Maniacs. Asher has been less successful as a producer since the early 1990s. In 1997, he took a position with Sony Music as a senior vice president to produce acts and work with the various Sony labels.
