Peter Asher to Publish ‘Beatles A to Zed’ Book

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Peter Asher is best known as the former producer and manager of such massively popular artists as Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor, and before that as half of the English duo Peter and Gordon.

Now Asher has written a book about his friends: The Beatles from A to Zed: An Alphabetical Mystery Tour. The hardcover book arrives on Oct. 29 in the U.S and Dec. 1 in the U.K., by Henry Holt & Co.

Asher met the Beatles in the spring of 1963, and he was present at the creation of some of their music.

Related: Our interview with Peter Asher

Says the pre-publication promotional announcement: “Asher was also a talented musician in his own right, with a great ear for what was new and fresh. Once, when Paul McCartney wrote a song that John Lennon didn’t think was right for the Beatles, Asher asked if he could record it. ‘A World Without Love’ became a global number-one hit for his duo, Peter and Gordon. A few years later Asher was asked by Paul McCartney to help start Apple Records and the first artist Asher discovered and signed up was a young American singer-songwriter named James Taylor. Before long he would be not only managing and producing Taylor but also (having left Apple and moved to Los Angeles) working with Linda Ronstadt, Neil Diamond, Robin Williams, Joni Mitchell and Cher, among others.”

Paul McCartney and Peter Asher (from Peter’s website)

In The Beatles from A to Zed, based upon 26 episodes of his current and highly popular radio show From Me to You on the Beatles Channel of SiriusXM, Asher shares his memories and insights about the Fab Four, weaving his reflections into a whimsical alphabetical journey that focuses not only on songs whose titles start with each letter, but also on recurrent themes in the Beatles’ music, the instruments they played, the innovations they pioneered, the artists who influenced them, the key people in their lives, and the cultural events of the time.