Peter Asher and Albert Lee Concert: A review

Photo by Sara Schmidt 

Last week I was in Ohio, doing research for my book and I not only got to meet up with the girls that once ran the "With a Little Help from my Friends" fan club, but I was also invited to join them in Kent, Ohio to see Peter Asher and Albert Lee in concert. 

I wasn't quite sure if I knew who Albert Lee was, but as soon as I saw him, I recognized him.   He is the white-haired guitarist that plays in the Concert for George!    Come to find out, I have heard him many times and just never realized who he is.

Photo by Sara Schmidt 

Peter and Albert have a very laid-back set where Peter (and sometimes Albert) share the stories that go along with the songs they performed.    A lot of the show was a time-travel back to when they were teenagers and they played songs by the Everly Brothers, Elvis, etc.      Albert is an outstanding guitarist as well as keyboard player and Peter plays rhythm guitar and sings harmony.     The setlist was heavy on these songs from the 1950's but Peter did include three songs from Peter and Gordon and Albert performed an amazing version of Greenday's "Time of your Life."

Peter Asher by Sara Schmidt 

The best part of the night was hearing Peter Asher talk about being in Peter and Gordon and his experiences in the U.S and the U.K.    The stories about managing James Taylor was also interesting.   Unfortunately, Peter's voice isn't very strong.   He needed to talk-sing through "I go to Pieces" because he voice just isn't able to sing it.      Peter sounded good when he was singing harmony on a song, but his voice just didn't seem like it could handle taking the lead.

Peter Asher playing banjolele on "Lady Godiva"  by Sara Schmidt 

The concert was quite enjoyable and a calm evening out.     As I listened to the performance, I couldn't help but think how blessed we are right now that so many of the Beatle people are still alive and able to share their stories and music with us.    The group that falls into that category is getting smaller and smaller every year and so that is why you should not miss a chance to see Peter Asher and Albert Lee if you get the chance to see him.

Albert, Peter, mom and me 

Peter, Paul and Mary

If things are according to plan, I should be seeing Peter Asher in concert the night this photo is posted while I am in Ohio.   

It makes me laugh to see this photo and realize that it is "Peter, Paul, and Mary." 

The Talk of the Town

On this date in 1968, Paul and Jane attended a party in honor of Diana Ross and the Supremes for their performance at the Talk of the Town in London.    Apparently it was quite the star-studded event. 

Peter, Gordon and Jane

Piano practice

Floor meeting

These photos taken at 3 Savile Row before the furniture was moved into the offices are a great who's who, aren't they?   I spot Peter Asher, Ringo Starr, Peter Brown, George Harrison, a woman that look sort of like Francie Schwartz, but I dont' think is her, Kevin Herrington?, Derek Taylor and Ken Mansfield?    Who did I leave out?  

I tried to include a 2nd color photo, but for reasons known only to the internet, it would not load properly.  

The colorful cast of characters at Magic Alex's wedding

This is the first time I have ever seen a color photo from Magic Alex's 1968 wedding.  How he got someone to marry him is beyond me!   That man was just really strange and had the strangest ideas.   But he sure invited some great people to his wedding:  John and Yoko, Mal Evans, George and Pattie, Peter Asher and Donovan are all there.  

Visiting the press association

As you can see, I asked my friend Paul McCartney and Peter Asher to drop by the London press association for me to pick up some photo for the blog.  :)

In all seriousness, anyone know what year this was?  1968?   And why are Paul and Peter at the London press association?   Didn't they have people locate photos for them? 

That is a little awkward

Here is another photo from the night before Paul and Linda were married. Paul is telling the press to meet him back at his home and he will make a statement. You can just barely see the tops of the fans heads in the background. What makes this photo awkward is that my buddy (see photo of me and him from August 2010) Peter Asher is standing there with Paul. Now Peter's sister, Jane, was engaged to Paul until the summer of 1968. So here it is less than a year later and Peter (who did work for Apple during this time) is with Paul as he talks about his wedding to Linda that will happen the next day! I am sure that Peter is a very professional man and he kept his mouth shut, but wow.....what a really bad position to be in at that moment for Peter!

Report from Beatlefest Chicago 2011

Large crowd of people singing Beatles songs

Peter Asher performs

Beatles toy instruments

Kickin' booty in the Beatles Trivia contest

I met Peter Asher!

I finally have found the time to sit down and write about this past weekend at the Fest for Beatles fans in Chicago. I think this is the busiest summer I recall having in a long time and tomorrow I am driving down to Louisiana and coming back in time to start work on Monday.

The first thing I want to say is how nice it was to meet several visitors of this blog! I felt like a mini-celebrity at times. But it was very neat to meet some readers in person and hear the nice things they had to say about the blog. I think I met about five people total, so that was cool.

The second thing is that when I started thinking about what to write, I realized that everyone who goes to a Beatles convention will have a different experience. There are so many things to do there, that not one person is going to do the exact same things. So here are the highlights of what I did this year at the Fest.

Friday: My mom and I took the Amtrak train up to Chicago and got settled into the hotel. Once the Fest began, our first stop was the Marketplace to do some Beatle shopping! Even though every year seems to have less and less items to buy, I always manage to find things to spend my money on. We then played "Name that tune" and listened to Jeff Augsburger talk about collecting Beatles memorabilia. I got a few autographs and we looked around at various photo and art displays. The last thing we did was go to the Liverpool (Beatles band) concert where a lot of people were dressed up in 1960's clothing.

Saturday: We started the day by watching the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. We then listened to David Bedford talk about his book, Liddypool (a must have), Bruce Spizer talk about his book on Beatles records in the U.K., Larry Marion talk about the Lost Beatles photos. We then took a break and got something to eat and did some more shopping. We came back for the end of the Beatles auction and watched Roger Farrington discuss the photos he took of John and Yoko in 1980. Then it was time for the highlight of the Fest, Peter Asher's show about the 1960's. Peter did an excellent job! We heard Tim Riley talk about a new John Lennon book that he has coming out in September. It sounds like a good one! And listened to Robert Rodriguez also talk about his new book about Revolover. Ahhh...so many new books that I will want! And I can't forget that we listened to Bruce Spizer again. After Bruce's talk, I had to buy his book, so we went downstairs and did even more shopping. :)

Sunday: First we watched the Beatles puppet show. Most of Sunday's talks were part 2 of Saturday's talks, so we heard the rest of what David Bedford, Bruce Spizer and Peter Asher had to say. The best thing about Sunday for me was that I entered the Beatles trivia contest and I won first place!!! How exciting is that? My mom and I have never missed the Battle of the Beatle bands on Sunday night, and I was glad that the band I liked the most, Mr. Mustard were the winners. I spent the rest of the night and early into the morning sitting around singing with other Fest goers and just enjoying the fact that I was surrounded by people who love the Beatles like I do.

I am not sure if I can go back next year. It looks like the Fest will sadly be hitting the weekend of when school starts (fest ends on Sunday at midnight and school starts Monday at 7am.). But I had a great time this year!

Paul in a pink jacket 1968

I love the Beatles, but sometimes I have to questin their fashion senses. I know it was the 1960's but some of the stuff they wore back then was strange! However, in this case, Sir Paul McCartney was ahead of his time. Here it is in the 2000's and men all over are wearing pink, well at least boys in my 2nd grade. But Paul started wearing a pink jacket in 1968. He can be seen in several fan photos here in the pink jacket and most famously during the "Mad Day Out" photo shoot where he was wearing the entire pink suit!! You go Paul! Rock that pink suit!