A hit at film festivals, I was lucky to attend a public screening of the new Peter Asher: Everywhere Man in Victoria this weekend and am happy to have a solid reaction to the movie! Read more below.
About: Everywhere Man is a feature-length documentary inspired by musician, producer, and manager Peter Asher’s celebrated cabaret show A Musical Memoir of the ’60s and Beyond. Like his stage performance, the film traces an extraordinary life lived at the centre of modern music history.
From his early years as a child actor in 1950s London to the Swinging Sixties, Asher emerges as a Zelig-like figure in the culture of the era: one half of the pop duo “Peter and Gordon,” recipients of four chart-topping hits penned by Paul McCartney; the first head of A&R at Apple Records; and co-owner of the Indica Gallery, the epicenter of London’s countercultural art scene.
Asher helped define a generation of singer-songwriters as producer and manager for James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, and others, cementing his reputation as one of music’s most influential behind-the-scenes forces of the 1970s and ‘80s. In the present day, he remains a vital creative force, still performing, producing, and most recently collaborating with Barbra Streisand on her acclaimed The Secret of Life duets album.
Featuring intimate interviews with James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Kate Taylor, Lyle Lovett, Natalie Merchant, Marianne Faithfull, Paul Jones, Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtell, Lee Sklar, John Boylan, Paul Shaffer, and Paul McCartney [in voiceover], as well as cultural icons Steve Martin, Eric Idle, Twiggy, and Pattie Boyd. Everywhere Man paints a vibrant portrait of a man whose life intersects with some of the greatest artists and moments of the last six decades. And the soundtrack, woven from the timeless hits of those featured, creates a score as unforgettable as the story.
Reaction: What I LOVE about music documentaries is when they feature subjects that are not just about the musician but also the talent behind the scenes and the process. In this beautifully produced PETER ASHER: EVERYWHERE MAN, our main subject Peter Asher truly WAS everywhere in this era and a complete throughline; starting in film and then to music and then becoming one of the most important producers in the music industry, he really was one of those types of people that when you want to comment you immediately think “You’re everywhere!”.
There are three major musical stories here, and in a way this is like three mini-documentaries on Asher’s connection to The Beatles, James Taylor, and Linda Ronstadt. There have been good docs on all three but to see how Peter connected this all to success. I didn’t know about James Taylor’s rise until now and the way it shows how he evolved with Asher is nothing short of fascinating.
This is also a deeply personal film about his love for music, film, and helping people, and I was genuinely touched to see the connection he had to his wife. Asher even jokes that the relationship started up and wasn’t that interesting of a story, but boy does it work in a wonderful post-credit music performance that brings everything together.
I haven’t even begun to talk about the gorgeous design and experience of WATCHING this doc; the main setting is a tribute concert of sorts where Asher performs and has a visual presentation of his life story. Normally I would be tired of what I like to call “Talking Head Clip Show” but here I loved the interviews, old footage, newspaper clippings (I geek out on these, I don’t know why), and how it evolves film clips, like how Asher’s sister was one of the main performers of the original ALFIE.
Even at a nearly two-hour run time, PETER ASHER moves at a great pace and has a treasure trove of information and, all ending on a beautiful note of one of his live performances that I hope to get to see myself someday.
Rating: 9 out of 10
PETER ASHER: EVERYWHERE MAN is a new release by FilmsWeLike and is in limited release in Canada. Please be on the lookout!