On a more gossipy level, Asher bears some credit, or blame, for two of the most storied relationships in rock’n’roll: the alliance of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, as well as that of Marianne Faithfull and Mick Jagger. And while it may be true that his own life is low on sex and drug escapades, he has proxy relationships to harrowing tales of heroin addiction, mental breakdowns and even suicide.
Jane’s connection to McCartney wasn’t the Asher family’s first link to the Beatles. When their producer, George Martin, was still a student at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, he was required to take up a second instrument and he chose oboe. Wanting to learn from the best, he took private lessons with Asher’s mother in their home. McCartney had an equally homey connection to the family. When the Beatles began to become huge, McCartney sought refuge in the upper floor of the Asher home at 57 Wimpole Street. There, he wrote songs like Yesterday. “I imagine my mother would have been the first person to hear the song in its most primitive form,” Asher said.
Together, McCartney and Lennon wrote I Wanna Hold Your Hand in the family’s basement. But it was another song penned by McCartney that kickstarted Asher’s career. He’d formed a duo with his friend Gordon Waller based on the harmonies of the Everly Brothers, but they had no strong original songs. As luck would have it, McCartney had just written a sweet piece, A World Without Love, that John considered too treacly to record.
(Read the fll interview on The Guardian)
