A World Without Love: The Beatles and Peter and Gordon.

A World Without Love: Introduction

“A World Without Love” is another example of a song written by the Lennon-McCartney duo but given to another artist. Paul McCartney actually wrote the song and gave it to Peter and Gordon, a British pop duo, who released the hit single. Of course, the credit to Lennon-McCartney is by default.

(Peter and Gordon version)

  • Recorded: January 21, 1964
  • Released: February 28, 1964
  • B-side: “If I Were You”
  • Studio: EMI, London
  • Genre: Pop
  • Length: 2:41
  • Label: Columbia and Capitol
  • Songwriters: Lennon–McCartney
  • Producer: Norman Newell
Peter and Gordon: A World Without Love.
  1. Songwriting: Paul McCartney wrote the song in the early 1960s. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were writing a lot of material during this period, some of which they passed on to other artists.
  2. Peter and Gordon: Paul gave “A World Without Love” to Peter Asher and Gordon Waller, who performed as Peter and Gordon. Peter Asher was the brother of Jane Asher, who was Paul McCartney’s girlfriend at the time. Incidentally, Billy J. Kramer declined the offer to record the song.
  3. Release and Success: Peter and Gordon released “A World Without Love” as their debut single in February 1964. The song was a major success, reaching number one on both the UK Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.
  4. The Beatles’ Connection: Although The Beatles never recorded “A World Without Love” commercially, it is considered part of the extended Beatles catalogue due to McCartney’s authorship. It exemplifies the breadth of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership and their ability to craft hits for other artists.
  5. Lyrics and Style: The song features melodic and lyrical qualities typical of McCartney’s writing style, with a catchy chorus and romantic themes. The lyrics express longing and a sense of incompleteness without love, resonating with the sentimentality of early 1960s pop music.

“A World Without Love” stands as a testament to the influence of The Beatles’ songwriting beyond their own recordings, contributing significantly to the pop music landscape of the 1960s through other performers like Peter and Gordon. However, The Beatles “gave away” numerous songs to other performers.

Peter and Gordon recorded the song at Abbey Road Studio on February 28, 1964. It reached number one in many countries: the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland, but only got to number 2 in Australia.

When Peter and Gordon reached number-one in the UK, it would dislodge The Beatles “Can’ Buy Me Love!”

Only two Lennon-McCartney songs, not sung by The Beatles, reached number one in America. Of course, this was the first and the second was Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds by Elton John in 1976.

During 1964, seven songs written by Lennon-McCartney topped the charts in the US. As far as number-ones go, this was a record in any calendar year and still stands today!

Paul McCartney wrote the song at the age of 16, but it was incomplete. Peter Asher asked if he could record the song, and Paul agreed because he didn’t think it was their type of song for The Beatles. However, Peter had to nag Paul to finish the song. Paul, as ever, completed the song in a few hours. This was just in time for a Peter and Gordon recording session.

Paul McCartney needed to demonstrate the melody and quickly recorded a small section on a tape machine. Peter found his 30-second demo on some DAT files with other recordings. That demo is now on YouTube.

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