Paul McCartney wrote a song for Peter Usher and it did so well that it knocked The Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love” off the charts. Usher got to know Paul well when he started dating his sister Jane in the early 1960s. Thanks to Paul and his song, Usher’s career skyrocketed.
Paul McCartney wrote many early Beatles songs while living with Peter Usher and his family
During The Beatles’ early career, their manager Brian Epstein arranged for them to move into a London apartment. However, Paul thought it was miserable.
In Lyrics from 1956 to the present, Paul wrote that his then-girlfriend Jane Usher and her family may have invited him to live in their luxury home in Marylebone after hearing him complain that the flat had “no soul”. Paul wrote: “This gesture was part of a long tradition of giving a bed to a starving artist.”
Paul lived in the loft next to Usher. She said it was a real eye-opening experience because she had never been around classy people. Paul wrote: “The family knew everything about art, culture and society, whereas I never knew anyone who knew about going to auditions or had an agent.
“It was really nice to stay in that house. Lots of books to read, art on the walls, interesting conversations; and Margaret was a music teacher. It was home at least, and I missed it a lot because I came from Liverpool and because my mother died six or seven years ago.”
While living at Ashers, Paul wrote many of The Beatles’ early songs, including one for Jane, ‘And I Love Her’. Usher saw the singer-songwriter in action.
Usher told Forbes. “It’s all about Paul living in our family home in London when he was going out with my sister. He and I shared the top floor. He was in the guest bedroom. We’ve obviously gotten to know each other and I’ve heard a number of songs in various stages of writing.’
Another song that Peter heard Paul was working on was “A World Without Love.”
Paul McCartney dedicated a song to Peter Usher that knocked The Beatles’ Can’t Buy Me Love off the charts.
In Words of song, Paul wrote that “Can’t Buy Me Love” was a big deal for The Beatles. It reached #1 in the UK and US. However, it was knocked off the UK No.1 by “A World Without Love”, a song Paul wrote for Usher.
“I’m pretty sure it went to number one in the US too,” Paul wrote. “It was a song I wrote when I was sixteen in Liverpool.
“I didn’t think it was strong enough for The Beatles, but it did quite well for Peter and Gordon’s career. The song starts with the line ‘Please lock me away’, and when I played it, John would say, ‘Yeah, well,’ and we’d joke that that was the end of the song.”
Peter told Forbes that after Usher and Gordon Waller were signed to The Beatles’ label, EMI, Usher remembered that Paul and John had an unfinished “World Without Love”. He asked Paul for the song, but the bassist had to finish the missing bridge.
“With only a few days left until the session, I had to force him,” said Peter. “Finally, he went into his room for a surprisingly short eight minutes and went out to the bridge; It went on our list and that was it.”
Usher has the lyrics to “World Without Love” handwritten by Paul
In 2018, Usher told Express that Paul had written the lyrics and chords of “World Without Love” for him on a piece of paper. Usher joked that if things go sour in the music business, he will sell them for a lot of money.
“You better believe I’ve locked it in the closet when the music business goes to hell and I can run like the wind to Sotheby’s,” he laughed. Joking aside, Usher said: “I owe Paul a huge debt of gratitude and it changed my life forever.”
Usher said she and Paul don’t see each other often, but when they do, it’s “very friendly.” The last time they met, he remembers. “I told him. If I forgot to thank you in the interim, let me thank you now. Who knows what my career would have been like if it wasn’t for that song.”
Paul was happy that Peter and Gordon got the success they deserved with A World Without Love. However, he definitely learned to make sure that his dedication songs and Beatles tunes were not played at the same time.
Comments