Peter Ivers was a beautiful cat, a totally unique and refreshingly open individual who is sorely missed by those who knew him. There are people you meet who you instantly know will become a permanent part of your life, and to whom you are continually drawn by odd little 'coincidences' along the lines of Jung's synchronicity (or Kammerer's theory of seriality). I did not know Peter long, but to me he was that kind of person.

This excellent and fairly comprehensive discography and bio by Stephane Rebeschini is taken from the Borderline Books site. Rather than pillage it for facts and data it seems more honest to respect Mr. Rebeschini's work and present it as is. The story of how I met Peter through the brilliant folklorist and libretto composer Leslie Dunton-Downer, of Peter's sitting in with my band the bones, his invitation to me to play in a synergistic punk-orchestral group for a play he scored while a Visiting Artist at Harvard, and my attempts to complete a synchronistic circle by introducing him to the Pixies, whose first LP included the Ivers compoisition "In Heaven" and was recorded at my then-studio Fort Apache, can be found in the bones article, so I won't repeat it here. I will only add that his murder was a huge loss, both personally and professionally, to a planet that could use a lot more people like him, and is a poorer place for his loss.

Personnel:
TONY ACKERMAN	gtr	A
PAUL BALMUTH	sax	A
YOLANDE BAVAN	vcls	A
PETER IVERS	vcls, hrmnca	A	B	C	D
STEVE KOWARSKY	bassoon	A
R.FRANK POZAR	perc	A
JOE SEALE	intermodulator	A
HENRY SCHUMAN	oboe	A
RICHARD YOUNGSTEIN	contrabass	A
KATHY APPLEBY	violin		B
BEN BENAY	gtr		B
DAVID COHEN	gtr		B
ALICE DeBUHR	drms		B
ELLIOTT INGBER	gtr		B
MARTY KRYSTALL	sax		B
PAUL LENART	gtr		B
BUELL NEIDLINGER	bs		B	C

 

ALBUMS:
1(A)	KNIGHT OF THE BLUE COMMUNION	(Epic BN 26500)	1969
2(B)	TERMINAL LOVE	(Warner BS 2804)	1974
3(C)	PETER IVERS	(Warner BS 2930)	1976
4(-)	NIRVANA PETER	(Warner 25213-1)	1985

NB: (4) is a compilation of the Warner Lps with unreleased tracks.  

45s:
1	Ain't That Peculiar/Clarence O'Day	(Epic 5-10681)	1971
2	Eighteen And Dreaming/Eighteen And Dreaming (mono)	(Warner WBS 8287)	1976
3	Love Theme from Filmex/Love Theme From Filmex (instr.)	(Filmex)	1980

NB: (1) as Peter Ivers Group.  

Born in Boston in September 1946, Peter Ivers was a multi-talented artist: singer/songwriter, yoga master, actor, theater writer, experimental video director... An Harvard graduate, he began playing in the late '60s with the Street Choir which was part of the "Boston's new sound". His first album Knight Of The Blue Communon is one of the strangest records of this period and can only be compared to the United States of America for mixing classical and rock instruments with electronic sounds (provided by an "intermodulator"), free jazz and classical singing (Yolande Bavan was a opera singer). The lyrics written by Timothy Mayer (future Associate Director of the American National Theater) have a strong religious content (Gentle Jesus, Confession, Lord God Love, Dark Illumination...) and the result is really "something else". The LP was produced by Sandy Linzer.

Still with the same producer, his next project, Take it Out on Me, was recorded in 1971 although Epic shelved it and only a 45 was released. In the mid-'90s, One Way tried to license all the Epic recordings for a CD but this was rejected by Sony.

The second album from 1974, Terminal Love was totally different but is equally as interesting: high pitched voices, unusual songs structures and lyrics (Holding The Cobra, Alpha Centauri, Felladaddio...). The album was coproduced by Ivers and the free jazz bass player Buell Neidlinger. Eliot Ingber (ex-Fraternity of Man, Zappa, Beefheart) plays on some tracks.

The 1976 album was produced by Gary Wright (ex-Spooky Tooth) and is not as interesting.

Later Ivers wrote In Heaven, the theme of David Lynch's "Eraserhead". A final single was released in 1980, with Richard Greene (ex-Seatrain) and Falconer (Rod Taylor). He also performed with John Cale and created the New Wave Theater. He was murdered in 1983.