Peter Tork died on February 21 of complications from adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare form of cancer. He was 77, and the second Monkee to pass away. (Davy Jones died in February 2012,). He had battled cancer on and off for ten years. Peter died at his family home in Connecticut.
When Davy died, it was a total shock. I sought solace with other fans through social media. I started a Monkees blog with two Millennial girls and learned more about my childhood idols than I’d ever imagined.
Now, with two Monkees gone, there's more of a numb resignation to the passage of time, and a tendency to celebrate the past and have more of a rock version of a "jazz funeral" along with traditional mourning. We were so lucky to have Peter, and the rest of the Monkees, as part of our lives for so long.
Peter was known to the general public as the Monkees' lovable, dim-witted bass player, but loyal fans knew him as an accomplished musician, free spirit, intellectual, and a constant, low-key presence in the Monkees-sphere.
When Davy died, it was a total shock. I sought solace with other fans through social media. I started a Monkees blog with two Millennial girls and learned more about my childhood idols than I’d ever imagined.
Now, with two Monkees gone, there's more of a numb resignation to the passage of time, and a tendency to celebrate the past and have more of a rock version of a "jazz funeral" along with traditional mourning. We were so lucky to have Peter, and the rest of the Monkees, as part of our lives for so long.
Peter was known to the general public as the Monkees' lovable, dim-witted bass player, but loyal fans knew him as an accomplished musician, free spirit, intellectual, and a constant, low-key presence in the Monkees-sphere.
When we were kids, everyone had their favorite Monkee (Micky
was mine), but we loved ‘em all. After
watching two seasons of episodes, we appreciated them all and knew everything
about all four Monkees from the fan mags.
Peter was third in line as a teeny-bopper idol after Davy
and Micky. That’s hard to believe when you see his beautiful dimple and big doe
eyes – shows you the wealth of looks and talent in that group.
There was so much more to Peter than being the Monkees’
third (or fourth) wheel, depending on your tastes.) There were several stages
of Peter’s career, in and out of the Monkees.
Pre-Monkees
Peter made a short film in college (circa 1962) called “The Love Potion”.
Music was his first creative love, though. He moved on to Greenwich Village
and tried his hand as a folk singer. He first met Stephen Stills in the
Village. Later, they both auditioned for the Monkees. Stills was passed over
due to his bad teeth, and suggested Tork audition for the role.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Peter was cute as a button and sharp-witted, as evidenced in this clip of
his audition.
Pete’s auditions starts at 8:58
During the first season, Peter’s character (‘the lovable
dummy”) was always getting in trouble. He was kidnapped by gypsies in search of
the Maltese Vulture in “Son of a Gypsy.”
As a six year old, I was very worried about Peter in those early episodes, “Mommy,
is Peter gonna be all right?” I would ask my Mom. I would always root for him
when he couldn’t fly in the sky like the other Monkeemen “C’mon, Peter, you can
do it,” I’d say.
In “Monkees Vs. Machine” Peter becomes flustered when a
computer (DJ-61) interviews him for a job at a toy company. (Mike steps in to
save the day and causes the computer to overheat.) Peter’s character steals a portrait of Valerie the debutante in “One
Man Shy” and the guys teach him the proper way to woo a lady.
And look at his adorableness in this clip featuring "For Pete's Sake".
He was always wore his belt buckle to the side and often
sported mismatched socks. His most well-known
musical contribution on the TV show was the wacky “Auntie Grizelda”. In the
real world, Peter played the banjo, guitar, harpsichord, piano and organ as well as the bass.
I liked the second season of the shoe better than the first..The clean-cut boys of the first season had turned
into hippies! Davy and Peter dressed in Nehru jackets and love beads and Micky had
an Afro. Mike wouldn’t have any of that nonsense. He still wore his wool hat
occasionally, but favored brighter shirts.
We loved the way hippie Peter dressed, in his two toned leggings,
flowered tunic, suede boots, and love beads. And, oh that beautiful, sandy blonde hair! He
didn’t just dress like a hippie, though, he was one. At the end of one
episode, he explained the difference between hippies and free people in San
Francisco
Peter’s comments about free people start at the 17:46
mark
During the second season, Peter (unknowingly) sold his soul to
the devil for a harp in “The Devil and Peter Tork”. Considered the best episode
of the series by most people, it ends with a moving speech by Mike about the
power of love.
Peter has his paintings snatched by gangster security guards, trades
his guitar to a con artist for a treasure map, and becomes involved with a
professor’s kidnapping. Davy only had to
fall in love, Micky had to be kooky, Mike had to be sensible and stoic,
but Peter had to act dumb and/or disappear.. Sure, most of the episodes had repetitive,
one-note plots, but they worked because of the boys’ charisma and chemistry.
We remembered every bit of Peter’s obscure dialogue, just
like we did with the others When my boyfriend an I saw a sign directing us to
go down the alley to a punk rock club, we looked at each other and said, “Down
the alley?”, imitating Peter in “Monkees Blow Their Minds.” as he walked to the storefront of Oraculo, the charlatan mentalist.
That episode, the second to last one broadcast, had Peter
walking around as Oraculo’s catatonic assistant. Even in the last episode “Mijacogeo
(The Frodis Caper),”, he spent much of the story catatonic again, this time from
watching the Frodis eye on the TV.
Post TV Show, Pre-Reunion
When I was in college, a friend of mine had a framed photo
of Peter on her dresser. I didn’t recognize him at first. He had long, unkempt
hair and had a “Jesus” look. When she told me who it was I felt a tinge of
sadness. Could this be our sweet, goofy Peter?
Peter was the first one to leave the Monkees. After the TV
show ended, he
had a band called Release with his second wife, Reine
Stewart, on drums. He played CBGBs and other rock clubs as a solo artist. None
of his post-Monkees musical projects met with much success.
The early ‘70s were a hard time to be an ex-Monkee. Micky
was a hard-drinking Hollywood Vampire, along with his buddy Harry Nilsson. He appeared in a few B movies, including the
infamous “Night of the Strangler. Davy appeared on “The Brady Bunch” and
released a bunch of nondescript singles.
Mike didn’t need to deal with it, though. He forged ahead as
a country rock trailblazer before inspiring MTV with such projects as “Elephant
Parts” and “Pop Clips”.
This 1979 video shows Peter holding his own against a smarmy
interviewer. (Only a guy this smart could play a convincing dummy.)
Peter joined Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart onstage at Disneyland
in 1976, released singles that went nowhere, and played shows at CBGB’s and
other clubs. (Chrissie Hynde, Joan Jett, and Tommy Ramone were allegedly
present for some of the recording sessions, according to Wikipedia.)
Peter worked as a teacher, baseball coach, and even a waiter
before the Monkees reformed in the ‘mid-80s, He was his bouncy, joke-cracking
self on the “Win a Date with Peter Tork” skit on David Letterman’s Show in 1982.
The '80s and '90s
Peter and Davy toured Australia
Mike rejoined joined briefly in the mid-90s, with the
release of “Justus”, the 1997 TV special. He joined Peter, Micky and Davy for a
handful of shows. The ‘90s version of the Monkees gets short shrift in the
history of the band, but the album Justus had a few
bright moments, including Peter’s song “Run Away From Life.”
His longest ongoing band, beside the Monkees was Shoe Suede
Blues. Ever the rapscallion, he had a lot
of fun with post-Monkees songs, like “Milkshake” (from his 1994 solo album Stranger Things
Have Happened and “Dress Sexy for Me” from 2002’s Saved by the Blues with Shoe Suede Blues.
In 1996, Peter released the album “Two-Man Band” with James
Lee Stanley, a collection of blues and acoustic numbers that Allmusic.com
selected as an Album Pick.
2012-2018
Peter was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer of the
salivary glands in 2009 After successful surgery, he continued touring with
Mike, Davy and Micky.
Davy’s passing took everyone by surprised. The 2012 tour was
a heartfelt tribute to Davy and Mike’s return to the stage with as a Monkee. Micky was the consummate show biz professional,
Mike had a dry sense of humor, and Pete was the quirky, sensitive one.
In 2013, Peter went on a solo tour where he reminisced about the Monkees and his career and played an acoustic set
(with lots of his trademark banjo.) He performed
lesser-known and unreleased songs, such as Come on In.
During an interview to promote the album Good Times! and 2016's 50th anniversary tour, Peter teared up when mentioning Davy. They’ve removed the video from the CBS YouTube channel, but here's an article based on the interview.
Davy and Peter two were the sensitive, sweet ones, even in
real life. Peter’s difficulties seemed to be encapsulated in one span of time
in the ‘70s, Davy’s hard times were scattered on throughout the decades. (Read
his book “They Made a Monkee Out of Me” for more details.)
After the 2016 tour, Peter played occasional shows with Shoe Suede Blues and made personal appearances at fan conventions with Micky. He released his last album with Shoe Suede Blues, “Relax Your Mind”, a tribute to Leadbellly, in 2018. It included a musical appearance by his brother, Nick Thorkelson (Nick is a cartoonist and illustrator by trade.)
Peter always had a few creative surprises up his sleeve, even in his golden years.In 2015, he composed "Moderato ma non troppoa" a classical piece for piano and orchestra, which was performed by the Orchestra Kentucky of Bowling Green, Kentucky. In a total non-sequitur move, he acted in a 2017 indie horror
movie called“I Filmed your Death”.
He stopped by The Institute for The Musical Arts in Goshen, Massachusetts in 2010, and played a set to raise funds for the non-profit. IMA is dedicated to helping girls and women succeed in the music business. The IMA was established by June Millington of the rock group Fanny and Ann F. Hackler.
Peter sang lead vocals for “Angels We Have Heard on High” for the Monkees “Christmas Party” album, which was released in October 2018. You could hear in his voice that something was seriously wrong. The song is Peter’s last released recording.
People can contribute to The Institute for The Musical Arts’
scholarship fund in Peter’s name, per his family's wishes. Read more about IMA here.
http://www.petertork.com/
