Peter Tork
Encyclopedia
Peter Tork is an American
musician
and actor
, best known as a member of The Monkees
.
. Although he was born in 1942, many news articles report him as born in 1944 in New York City as this was the date and place given on early Monkees press releases. His father was John Thorkelson, an economics professor at the University of Connecticut
, and his mother was Virginia Thorkelson. He began studying piano
at the age of nine, showing an aptitude for music by learning to play several different instruments, including the banjo
and acoustic and bass guitar
s. Tork attended Windham High School in Willimantic, Connecticut
, then was a member of the first graduating class at E.O. Smith High School in Storrs, Connecticut
. He attended Carleton College
before he moved to New York City
, where he became part of the folk music scene in Greenwich Village
during the first half of the 1960s. While there, he befriended other up-and-coming musicians such as Stephen Stills
.
, who ended up being both characters in a television sitcom
and a band in their own right.
Tork was a proficient musician, and though the group generally did not play their own instruments on their first two albums, he was an exception, playing what he described as "third chair guitar" on Mike Nesmith's song "Papa Gene's Blues" from their first album. He subsequently played keyboards, bass guitar, banjo, harpsichord
, and other instruments on their recordings. He also co-wrote, along with Joey Richards, the closing theme song of the second season of The Monkees, "For Pete's Sake". On the television show, he was relegated to playing the "lovable dummy
", even though he is actually a highly intelligent, literate person, as the other Monkees have always been keen to point out in subsequent interviews.
In commentary tracks included in the DVD release of the first season of the show, Nesmith stated that Tork was better at playing guitar than bass. In Tork's commentary, he stated that Jones was a good drummer and had the live performance lineups been based solely on playing ability, it should have been Tork on guitar, Nesmith on bass, and Jones on drums, with Dolenz taking the fronting role, rather than as it was done (with Nesmith on guitar, Tork on bass, and Dolenz on drums). Jones filled in briefly for Tork on bass when he played keyboards.
Recording and producing as a group was Tork's major interest, and he hoped that the four members would continue working together as a band on future recordings. However, the four did not have enough in common regarding their musical interests. In commentary for the DVD release of the second season of the show, Tork said that Dolenz was "incapable of repeating a triumph".
Tork, once free from Don Kirshner's restrictions, in 1967, contributed some of the most memorable and catchy instrumental flourishes, such as the piano introduction to "Daydream Believer
" and the banjo part on "You Told Me", as well as exploring occasional songwriting with the likes of "For Pete's Sake" and "Lady's Baby".
Tork was close to his grandmother, staying with her sometimes in his Greenwich Village days, and after he became a Monkee. "Grams" was one of his most ardent supporters and managed his fan club
, often writing personal letters to members, and visiting music stores to make sure they carried Monkees records.
Six albums were produced with the original Monkees lineup, four of which went to No 1 on the Billboard chart. This success was supplemented by two years of the TV show, a series of successful concert tours both across America and abroad, and a trippy-psychedelic movie, Head
a bit ahead of its time,. However, tensions, both musical and personal, were increasing within the group. The band finished a Far East tour in December 1968 (where his copy of Naked Lunch
was confiscated by Australian Customs) and then filmed an NBC television special, 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee, which rehashed many of the ideas from Head, only with the Monkees playing a strangely second-string role.
No longer getting the group dynamic he wanted, and pleading "exhaustion" from the grueling schedule, Tork bought out the remaining four years of his contract after filming was complete on December 20, 1968, at a default of $150,000/year. In the DVD commentary for the 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee TV special - originally broadcast April 14, 1969 - Dolenz noted that Nesmith gave Tork a gold watch as a going-away present, engraved "From the guys down at work". Tork kept the back, but replaced the watch several times in later years.
's soundtrack to the 1968 film Wonderwall
. His playing featured in the movie, but not on the official Wonderwall Music
soundtrack album released in November 1968. Tork's brief five-string banjo piece can be heard 16 minutes into the film, as Professor Collins is caught by his mother while spying on his neighbour Penny Lane.
Striking out on his own, he formed a group called 'Peter Tork And/Or Release' with girlfriend Reine Stewart on drums (she had played drums on part of 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee), Riley "Wildflower" Cummings on bass and - sometimes - singer/keyboard player Judy Mayhan. Tork said in April 1969, "We sometimes have four. We're thinking of having a rotating fourth. Right now, the fourth is that girl I'm promoting named Judy Mayhan." "We're like Peter's back-up band", added Stewart, "except we happen to be a group instead of a back-up band." Release hoped to have a record out immediately, and Tork has said that they did record some demos, which he may still have stored away somewhere. According to Stewart the band were supposed to go to Muscle Shoals
as the backing band for Mayhan's Atlantic Records
solo album Moments (1970) but they were ultimately replaced. They mainly played parties for their "in" friends and one of their songs was considered for the soundtrack to Easy Rider
, but the producers - who had also produced Head - eventually decided not to include it. Release could not secure a record contract, and by 1970 Tork was once again a solo artist, as he later recalled, "I didn't know how to stick to it. I ran out of money and told the band members, 'I can't support us as a crew any more, you'll just have to find your own way'."
Tork's record and movie production entity, the Breakthrough Influence Company (BRINCO), also failed to launch, despite such talent as future Little Feat
guitarist, Lowell George
. He was forced to sell his house in 1970, and he and a pregnant Reine Stewart moved into the basement of David Crosby's
home. Tork was credited with co-arranging a Micky Dolenz
solo single on MGM Records in 1971 ("Easy On You", b/w "Oh Someone"). A bust for possession of hashish resulted in three months in an Oklahoma penitentiary in 1972. He moved to Fairfax
in Marin County, California, in the early 1970s, where he joined the 35-voice Fairfax Street Choir and played guitar for a shuffle blues band called Osceola
. Tork returned to Southern California in the mid-'70s, where he married and had a son and took a job teaching at Pacific Hills School
in Santa Monica for a year and a half. He spent a total of three years as a teacher of music, social studies, math, French and history and coaching baseball at a number of schools, but enjoyed some more than others.
Peter Tork joined 'Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart' onstage for a guest appearance on their concert tour on July 4, 1976 at Disneyland, and following on from this later that year he reunited with his fellow former bandmates Davy Jones
and Micky Dolenz
in the studio for the recording of the single "Christmas Is My Time of The Year" b/w "White Christmas", which saw a limited release for fan club members that holiday season.
band Cottonmouth, led by guitarist/singer/songwriter Johnny Pontiff, featuring Gerard Trahan on guitar/keyboards/vocals, Gene Pyle on bass guitar/vocals and Gary Hille on drums/percussion.
Horgan produced the six tracks (which included two Monkees covers, "Shades Of Gray" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday
"), with George Dispigno as engineer. The four other tracks were "Good Looker," "Since You Went Away" (which appeared on the Monkees 1987 CD "Pool It"), "Higher & Higher" and "Hi Hi Babe." Also present at the sessions were Joan Jett
, Chrissie Hynde
of The Pretenders
, and Tommy Ramone
of The Ramones. The tracks were recorded at Blue Horizon House, 165 West 74th Street, home of Sire Records, but Seymour Stein, president of Sire, rejected the demo, stating "there's nothing there." Tork recorded a second set of demos in New York City, but little is known about these (other than the fact that one track was a yet another version of "Pleasant Valley Sunday
" with an unknown rock band, and featured a violin solo).
During this time Tork appeared regularly on The Uncle Floyd Show
broadcast on U-68 out of New Jersey. He performed comedy bits and lip-synced the Sire recordings. Floyd claimed Tork was the "first real star" to appear on the show. (Later, Davy Jones, The Ramones and others would follow in his footsteps.)
In 1981, he released a 45 rpm single, his first solo record ("I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" b/w "Higher And Higher") and did some club performances and live television appearances, including taking part in a "Win A Date With Peter Tork" bit on Late Night with David Letterman
.
and Micky Dolenz
for a highly successful 20th anniversary reunion tour. Three new songs were recorded by Tork and Dolenz for a greatest hits release. The three Monkees recorded Pool It!
. A decade later, all four group members recorded Justus
, the first recordings with all four members since 1968. The quartet performed live in the United Kingdom in 1997, but for the next several years only the trio of Tork, Dolenz and Jones toured together. The trio of Monkees parted ways in 2001 with a public feud but reunited in 2011 for a series of 45th anniversary concerts in England and the United States.
Since 1986, Tork has intermittently toured with his former band mates and also played with his own bands The Peter Tork Project and Shoe Suede Blues. In 1991, Tork formed a band called The Dashboard Saints and played at a pizza restaurant in Guerneville, California. In 1994, he released his first album length solo project, Stranger Things Have Happened
, which featured brief appearances by Micky Dolenz
and Michael Nesmith
. In 1996, Peter collaborated on an album called Two Man Band with James Lee Stanley
. The duo followed up in 2001 with a second release, Once Again.
In 2001, Tork took time out from touring to appear in a leading role in the short film Mixed Signals, written and directed by John Graziano.
In 2002, Tork resumed working with his band Peter Tork and Shoe Suede Blues. The band performs original blues music, Monkees covers (blues versions of some), and covers of classic blues hits by greats such as Muddy Waters
and has shared the stage with bands such as Captain Zig. The band toured extensively in 2006-7 following the release of album "Cambria Hotel".
Tork also had an occasional roles as Topanga Lawrence's father on the sitcom Boy Meets World
, as well as a guest character on 7th Heaven
. In 1995, Tork appeared as himself on the show Wings, bidding against Crystal Bernard
's character for the Monkeemobile. In 1999, he appeared as The Bandleader in season one episode 13 (Best Man) of The King of Queens
.
In early 2008, Tork added "advice columnist" to his extensive resume by authoring an online advice and info column called "Ask Peter Tork" at the webzine The Daily Panic, located at thedailypanic.com
In 2011, he joined his fellow bandmates for the 2011 tour, An Evening with The Monkees: The 45th Anniversary Tour
.
, a rare, slow-growing form of head and neck cancer. A preliminary biopsy discovered that the cancer had not spread beyond the initial site. "It's a bad news, good news situation," explained Tork. "It's so rare a combination (on the tongue) that there isn't a lot of experience among the medical community about this particular combination. On the other hand, the type of cancer it is, never mind the location, is somewhat well known, and the prognosis, I'm told, is good." Tork underwent radiation treatment to prevent the cancer from returning.
On March 4, 2009, Tork underwent extensive surgery in New York City, which was successful.
On June 11, 2009, a spokesman for Tork reported that his cancer had returned. Tork was reportedly "shaken but not stirred" by the news, and said that the doctors had given him an 80% chance of containing and shrinking the new tumor.
In July 2009, while undergoing radiation therapy, he was interviewed by the Washington Post: "I recovered very quickly after my surgery, and I've been hoping that my better-than-average constitution will keep the worst effects of radiation at bay. My voice and energy still seem to be in decent shape, so maybe I can pull these gigs off after all." He continued to tour and perform while receiving his treatments.
On September 15, 2009, Tork received an "all clear" from his doctor.
Tork documented his cancer experience on Facebook
and encouraged his fans to support research efforts of the Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Research Foundation.
. Peter has been married 3 times, he has three children:
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, best known as a member of The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
.
Early life
Tork was born Peter Halsten Thorkelson in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Although he was born in 1942, many news articles report him as born in 1944 in New York City as this was the date and place given on early Monkees press releases. His father was John Thorkelson, an economics professor at the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
, and his mother was Virginia Thorkelson. He began studying piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
at the age of nine, showing an aptitude for music by learning to play several different instruments, including the banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
and acoustic and bass guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s. Tork attended Windham High School in Willimantic, Connecticut
Willimantic, Connecticut
Willimantic is a census-designated place and former city located in the town of Windham in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was estimated at 15,823 at the 2000 census. It is home to Eastern Connecticut State University, as well as the Windham Textile and History Museum....
, then was a member of the first graduating class at E.O. Smith High School in Storrs, Connecticut
Storrs, Connecticut
Storrs is a census-designated place and part of the town of Mansfield, Connecticut located in eastern Tolland County. The population was 10,996 at the 2000 census...
. He attended Carleton College
Carleton College
Carleton College is an independent non-sectarian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, USA. The college enrolls 1,958 undergraduate students, and employs 198 full-time faculty members. In 2012 U.S...
before he moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he became part of the folk music scene in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
during the first half of the 1960s. While there, he befriended other up-and-coming musicians such as Stephen Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
.
The Monkees
Stills suggested Tork audition for a new television series about four pop-rock musicians, when the producers asked if Stills 'had a better looking (musician) friend'. Tork got the job and became one of the four members of The MonkeesThe Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
, who ended up being both characters in a television sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
and a band in their own right.
Tork was a proficient musician, and though the group generally did not play their own instruments on their first two albums, he was an exception, playing what he described as "third chair guitar" on Mike Nesmith's song "Papa Gene's Blues" from their first album. He subsequently played keyboards, bass guitar, banjo, harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, and other instruments on their recordings. He also co-wrote, along with Joey Richards, the closing theme song of the second season of The Monkees, "For Pete's Sake". On the television show, he was relegated to playing the "lovable dummy
Dummy
Dummy may refer to:*Military dummy:**dummy round—a cartridge that is inert, i.e. contains neither primer nor gunpowder**decoy—fake military equipment intended to deceive the enemy...
", even though he is actually a highly intelligent, literate person, as the other Monkees have always been keen to point out in subsequent interviews.
In commentary tracks included in the DVD release of the first season of the show, Nesmith stated that Tork was better at playing guitar than bass. In Tork's commentary, he stated that Jones was a good drummer and had the live performance lineups been based solely on playing ability, it should have been Tork on guitar, Nesmith on bass, and Jones on drums, with Dolenz taking the fronting role, rather than as it was done (with Nesmith on guitar, Tork on bass, and Dolenz on drums). Jones filled in briefly for Tork on bass when he played keyboards.
Recording and producing as a group was Tork's major interest, and he hoped that the four members would continue working together as a band on future recordings. However, the four did not have enough in common regarding their musical interests. In commentary for the DVD release of the second season of the show, Tork said that Dolenz was "incapable of repeating a triumph".
Tork, once free from Don Kirshner's restrictions, in 1967, contributed some of the most memorable and catchy instrumental flourishes, such as the piano introduction to "Daydream Believer
Daydream Believer
"Daydream Believer" is a song composed by John Stewart shortly before he left the Kingston Trio. The song was originally recorded by The Monkees, with Davy Jones singing lead vocals. The single hit the number one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1967, remaining there for four...
" and the banjo part on "You Told Me", as well as exploring occasional songwriting with the likes of "For Pete's Sake" and "Lady's Baby".
Tork was close to his grandmother, staying with her sometimes in his Greenwich Village days, and after he became a Monkee. "Grams" was one of his most ardent supporters and managed his fan club
Fan club
A fan club is a group that is dedicated to a well-known person, group, idea or sometimes even an inanimate object . Most fan clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to supporting them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the person...
, often writing personal letters to members, and visiting music stores to make sure they carried Monkees records.
Six albums were produced with the original Monkees lineup, four of which went to No 1 on the Billboard chart. This success was supplemented by two years of the TV show, a series of successful concert tours both across America and abroad, and a trippy-psychedelic movie, Head
Head (film)
Head is a 1968 psychedelic comedy-adventure major motion picture, starring TV group The Monkees , and distributed by Columbia Pictures...
a bit ahead of its time,. However, tensions, both musical and personal, were increasing within the group. The band finished a Far East tour in December 1968 (where his copy of Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch is a novel by William S. Burroughs originally published in 1959. The book is structured as a series of loosely-connected vignettes. Burroughs stated that the chapters are intended to be read in any order...
was confiscated by Australian Customs) and then filmed an NBC television special, 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee, which rehashed many of the ideas from Head, only with the Monkees playing a strangely second-string role.
No longer getting the group dynamic he wanted, and pleading "exhaustion" from the grueling schedule, Tork bought out the remaining four years of his contract after filming was complete on December 20, 1968, at a default of $150,000/year. In the DVD commentary for the 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee TV special - originally broadcast April 14, 1969 - Dolenz noted that Nesmith gave Tork a gold watch as a going-away present, engraved "From the guys down at work". Tork kept the back, but replaced the watch several times in later years.
Post-Monkees
During a trip to London in December 1967, Tork contributed banjo to George HarrisonGeorge Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
's soundtrack to the 1968 film Wonderwall
Wonderwall (film)
Wonderwall is the title of a 1968 film by first-time director Joe Massot that starred Jack MacGowran, Jane Birkin, Richard Wattis, Irene Handl, and Iain Quarrier, and featured cameos by Anita Pallenberg and Dutch designers The Fool...
. His playing featured in the movie, but not on the official Wonderwall Music
Wonderwall Music
Wonderwall Music is George Harrison's first solo album and the soundtrack to the film Wonderwall. The songs are virtually all instrumental, except for some non-English vocals and a slowed-down spoken word track. The songs were recorded in December 1967 in England, and January 1968 in Bombay, India...
soundtrack album released in November 1968. Tork's brief five-string banjo piece can be heard 16 minutes into the film, as Professor Collins is caught by his mother while spying on his neighbour Penny Lane.
Striking out on his own, he formed a group called 'Peter Tork And/Or Release' with girlfriend Reine Stewart on drums (she had played drums on part of 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee), Riley "Wildflower" Cummings on bass and - sometimes - singer/keyboard player Judy Mayhan. Tork said in April 1969, "We sometimes have four. We're thinking of having a rotating fourth. Right now, the fourth is that girl I'm promoting named Judy Mayhan." "We're like Peter's back-up band", added Stewart, "except we happen to be a group instead of a back-up band." Release hoped to have a record out immediately, and Tork has said that they did record some demos, which he may still have stored away somewhere. According to Stewart the band were supposed to go to Muscle Shoals
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio
The Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was formed in Muscle Shoals, Alabama,in 1969 when musicians Barry Beckett , Roger Hawkins , Jimmy Johnson and David Hood left FAME Studios to create their own studio...
as the backing band for Mayhan's Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
solo album Moments (1970) but they were ultimately replaced. They mainly played parties for their "in" friends and one of their songs was considered for the soundtrack to Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
, but the producers - who had also produced Head - eventually decided not to include it. Release could not secure a record contract, and by 1970 Tork was once again a solo artist, as he later recalled, "I didn't know how to stick to it. I ran out of money and told the band members, 'I can't support us as a crew any more, you'll just have to find your own way'."
Tork's record and movie production entity, the Breakthrough Influence Company (BRINCO), also failed to launch, despite such talent as future Little Feat
Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band formed by singer-songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles....
guitarist, Lowell George
Lowell George
Lowell Thomas George was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, who was the main guitarist and songwriter for the rock band Little Feat.- Early years :...
. He was forced to sell his house in 1970, and he and a pregnant Reine Stewart moved into the basement of David Crosby's
David Crosby
David Van Cortlandt Crosby is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he was a founding member of three bands: The Byrds, Crosby, Stills & Nash , and CPR...
home. Tork was credited with co-arranging a Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz
George Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...
solo single on MGM Records in 1971 ("Easy On You", b/w "Oh Someone"). A bust for possession of hashish resulted in three months in an Oklahoma penitentiary in 1972. He moved to Fairfax
Fairfax, California
Fairfax is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States. Fairfax is located west-northwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of 115 feet...
in Marin County, California, in the early 1970s, where he joined the 35-voice Fairfax Street Choir and played guitar for a shuffle blues band called Osceola
Osceola
Osceola, also known as Billy Powell , became an influential leader with the Seminole in Florida. He was of Creek, Scots-Irish and English parentage, and had migrated to Florida with his mother after the defeat of the Creek in 1814.Osceola led a small band of warriors in the Seminole resistance...
. Tork returned to Southern California in the mid-'70s, where he married and had a son and took a job teaching at Pacific Hills School
Pacific Hills School
Pacific Hills School is a co-educational, college-preparatory independent school located in West Hollywood, California, serving the needs of a diverse student population in grades 6-12....
in Santa Monica for a year and a half. He spent a total of three years as a teacher of music, social studies, math, French and history and coaching baseball at a number of schools, but enjoyed some more than others.
Peter Tork joined 'Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart' onstage for a guest appearance on their concert tour on July 4, 1976 at Disneyland, and following on from this later that year he reunited with his fellow former bandmates Davy Jones
Davy Jones (actor)
David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
and Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz
George Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...
in the studio for the recording of the single "Christmas Is My Time of The Year" b/w "White Christmas", which saw a limited release for fan club members that holiday season.
Sire Records
A chance meeting with Sire Records executive Pat Horgan at the Bottom Line in New York City led to Tork recording a six-song demo, his first recording in many years. Recorded in summer 1980, it featured Tork, who sang, played rhythm guitar, keyboards, and banjo; it was backed by Southern rockSouthern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
band Cottonmouth, led by guitarist/singer/songwriter Johnny Pontiff, featuring Gerard Trahan on guitar/keyboards/vocals, Gene Pyle on bass guitar/vocals and Gary Hille on drums/percussion.
Horgan produced the six tracks (which included two Monkees covers, "Shades Of Gray" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday
Pleasant Valley Sunday
"Pleasant Valley Sunday" is a song by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, most famous for the version recorded by The Monkees in 1967. Goffin's and King's inspiration for the name was a street named , in West Orange, New Jersey where they were living at the time. The road follows a valley through several...
"), with George Dispigno as engineer. The four other tracks were "Good Looker," "Since You Went Away" (which appeared on the Monkees 1987 CD "Pool It"), "Higher & Higher" and "Hi Hi Babe." Also present at the sessions were Joan Jett
Joan Jett
Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...
, Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time...
of The Pretenders
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
, and Tommy Ramone
Tommy Ramone
Tommy Ramone, also known as Thomas Erdelyi , is a Hungarian American record producer and musician...
of The Ramones. The tracks were recorded at Blue Horizon House, 165 West 74th Street, home of Sire Records, but Seymour Stein, president of Sire, rejected the demo, stating "there's nothing there." Tork recorded a second set of demos in New York City, but little is known about these (other than the fact that one track was a yet another version of "Pleasant Valley Sunday
Pleasant Valley Sunday
"Pleasant Valley Sunday" is a song by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, most famous for the version recorded by The Monkees in 1967. Goffin's and King's inspiration for the name was a street named , in West Orange, New Jersey where they were living at the time. The road follows a valley through several...
" with an unknown rock band, and featured a violin solo).
During this time Tork appeared regularly on The Uncle Floyd Show
Floyd Vivino
Floyd Vivino aka "Uncle Floyd" is a television, film, and stage performer primarily known for his comedy/variety TV show The Uncle Floyd Show .-The Uncle Floyd Show:...
broadcast on U-68 out of New Jersey. He performed comedy bits and lip-synced the Sire recordings. Floyd claimed Tork was the "first real star" to appear on the show. (Later, Davy Jones, The Ramones and others would follow in his footsteps.)
In 1981, he released a 45 rpm single, his first solo record ("I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone" b/w "Higher And Higher") and did some club performances and live television appearances, including taking part in a "Win A Date With Peter Tork" bit on Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
.
Monkees reunion
In 1986, Tork rejoined fellow Monkees Davy JonesDavy Jones (actor)
David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
and Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz
George Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...
for a highly successful 20th anniversary reunion tour. Three new songs were recorded by Tork and Dolenz for a greatest hits release. The three Monkees recorded Pool It!
Pool It!
Pool It!, issued 1987 by Rhino Records, is a pop/rock album by The Monkees. It was the first "reunion album" by the band after their 1986 rebirth, and it marked the return of Peter Tork along with Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones...
. A decade later, all four group members recorded Justus
Justus (album)
Justus is the eleventh and final studio album by The Monkees, recorded in celebration of their 30th anniversary. This album featured the return of Michael Nesmith. This was the first Monkees album since Head was released in 1968 to feature all four Monkees...
, the first recordings with all four members since 1968. The quartet performed live in the United Kingdom in 1997, but for the next several years only the trio of Tork, Dolenz and Jones toured together. The trio of Monkees parted ways in 2001 with a public feud but reunited in 2011 for a series of 45th anniversary concerts in England and the United States.
Since 1986, Tork has intermittently toured with his former band mates and also played with his own bands The Peter Tork Project and Shoe Suede Blues. In 1991, Tork formed a band called The Dashboard Saints and played at a pizza restaurant in Guerneville, California. In 1994, he released his first album length solo project, Stranger Things Have Happened
Stranger Things Have Happened (Peter Tork album)
Stranger Things Have Happened is a 1994 album by former Monkees member Peter Tork. Although he had been performing since the 1960s, this was his first solo album...
, which featured brief appearances by Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz
George Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...
and Michael Nesmith
Michael Nesmith
Robert Michael Nesmith is an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist, best known as a member of the musical group The Monkees and star of the TV series of the same name...
. In 1996, Peter collaborated on an album called Two Man Band with James Lee Stanley
James Lee Stanley
James Lee Stanley is an American folk singer-songwriter.-Biography:Stanley was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of Italian, German, Cherokee Indian, Scotch/Irish and English heritage. He said in a 2002 interview that as a child he was "shy, bright, blessed ... strict father gentle mother ......
. The duo followed up in 2001 with a second release, Once Again.
In 2001, Tork took time out from touring to appear in a leading role in the short film Mixed Signals, written and directed by John Graziano.
In 2002, Tork resumed working with his band Peter Tork and Shoe Suede Blues. The band performs original blues music, Monkees covers (blues versions of some), and covers of classic blues hits by greats such as Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
and has shared the stage with bands such as Captain Zig. The band toured extensively in 2006-7 following the release of album "Cambria Hotel".
Tork also had an occasional roles as Topanga Lawrence's father on the sitcom Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
, as well as a guest character on 7th Heaven
7th Heaven
7th Heaven is an American family drama television series, created and produced by Brenda Hampton. The series premiered on August 26, 1996, on the WB, the first time that the network aired Monday night programming, and was originally broadcast from August 26, 1996 to May 13, 2007...
. In 1995, Tork appeared as himself on the show Wings, bidding against Crystal Bernard
Crystal Bernard
Crystal Lynn Bernard is an American actress and singer, most widely known for her seven-year-long role on the situation comedy Wings. While her main work has been on television, she has appeared in some films, and also attempted to pursue a music career as a songwriter/performer.-Early...
's character for the Monkeemobile. In 1999, he appeared as The Bandleader in season one episode 13 (Best Man) of The King of Queens
The King of Queens
The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures...
.
In early 2008, Tork added "advice columnist" to his extensive resume by authoring an online advice and info column called "Ask Peter Tork" at the webzine The Daily Panic, located at thedailypanic.com
In 2011, he joined his fellow bandmates for the 2011 tour, An Evening with The Monkees: The 45th Anniversary Tour
An Evening with The Monkees: The 45th Anniversary Tour
An Evening with The Monkees: The 45th Anniversary Tour was the fourth reunion tour and sixteenth overall concert tour by American pop rock group, The Monkees. It was the group's first tour in nearly a decade following Monkeemania, which ran from 2001 to 2002. The tour visited the United Kingdom,...
.
Cancer
On March 3, 2009, Tork reported on his website that he had been diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinomaAdenoid cystic carcinoma
Adenoid cystic cancer is a rare type of cancer that can exist in many different body sites. It most often occurs in the areas of the head and neck, in particular the salivary glands; but has also been reported in the breast, lacrimal gland of the eye, lung, brain, bartholin gland, trachea, and...
, a rare, slow-growing form of head and neck cancer. A preliminary biopsy discovered that the cancer had not spread beyond the initial site. "It's a bad news, good news situation," explained Tork. "It's so rare a combination (on the tongue) that there isn't a lot of experience among the medical community about this particular combination. On the other hand, the type of cancer it is, never mind the location, is somewhat well known, and the prognosis, I'm told, is good." Tork underwent radiation treatment to prevent the cancer from returning.
On March 4, 2009, Tork underwent extensive surgery in New York City, which was successful.
On June 11, 2009, a spokesman for Tork reported that his cancer had returned. Tork was reportedly "shaken but not stirred" by the news, and said that the doctors had given him an 80% chance of containing and shrinking the new tumor.
In July 2009, while undergoing radiation therapy, he was interviewed by the Washington Post: "I recovered very quickly after my surgery, and I've been hoping that my better-than-average constitution will keep the worst effects of radiation at bay. My voice and energy still seem to be in decent shape, so maybe I can pull these gigs off after all." He continued to tour and perform while receiving his treatments.
On September 15, 2009, Tork received an "all clear" from his doctor.
Tork documented his cancer experience on Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and encouraged his fans to support research efforts of the Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Research Foundation.
Personal life
Tork currently resides in Storrs, ConnecticutStorrs, Connecticut
Storrs is a census-designated place and part of the town of Mansfield, Connecticut located in eastern Tolland County. The population was 10,996 at the 2000 census...
. Peter has been married 3 times, he has three children:
- Hallie Elizabeth (b. 25 January 1970) with Reine Stewart
- Ivan Joseph Iannoli (b. 22 December 1975) with Barbara Iannoli
- Erica Marie (b. 15 June 1997) with Tammy Sustek.
Song list
All songs written by Peter Tork or co-written by Tork as indicated.- "For Pete's SakeFor Pete's Sake (song)"For Pete's Sake" is a song written by Peter Tork and Joseph Richards, and recorded by The Monkees, with Micky Dolenz on lead vocals. It appeared on The Monkees' third album, Headquarters, and was used as the closing theme for the second season of their TV series.The song is often mistakenly...
" (Peter Tork, Joseph RichardsJoseph RichardsJoseph Richards was an Australian cricket Test match umpire.He umpired one Test match in 1931 between Australia and the West Indies at the Melbourne on 13 February to 14 January 1931, Australia taking just two days to win by an innings, with Don Bradman scoring 152 and Bert Ironmonger taking 11...
) - "Band 6" (Micky DolenzMicky DolenzGeorge Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...
, Davy JonesDavy Jones (actor)David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
, Michael NesmithMichael NesmithRobert Michael Nesmith is an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist, best known as a member of the musical group The Monkees and star of the TV series of the same name...
, Peter Tork) - "Zilch" (Micky DolenzMicky DolenzGeorge Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...
, Davy JonesDavy Jones (actor)David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
, Michael NesmithMichael NesmithRobert Michael Nesmith is an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist, best known as a member of the musical group The Monkees and star of the TV series of the same name...
, Peter Tork) - "Goin' Down" (Micky DolenzMicky DolenzGeorge Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...
, Davy JonesDavy Jones (actor)David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
, Michael NesmithMichael NesmithRobert Michael Nesmith is an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist, best known as a member of the musical group The Monkees and star of the TV series of the same name...
, Peter Tork, Diane Hilderbrand) - "No Time" (Micky DolenzMicky DolenzGeorge Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...
, Davy JonesDavy Jones (actor)David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
, Michael NesmithMichael NesmithRobert Michael Nesmith is an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist, best known as a member of the musical group The Monkees and star of the TV series of the same name...
, Peter Tork) but credited to Hank Cicalo - "Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again?"
- "Can You Dig It?"
- "Lady's Baby"
- "Tear the Top Right Off My Head"
- "Gettin' In"
- "MGB-GT"
- "Merry Go Round" (Peter Tork, Diane Hilderbrand)
- "Get What You Pay For"
- "Sea Change"
- "I Believe You"
- "Run Away From Life"
- "Miracle"
- "Tender Is"
- "Easy Rider"
- "Hi Babe"
- "Little Girl"
- "God Given Grant" (Peter Tork, Nick Thorkelson)
- "Ain't Your Fault"
- "Mister BobNick Vernier Band Sessions (album)Nick Vernier Band’s Sessions is a collaborative album by an ensemble containing notable musicians, such as Probyn Gregory, Gerry Beckley , Matt Malley, Paul Jones, Iain Matthews, Emitt Rhodes, Pizza Delivery Boys, Janaki, The Monkees...
" (Micky DolenzMicky DolenzGeorge Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is an American actor, musician, television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.-Biography:...
, Davy JonesDavy Jones (actor)David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
, Michael NesmithMichael NesmithRobert Michael Nesmith is an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist, best known as a member of the musical group The Monkees and star of the TV series of the same name...
, Peter Tork, Eric Van Den BrinkEric Van Den BrinkEric Van Den Brink is a musician and record producer from the Netherlands. He has released albums of his own work and is producer of a wide variety of collaborations under the pseudonym of Nick Vernier Band...
)