Monkees musician Peter Tork dies at 77

[happyrat1]

Peter Tork: Tributes to Monkees musician who has died aged 77

Peter Tork, a member of one of the first boy bands, The Monkees, dies at the age of 77.

www.bbc.com

Peter Tork, a member of the made-for-TV pop group The Monkees, has died at the age of 77, the band's US publicist confirmed.
A post on the musician's official Facebook page said they were sharing "the devastating news... with beyond-heavy and broken hearts".
"Our friend, mentor, teacher, and amazing soul, Peter Tork, has passed from this world."
Tork had been diagnosed with a rare form of tongue cancer in 2009.

In their heyday, the band had been brought together for an American TV series in 1966, the hits of Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork included Daydream Believer and I'm a Believer.
They were famous for their clean-cut image and were marketed as the American answer to The Beatles, notching up nine top 40 hits.
Tork played bass and keyboard and also sang on some of the band's tracks.

...ssnip...<

I loved the Monkees when I was a wee tyke, but one thing the obituary leaves out is the fact that the Monkees were not allowed to play any instruments on the show. It was all pantomime while studio session musicians including Eric Clapton did all the heavy lifting

Still, they sang some pretty nifty tunes.

RIP Mr Tork...

Another memory bites the dust.

Gary

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Actually, as the show progressed they were eventually allowed to play the instrument parts themselves, probably due to the fact that a lot of people (or was it other bands?) were complaining that the Monkees weren't a "real" band because they didn't play the instrument parts. Ironically, many studio recordings of other bands were also made using session musicians rather than the band's own members; if I'm not mistaken, the Beach Boys' ground-breaking "Pet Sounds" album is one notable example, with most or all of the instruments being played by the Wrecking Crew. (If you ever get a chance to see the documentary that was made about the Wrecking Crew, I recommend it.)

As for the pantomiming, I think that also used to be fairly common for singers and bands who were performing on a television show. But in later episodes of the Monkees they were often shown performing on stage in clips from their tours.

 

[Biggles]

Sad day.

Inane show aimed at kids far younger than I was at the time, but that did not stop me avidly watching every episode and ever since I have been a fan if their music.

If a documentary on UK TV a few years ago was right the guys were also paid peanuts until Mike Nesmith led a blow up with Management and they then started to play their own instruments and were paid more.

Peter was my favourite despite the late Davy Jones being born about 40 miles from where I live.

 

[SeaGtGruff]

Yes, Peter was my favorite, too, although I loved them all.

I even used to have a complete set of the bubble gum collectible card packs they used to sell back in the day, with photos taken from the episodes on one side and a giant poster on the other side when you arranged all the cards correctly.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Tork.