Peter Tork R.I.P.

[Milestones]

Peter Tork died today at age 77.  No love for The Monkees?  For better or worse, they were part of my youth. I've long felt that music snobs have overly maligned their skills.

  

[felser]

1 hour ago, Milestones said:

I've long felt that music snobs have overly maligned their skills.

  

Me too, in some ways, not in others.  Some excellent records the first two years, though they did not write or play on many of them, though they did sing them.  And "Headquarters", where they did it all, is really pretty good.  But they went off the cliff during "Head" (though I do like "Porpoise Song").

[GA Russell]

RIP.  I heard a Tork interview on Sirius a few years ago.  He stressed that when filming the show, The Monkees were actors first, and had very little free time to record the records.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

[Brad]

RIP. I enjoyed their music. 

He’s on the last train to Clarksville. 

[JSngry]

He ain't meeting me at the station!

[Joe]

You take your avant garde where you find it.

 

[clifford_thornton]

I watched that show in syndication religiously as a kid. Had a couple of their albums as well. Peter seemed cool. RIP.

I love that part of Head that's basically Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll & The Trinity going off like Septober Energy. Bananas.

[mjzee]

When The Monkees started, I remember the huge uproar from the pop and (then-nascent) rock magazines.  They hated The Monkees, called them inauthentic, cringe-inducing, insulting, worthless.  It was truly a "which side are you on?" situation.  I chose the authentic side, and as rock-and-roll morphed into rock, that's how I went.  I've always liked Top 40 and good pop; it was the trappings of The Monkees that turned me off.  It was the beginning of my knowledge about "formula," and perhaps about the business side of music.  Probably my age also had something to do with it, as I could see The Monkees as "teeny-bopper"ish, and it seemed childish to me.  Still does, actually; it's like being mournful about The Archies.  So if the music was good, thank Boyce and Hart, The Wrecking Crew, and others "stoking the star-maker machinery behind the popular song," as Joni wrote it.

[duaneiac]

Perhaps Peter Tork's most famous (to viewers of the TV show) composition (written with Joey Richards):

The TV show was a part of my childhood, but the music has remained a part of my life.  Rest in Peace Mr. Tork.  Thanks for the laughs and the music.  This world needs a whole lot of both right now.

[Joe]

Remember when Steve Albini called Smashing Pumpkins "the grunge Monkees"? Gen X never will escape the shadow cast by the Boomers... unless they choose to.

Anyway, I admire these 4 guys for having a pretty healthy attitude overall about success/fame/the machine that is American pop culture. Imagine being defined for the rest of your life by this blip of an experience you had in your 20s... That Tork, Nesmith, Dolenz and Jones all went on to do other things and make their own peace with their complicated legacy says more about who they are than the images of them that are still widely circulated.

 

[clifford_thornton]

lol at "grunge Monkees.' Albini with the wit.

[Dave James]

When Tork auditioned for the show, he had been recommended by his roommate, Stephen Stills.  Stills had also auditioned and the producers liked him but they didn't like his crooked teeth.  Other musicians who read for a part include Paul Williams, David Crosby, Danny Hutton, Van Dyke Parks and Harry Nilsson.  

[sgcim]

7 hours ago, Dave James said:

When Tork auditioned for the show, he had been recommended by his roommate, Stephen Stills.  Stills had also auditioned and the producers liked him but they didn't like his crooked teeth.  Other musicians who read for a part include Paul Williams, David Crosby, Danny Hutton, Van Dyke Parks and Harry Nilsson.  

Don't forget Bryan MacLean of the band Love. He was sitting in a coffee shop  when some friend of his told him about it. He ran right  over there. 

He figured they'd want some tough, streetwise guy for the role, so he acted belligerent to everyone at the audition, and got kicked out on his ass!

[felser]

18 hours ago, mjzee said:

When The Monkees started, I remember the huge uproar from the pop and (then-nascent) rock magazines.  They hated The Monkees, called them inauthentic, cringe-inducing, insulting, worthless.  It was truly a "which side are you on?" situation.  I chose the authentic side, and as rock-and-roll morphed into rock, that's how I went.  I've always liked Top 40 and good pop; it was the trappings of The Monkees that turned me off.  It was the beginning of my knowledge about "formula," and perhaps about the business side of music.  Probably my age also had something to do with it, as I could see The Monkees as "teeny-bopper"ish, and it seemed childish to me.  Still does, actually; it's like being mournful about The Archies.  So if the music was good, thank Boyce and Hart, The Wrecking Crew, and others "stoking the star-maker machinery behind the popular song," as Joni wrote it.

Isn't a lot of jazz also formulaic?  Even someone like Pharoah Sanders, when I was listening to those early 70's albums, I could correctly predict "OK, this is the spot in his solo where he will go from mellow to freak out".  As far as the early Monkees music being good, in addition to Boyce & Hart and the Wrecking Crew, Goffin & King made contributions ("Pleasant Valley Sunday" for one), and Neil Diamond was a believer.  I have nothing against records of Goffin/King songs played by the Wrecking Crew, many of them are awesome to me.  And I was a "rock" guy,  WEBN Jelly Pudding in Cincinnati, WMMR in Philly, but never felt the need to choose sides in the divide.  Nothing more glorious than a perfect 3-minute single.