RIP Peter Tork

Peter Tork, a blues and folk musician who became a teeny-bopper sensation as a member of the Monkees, the wisecracking, made-for-TV pop group that imitated and briefly outsold the Beatles, died Feb. 21. He was 77.

His death was confirmed by his sister Anne Thorkelson, who did not say where or how he died. Mr. Tork was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare cancer affecting his tongue, in 2009.

If the Monkees were a manufactured version of the Beatles, a “prefab four” who auditioned for a rock-and-roll sitcom and were selected more for their long-haired good looks than their musical abilities, Mr. Tork was the group’s Ringo, its lovably goofy supporting player.

On television, he performed as the self-described “dummy” of the group, drawing on a persona he developed while working as a folk musician in Greenwich Village, where he flashed a confused smile whenever his stage banter fell flat. Off-screen, he embraced the Summer of Love, donning moccasins and “love beads” and declaring that “nonverbal, extrasensory communication is at hand” and that “dogmatism is leaving the scene.”

A versatile multi-instrumentalist, Mr. Tork mostly played bass and keyboard for the Monkees, in addition to singing lead on tracks including “Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All Over Again,” which he wrote for the group’s psychedelic 1968 movie, “Head,” and “Your Auntie Grizelda.”

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beefheart said:

Aw, this is sad. I knew that Peter was battling cancer and was not doing well, but still a bit stunned. I was able to see The Monkees a few years back when Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork and Mickey Dolenz were all together, it was a great and fun show.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/peter-tork-endearingly-offbeat-bassist-and-singer-in-the-monkees-dies-at-77/2019/02/21/479cf4ae-35ee-11e9-854a-7a14d7fec96a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a21f9520fb24

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tres borrachos said:

OMG! This is SO sad! He was awesome. An adorable moppet and a likeable man.

Rest well Peter. Say hi to Davy when you get there.

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