Peter Tork was one of The Monkees, a group formed for the purpose of a TV show but which took on a life of their own, in the mid-1960s. He was 77.
Peter Tork of The Monkees performs during the Mid Summers Night Tour at the Mizner Park Amphitheater on Saturday, July 27, 2013 in Boca Raton, Florida
(Photo by Jeff Daly/Invision/AP)
Photo by Jeff Daly/Invision/AP
Peter Tork of the pop group the Monkees is shown at a press conference at the Warwick Hotel in New York, July 6, 1967. Tork of the Monkees has died. He was 77.
(AP Photo/Ray Howard)
AP Photo/Ray Howard
FILE – In this 1966 file photo, cast members of the television show “The Monkees,” from top left, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, from lower left, Micky Dolenz, and Peter Tork pose next to their customized Pontiac GTO. Jones died Wednesday Feb. 29, 2012 in Florida. He was 66. Jones rose to fame in 1965 when he joined The Monkees, a British popular rock group formed for a television show. Jones sang lead vocals on songs like “I Wanna Be Free” and “Daydream Believer.”
(AP Photo/File)
AP Photo/File
Peter Tork is currently touring with his solo show, and will reunite with The Monkees this summer.
(Courtesy Peter Tork)
Courtesy Peter Tork
American pop group, the Monkees, pictured on arrival at London Airport, 28th June, 1967. Arriving from Paris, the group will perform a live stage show at the Empire Pool, Wembley, this coming weekend. Left to right are Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz and Mike Nezsmith. .
(AP photo)
AP photo
FILE – This June 4, 1967 file photo shows The Monkees posing with their Emmy award at the 19th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in Calif. The group members are, from left to right, Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, and Micky Dolenz. Jones died Wednesday Feb. 29, 2012 in Florida. He was 66. Jones rose to fame in 1965 when he joined The Monkees, a British popular rock group formed for a television show. Jones sang lead vocals on songs like “I Wanna Be Free” and “Daydream Believer.”
(AP Photo, File)
AP Photo, File
** FILE ** In this Jan. 26, 1987 file photo, Peter Tork is photographed at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles. Tork, a former member of the 1960s pop group the Monkees, said Thursday, March 5, 2009 that he has a rare form of head and neck cancer, but the prognosis is good.
(AP Photo)
AP Photo
In this July 10, 1989 file photo, The Monkees, from left: Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, Davy Jones and Peter Tork get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
(AP Photo/Mark Terrill)
AP Photo/Mark Terrill
American pop band “The Monkees”, are seen beneath a poster with sketches of themselves, during their press conference in London, England, Thursday June 29, 1967. They are from left to right: Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz.. The band arrived yesterday and will give their first concert tomorrow at the Empire Pool, here in London.
(AP Photo/Eddie Worth)
AP Photo/Eddie Worth
The pop musical group, The Monkees, arrived at Tokyo International Airport Sept. 30, 1968 for the performances in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. About 1,000 Japanese fans, mostly teen aged girls gathered at the airport to see The Monkees. From right Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, Mike Nesmith. About 700 Japanese police surrounded the airport to protect Monkees from crowd but no mob scene.
(AP Photo)
AP Photo
Members of the pop group The Monkees pose in front of a telephone booth in London Friday, January 10, 1997 following a press conference at the Hard Rock Cafe where they announced plans for all four members of the group to begin touring for the first time in 30 years. From left to right are Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones, Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork.
(AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
AP Photo/Lynne Sladky
A 1966 photo of The Monkees, singing group.
(AP Photo/fls)
AP Photo/fls
Davy Jones, left, Peter Tork, center, and Micky Dolenz, right, three of the original members of the group known as “The Monkees” perform for the crowd before the Giants-Dodgers game at 3COM Park, Friday June 20, 1997, in San Francisco.
(AP Photo/ Lacy Atkins)
AP Photo/ Lacy Atkins
Pop musical group, “The Monkees,” arrive at Tokyo International Airport September 30,1968 for performances in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. About 1,000 fans, mostly Japanese teenage girls, gathered at the airport to see “The Monkees” arrive. Members of the group arriving are from top: Mike Nesmith, David Jones, Peter Tork, hand on hip; and Mickey Dolenz.
(AP Photo/T. Sakakibara)
AP Photo/T. Sakakibara
FILE – This July 6, 1967 file photo shows the musical group, The Monkees, from left, Peter Tork, Mike Nesmith, David Jones, and Micky Dolenz at a news conference at the Warwick Hotel in New York.The Monkees will perform its first live shows since its star Davy Jones died in February. Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, and Peter Tork announced Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2012, that the group will launch a 12-date U.S. tour in November. Jones died of a heart attack on Feb. 29. The group starred in its own NBC television show in 1966 as a made-for-TV band seeking to capitalize on Beatlemania sweeping the world. Jones rocketed to the top of the music charts with The Monkees, captivating audiences with hits including “Daydream Believer” and “I’m a Believer.”The tour kicks off Nov. 8 in Escondido, Calif. It wraps on Dec. 2 in New York. It will highlight Jones in the show’s multimedia content.
(AP Photo/Ray Howard, file)
AP Photo/Ray Howard, file
Peter Tork of The Monkees performs during the Mid Summers Night Tour at the Mizner Park Amphitheater on Saturday, July 27, 2013 in Boca Raton, Florida
(Photo by Jeff Daly/Invision/AP)
Photo by Jeff Daly/Invision/AP
Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork of The Monkees perform during the Mid Summers Night Tour at the Mizner Park Amphitheater on Saturday, July 27, 2013 in Boca Raton, Florida
(Photo by Jeff Daly/Invision/AP)
WASHINGTON — Peter Tork, one of The Monkees, has died at 77.
Tork’s son Ivan Iannoli told The Associated Press his father died Thursday morning at the family home in Connecticut of complications from adinoid cystic carcinoma, a rare cancer of the salivary glands. He had battled the disease since 2009.
“Peter’s energy, intelligence, silliness, and curiosity were traits that for decades brought laughter and enjoyment to millions, including those of us closest to him,” his son said in a statement. “Those traits also equipped him well to take on cancer, a condition he met like everything else in his life, with unwavering humor and courage.”
Tork, who was often hailed by the other Monkees as the band’s best musician, had studied music since childhood. He was accomplished on guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, banjo and other instruments. Michael Nesmith, the Monkees’ lead guitarist, said Tork was the better of the two. Tork said he played bass because none of the others wanted to.
“It is with beyond-heavy and broken hearts that we share the devastating news that our friend, mentor, teacher, and amazing soul, Peter Tork, has passed from this world,” read a message on Tork’s Facebook page Thursday morning.
Born Peter Halsten Torkelson in Washington, D.C., Tork played several instruments, including the banjo, bass, keyboards and guitar. He was a folk musician in the Greenwich Village scene in the early 1960s.
He joined The Monkees, a group formed for the purpose of filming the TV show of the same name, in 1966 on a recommendation from his friend Stephen Stills, who had auditioned for the show and went on to form Crosby, Stills and Nash. Tork joined Nesmith, Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz in the group, which had hits including “I’m a Believer,” “Daydream Believer,” “Last Train to Clarksville,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and more.
“As I write this my tears are awash, and my heart is broken,” Nesmith posted on his Facebook page Thursday. “I have said this before — and now it seems even more apt — the reason we called it a band is because it was where we all went to play.”
The Monkees were supposed to be a fictitious band styled along the lines of The Beatles, and were originally supposed to use only outside songwriters and studio musicians. Tork and Nesmith were accomplished musicians, however, and they slowly won the right to write and perform their own music.
“I was a hired hand, and I didn’t quite know that, and I didn’t quite get it,” he told The Associated Press in 2000. “I had fantasies of being more important than it turns out I was.”
Eventually he and Nesmith wrested control of the band’s musical fate from Don Kirshner, who had been brought in as the show’s music producer. By the group’s third album, “Headquarters,” the Monkees were playing their instruments and had even performed live in Hawaii.
After the show concluded in 1968 the band went on a lengthy concert tour that at one point included Jimi Hendrix as the opening act.
Tork left in 1968; the band dissolved in 1971. They reunited periodically and in various combinations over the years, most famously in 1986. In later years Tork recorded and toured with his own band, Shoe Suede Blues.
Jones died in 2012. Dolenz and Nesmith are slated to begin a tour March 1 in Medford, Mass.
Tork’s family is “asking fans who would like to make contributions in Peter’s name to donate to the scholarship fund at The Institute for The Musical Arts in Massachusetts, a nonprofit that provides young women with music education, music recording, and music community.”
Rick Massimo came to WTOP, and to Washington, in 2013 after having lived in Providence, R.I., since he was a child. He's the author of "A Walking Tour of the Georgetown Set" and "I Got a Song: A History of the Newport Folk Festival."
