peter tork

Before The Monkees

Peter Halsten Thorkelson was born on February 13th, 1942 at Washington D.C.'s Doctor's Hospital to parents Virginia and John Thorkelson. In 1946, the Thorkelson family moved to Berlin, Germany where Peter's father was stationed in the army.

In 1948, the Thorkelsons returned to the United States, settling in Badger, Wisconsin, and later shifting to Madison, Wisconsin. During the early '50s, Peter became engrossed in music, first studying piano and then guitar (after receiving a ukulele from folk singer and family friend Tom Glazer). Over the next several years, Peter mastered a half-dozen instruments.

By 1960, Peter was attending Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. Still, his devotion to music clashed with his studies and, resultantly, Peter flunked out of school. After a stint working in a thread mill, Peter returned to Carleton as the school's DJ for a spell. However, by this time Peter was consumed by folk music and soon left college to make his name as a musician New York City's Greenwich Village.

While Peter didn't exactly make his name in the Village, he did change it. From here on out, he would be known as simply Peter Tork. Performing in the Village's "basket" houses (where musicians "passed the hat" after each set), Tork's early repertoire included comedic songs penned by his brother Nick (including "Alvin" and "Under The Undertaker"). During '63, Peter augmented his solo work with a spell in a group called Casey Anderson and the Realists, performances in a duo with Bruce Farwell (called Tork & Farwell) and a trio called Tork & Farwell Plus One (with Carol Hunter).

At the beginning of 1964, Peter Tork ventured to Venezuela to visit his family, but soon returned to the streets of New York City. A brief marriage was followed by a similarly fleeting musical union with Steve Stills and John Hopkins. In the meantime, Tork hit the stage of Carnegie Hall backing Peter LaFarge (composer of the folk classic "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," made famous by Johnny Cash) and joined the Phoenix Singers folk group as an accompanist on banjo and guitar.

On October 10th, 1964, Peter made his television debut with the Phoenix Singers backing them on three songs ("Run Come See," "Song Of The Land" and "Glory Glory") during a Canadian folk program called Let's Sing Out. Not long after this broadcast, following a fundraising show in Denver for the LBJ presidential campaign, Tork split from the group.

In 1965, a solo Tork performed at such Village hangouts as the Café Id, Café Wha', Café Why Not, Flamenco Café, the Gaslight, the Basement, the Pad, the Four Winds, the Cyclops and the Night Owl. But by mid-year, Peter felt the pull of the west coast and decided to hitch a ride towards Los Angeles. Arriving at the end of June '65, Tork began hanging out at the Golden Bear club, occasionally taking the stage (and working behind the scenes as dishwasher and bar keep). Later, amidst sporadic gigs at Sid's Bluebeat club, Tork got a fateful call to audition for The Monkees.

"I remember I went to great lengths to contact him," said show creator Bob Rafelson in the '60s. "I found him working as a dishwasher - not even a musician - so you can imagine it took awhile tracing him. But when I heard him, I knew at once he was right. I was knocked out."

After The Monkees

The last Monkee to be cast, Peter was the first of the fabulous foursome to break ranks in December '68. Regretful that they would no longer be making group albums (like Headquarters), he formed his own band, Release. "Three is a quorum for our group," Tork told the NME of Release in April '69. "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." The other group members were Peter's girlfriend Reine Stewart on drums and buddy Riley "Wildflower" Cummings on bass. "We're like Peter's back-up band," says Stewart, "except we happen to be a group instead of a back-up band."

"If I was having a back-up band," explained Tork, "I could go into the Musician's Union and hire bass, drums and organ. But, I'd rather work with friends because that makes much better music." Peter hoped to have a record out immediately with Release, but could never snag a contract. Sadly, Tork's production entity entitled the Breakthrough Influence Company also failed to launch, despite such talent as future Little Feat guitarist, Lowell George. By 1970, Tork was once again a solo artist.

"After I left the Monkees," recalled Peter, "I went through an identity crisis right away. I called up Dick Clark and said, 'Put me on the road.' He said, 'Get a hit record; nobody will recognize you.' I went, 'What?' That was so staggering to me that it completely stopped me cold. I thought 37 promoters would be dying to have me perform."

In 1976, Peter briefly reunited with Davy and Micky for a show at Disneyland and a single called "Christmas Is My Time Of Year" (which found only limited release). The following year, he reemerged in New York City with solo gigs at the legendary CBGB's in July. Around this time, Peter cut some demos for Sire, but it wasn't until 1981 that Tork would release his first independently issued solo single, a cover of Jackie Wilson's "Higher And Higher" backed by a revival of "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone." A series of tours and television appearances kept Tork busy until 1985, when he began talks with promoter David Fishof about putting the Monkees back together.

In between record-setting shows with the reunited Monkees, Tork returned to acting with parts in 7th Heaven, Mixed Signals, The King of Queens, Boy Meets World and California Dreams. Musically, he also launched a series of long-awaited CD releases including Stranger Things Have Happened, as well as Two Man Band and Once Again (with partner James Lee Stanley). In the new millennium, Peter finally formed a group that he could call his own, Shoe Suede Blues. The SSB gig regularly and have issued two albums: Saved By The Blues and Shoe Suede Blues Live in L.A....Kinda, Santa Monica Actually.

You can keep up with all the latest on Peter Tork and the Shoe Suede Blues Band at www.petertork.com