Peter Tork Said The Monkees ‘Never Rehearsed’ Before Getting the TV ‘Crew to Dance’
The Monkees Peter Tork achieved many bucket list moments as a member of the iconic 1960s pop rock band. However, one of his most significant early achievements as a Monkees member involved getting “the crew to dance” during an on-set jam session with Mike Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, and Davy Jones.
Peter Tork admitted The Monkees ‘never rehearsed’ before getting the TV ‘crew to dance’
In 1982, Peter Tork appeared on Late Night with David Letterman. He discussed his career and the impact being a member of The Monkees had on his life.
During one key interview moment, Tork discussed what he said was the quartet’s lack of rehearsal before filming the first episode. However, that didn’t stop Tork, Mike Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, and Davy Jones from watching one unforgettable moment unfold before their eyes.
Tork told Letterman, “When we first played, we were doing the pilot. We fired up our amps, and we just played together.” “
However, what happened next surprised everyone involved. “Never having rehearsed, we got the crew to dance,” the musician shared of those who worked on the set of The Monkees television series.
‘We were not as bad musicians as people were making us out to be’
In The Monkees’ early days, rumors persisted its members were competent enough musicians to record their own music. These accusations were lobbed against the group after their first two albums were staffed with session musicians.
However, Tork revealed to Letterman this wasn’t exactly the case. The foursome was more than able to record their work. But The Monkees’ music director, Don Kirshner, used his stable of Brill Building songwriters and musicians to flesh out their tunes.
“We were not as bad musicians as people were making us out to be,” Tork explained. “These guys did have musical experience. Micky Dolenz was the lead singer of a group called The Missing Links. David Jones was a singer on Broadway. Neither of these guys was musically bereft.”
Tork continued, “We didn’t play on our first two records. They were hugely successful, and we reaped the artist benefits.”
However, when the band was set to go out on their first tour, Tork said he and Nesmith assisted in helping both Dolenz and Jones in perfecting their musical techniques.
“So when it came down to teaching them an instrument, they picked it up readily,” Tork explained. “Mike [Nesmith] was as experienced a musician as I was. So we taught these guys simple parts, went out on the road, and enjoyed ourselves.”
The Monkees’ success was about ‘timing,’ said Peter Tork
Of The Monkees’ success, Peter Tork said it was all about “timing.” The band came up in an age when marketing a television series to teens was a new idea, and the band’s early success was bound up in the television show.
The Monkees television series helped bring the band into the homes of younger kids who may not have related to The Beatles. Tork said that worked to their advantage in the group’s quick rise to fame.
He told Rock Cellar in 2016, “With the Monkees, it was timing that a lot of kids came up, and they were the younger brothers and sisters of the kids who loved The Beatles. They wanted something of their own.”
“And along came the Monkees, and they had something of their own, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. They said, ‘You can keep your damn Beatles; I’ve got The Monkees!’ A lot of kids grew up that way, and some became musicians,” he added.
Peter Tork played on and off with The Monkees until his death on Feb. 21, 2019. He died at his Connecticut home eight days after his 77th birthday. The cause of death was adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare, slow-growing form of head and neck cancer.
