The Monkees' Peter Tork Admires Susan Boyle

By Linda Laban Posted Dec 28th 2010 06:00PM

When Monkees bassist Peter Tork heard that Susan Boyle had covered the prefab four's '60s pop hit 'Daydream Believer,' his first reaction was, "Good for her." Tork tells Popeater that he has nothing but admiration for Boyle and her unusual story. "Can you imagine? You wait and you wait and you wait, and it's way past the time anyone else has ever got famous, and boy! Her first appearance was breathtaking. I was so impressed. What resonance. A great resonance. Yeah!" he says applauding the 'Britain's Got Talent' sensation.

Obviously, there are some very nice royalties to be had when a song is featured on the best selling album of 2009. But Tork's enthusiasm isn't motivated by money. He won't see a penny from Boyle's cover.

"The record was very little to do with me," he says humbly of 'Daydream Believer,' one of the greatest pop songs of the '60s beat era. "I did help make the record. That's my piano playing. But I didn't have anything to do with the writing of that song. Interestingly, the man who wrote that song was the first replacement member of the Kingston Trio, John Stewart," says the folk revival buff. "He didn't have anything to do with making our recording and making a hit of that song. I was there and he wasn't!" he adds with mock hubris, as sweetly goofy as his Monkees character.

Tork, born Peter Thorkelson, performs sporadically these days. Earlier this year, he was involved in a musical theater piece called 'Carny Knowledge: A Sideshow Extravaganza,' in Cambridge, Mass. The show was written and organized by Tork's brother, Nick, a Boston-based cartoonist and artist. The Tork brothers played in the Carny Band, a neo vaudevillian jug band. Tork's Shoe Suede Blues project keeps him active, too. Might the brothers hit the road? "I have not heard a word about that. I doubt it, but anything's possible."

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Comments

(21)

Tuesday 28 December

By Spinmake6

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Musically Peter was the best musician though Nesmith did play strings and vocals well. Thanks for some great memories and happy to see he is well and happy

By OfAlaska

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You're out of your mind! When the Monkees started they were referred to as the first totally 'plastic' band (fake) who were totally contrived by Hollywood and didn't even play their own instruments! Mickey Dolenz lived two blocks from me in Studio City as kids. He was on a TV show called Circus Boy at the time, and was a pug-nosed punk who had a fake band that never wrote its own songs handed to him. Amazing how history is edited for the consumer. Sigh...

By thatBobguy

Hey Alaska, if you're going to be so indignant about misinformation, then it's not such a good idea to add to the misinformation. Makes you look like a hypocrite. The fact is - the Monkees didn't play on many of their recordings, but they did play on some of them. They also wrote some of the songs. These are easily verified facts.

Wednesday 29 December

By BTDT

@ Alaska, the fact is that Peter Tork spent the bulk of his adult life as a music teacher. He plays multable instruments, so learn your facts before you type.
Oh by the way, the Monkees were great.

By mark

Peter is looking great these days... he has aged very well, he looks just like he did during his Monkees days..

Of course, I was a HUGE Davey Jones fan, I had the posters of him , the dolls.. I think I scared my dad by playing with the Davey Jones doll so much... But I turned out to be a normal, healthy male, and so did my husband...

By Olivia

LOL!!! I was having such a lousy day. Thank you for making me laugh so hard just now.
As for Peter Tork...always loved ya baby..always will. The Monkees were a huge part of my happy childhood.

By Lou

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I think he would look even better after a visit to the barbershop. I was not an avid Monkee fan back then, but don't recollect him looking like that then!

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@ Mark; LMAO! Excellent. My best to you and the Mr.

By kake79

Aww... Peter was alway my favorite! I think it may have been because he looked like the youngest (not sure if he was) and I was quite young when I loved watched their tv show (I'm only 31 now).

By bonnie

sorry kake but you must have watched "The Monkees" as reruns or maybe in syndication. I was in 6th grade when the show was on tv..I'm 55.

Sunday 14 August

By janice

peters oldest i believe! already 70

By JBaer

What if I said I admired Susan Boyle? Would I get any press coverage? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

By Raejean

Your regular human being. I am happy to see him happy.

By Ed

The show aired 1966-67 how is it that you watched the show if your only 31 kake79

By JD Storm

probably saw it on syndication.

By jinky

yeah, it must have been in the syndication which has shown it in perpetual reruns, and it really was big again in the eighties, i believe. they probably knew it was old then, although i used to watch 'lucy' and 'dennis the menace' and so on in the sixties, and only later did i realize they were ten years old and more when i did. i saw 'monkees' when it was on the first time, and of course DAVY JONES was my guy, wasn't he everybody's? we all love an English accent, don't we?

By Katie Colby

YaVou Mark. Laughed until I nearly had to change.

By crazee4mm

"Peter Tork admires Susan Boyle" Hmm. And this made the news because...?

I was a huge Monkees fan back "in the day" I never missed an episode..I was the typical fan..12 years old. I had Tiger Beat pictures all over my walls and dreamed of Davy Jones. We all knew they were not a "real" band..they had been put together and didn't really play instruments. It was a different time..before people were so jaded..kids were allowed to be kids..you have to have lived during that time to understand..it was pure fluff..and we loved it!

By CloudyHawaii

OMG I realize how old I am by looking at his pix. He looks like someone's grandpa and maybe is. Damn, I would not have recognized him if it weren't for those deep dimples...the ones that captivated me when I was a teen. He looks like a beat-up Liam Neelson now. But he was my fave. I remember watching him each Sat. morning and reading all those teen 'zines about them. Even though I knew they were a 'fake' band, it didn't bother me and the millions of girls that were in love with them. I think even the Partridge Family faked their playing too but I didn't care either. It was a time of innocence for me, with the Monkees, Partridge Family, Cowsills, Dino/Desi/Loui (much further back)and the Brady Bunch. No sex, no swearing, no dirty jokes - really innocent.

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