Come On In: Peter Tork of The Monkees is on his way to South Georgia

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Come On In: Peter Tork of The Monkees is on his way to South Georgia
November 1, 2011
Jeremy Roberts
Examiner.com

Peter Tork, a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and original member of the ground-breaking ‘60s band The Monkees, will be performing in concert at the Harris Performing Arts Center in Adel, Georgia, on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 8 p.m. The appearance will feature Tork’s other band, Shoe Suede Blues, a blues-oriented combo.

This year has been incredibly successful for Tork, as he recently ended a worldwide 45th anniversary tour with The Monkees that saw glowing reviews from both critics and fans alike. Indeed, the 2.5 hour shows featured over 40 songs, including their cult-favorite Head soundtrack performed in its entirety.

The last time a Monkee visited South Georgia was in 2000, when lead vocalist and drummer Micky Dolenz made a solo appearance at Wild Adventures Theme Park in Valdosta.

The Cook High School Marching Hornets have recently been devoting their half-time shows to The Monkees in a segment called “Hey, Hey, We’re the Marching Hornets.” Consequently, it seemed a perfect opportunity to have the veteran artist visit the area.
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In an interview yesterday from his home in Storrs, Connecticut, Tork spoke about his upcoming performance, the origin of Shoe Suede Blues, touring, his instrumental abilities, and what songs fans can expect to hear.

A nor’easter had eliminated power to his home, and remarkably, the musician generously refused to cancel the interview. More of the conversation, focusing on his life with and without The Monkees, will appear soon…



The Peter Tork Interview, Part One

How did you discover the Cook High School Marching Hornets were playing Monkees music during their football half-time shows?

It was actually the marching band’s director, John Newsome. He was just browsing the Internet and came across my website (PeterTork.com) and contacted my booking/publicity agent.

John said, “Will Peter come down here?” My agent replied, “Well, yeah, he would, but he really likes to bring Shoe Suede Blues.” So John quickly added, “We can find a place to put the band, too.”

Anyway, I’m coming down to South Georgia. I don’t know exactly what my job will be, but I will make a public appearance with the Hornets at their game on Friday night. Then Shoe Suede Blues plays the next evening at 8 p.m.

Not too long ago we played my old high school alma mater. It was kind of a sock-hop thing, which was not too swift (laughs). We love to play, and all we care about is somebody sittin’ still who might enjoy what we’re doing.



What was the origin of Shoe Suede Blues?

I like to think of it as kind of organic. Around 1997, after The Monkees reunited for Justus and a reunion tour, a couple of my friends and I were out in California talking.

One guy said, “My wife is in charge of the entertainment at a benefit dance. Let’s get together and play something.” So the five of us decided to go onstage. It was just a jam band really. You know, Does everybody know this song? Yeah, let’s do that one.

Then we had another opportunity to do some more benefits, all with different rotating personnel. Later we did three shows in a row, each one missing one of the three of us. And we still sounded good to ourselves. Then a friend of ours in D.C. said, “Why don’t you guys come over here and play a gig for this thing that I’m in charge of?” So we said, “Yeah, sure thing.”

All the time, we were looking at ourselves and thinking, This is such great fun, and it just sounds so good to us. I don’t know how good it sounded to the outside world, but it was exciting for us to be there. And we kept on going.

I remember saying a funny name for a blues band would be Shoe Suede Blues. Anyway, I had something else to do, and when I returned, they said, “That’s the title of the band.” I went, “What are you talking about?” But they liked the name.

The original two other members, one at a time, left the arena. Every time there’s been a personnel change, I’ve said to the guys in the band, “Who do we know who can fill in that spot?” And we all come up with ideas.

The band's spots tend to rotate, but it hasn’t been, Okay, I’m gonna start a band now. You, you, and you. I’ll pay you if you’ll do this. Okay, sure, go. It was never a mechanical type thing. At least that’s the way it feels to me. If I’m lying to myself, I don’t wanna know.



About how many dates does Shoe Suede Blues perform annually?

November is a little bit busy; we’re playing seven dates this month, and I’m doing one solo date. We didn’t play any in October. We try to play approximately 40 dates a year. A great deal less than I would enjoy doing. There are these guys who play 200, 300 dates a year. Okay, let me on that bus.

As long as the travel isn’t too far and I have some help setting up and tearing down. I don’t wanna do 200 dates a year and have to bring my own amp in, my own amp out, and shepherd the people into the place where I’m sitting down and signing autographs, then collecting all the stuff and walking out. But if I had some help, I think 200 dates a year is what I’d like to do.



Will you play any banjo?

I’ll be playing guitar and keyboards. I’ll make arrangements for some piano and organ sounds on an electronic keyboard. Unless they have a piano and a B3, in which case we are golden. But that’s unlikely. Pianos are notoriously tough to mic, so I don’t think a real piano is in the offing.

We have another guitar player, a bassist, and a drummer. We don’t usually do the tunes that involve the banjo, and we haven’t rehearsed with the banjo.

There was one banjo song we did called “Bound To Lose” on Cambria Hotel (2007) that I got from the Holy Modal Rounders. I play some banjo in my acoustic solo shows, but no, no banjo this time. I hear the disappointment in your voice (laughs).



What is the distinction between your acoustic solo shows and Shoe Suede Blues?

Shoe Suede Blues is a blues-based band. We don’t play all blues; in fact I don’t even know if we play the majority as blues. We do about half a dozen Monkees songs. One of them we do very differently to put it into a blues bag.

Another is done a little differently, and the other four are done dead straight right off the record, no arrangement differences (except I don’t sing as high as Micky did when he sang lead). We do one blues I wrote, a couple of obscure blues here and there, and some well-known blues (Muddy Waters, Albert King).

There’s one we’ll perform called “Slender, Tender and Tall” from a guy named Louis Jordan, who was a great, great, what you might call “proto R&B.” Very bluesy, very R&B (check out “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens”). B.B. King popularized several tunes from Louis’s repertory, including “Caldonia.”

“Saved By The Blues” is one we do all the time. It was written by a guy (Michael Levine) who doesn’t have anything to do with the blues, but by the time we got done with it, it was very bluesy [it is the title track of Shoe Suede Blues' second album, 2002].

There was a song by Junior Wells that The Blues Brothers covered [on Briefcase Full of Blues, 1978] called “Messin’ With The Kid.” It’s so infectious, we just have to do.

A small giant of the blues named Slim Harpo wrote a song called “I’m a King Bee,” which the Rolling Stones covered [The Rolling Stones debut LP, 1964]. We chose Harpo’s “Mailbox Blues” for our show.

My solo acoustic show is pretty different. It’s hard to do the blues solo – I’m not good at that country blues, Lightning Hopkins thing. I do a song or two in the blues vein, but mostly what I do comes from my folky, folk-pop bag.

I released my first and only solo album in 1994 called Stranger Things Have Happened, and I do about four songs from that when it’s just me. Those are hardly bluesy at all, just a little bit. I’m much quirkier as a solo performer. It got great reviews, but I wish I’d been able to sell more. But it’s always wonderful to get good reviews.

Interview Concluded



To appreciate Tork’s role in The Monkees, listen to songs such as his co-lead vocal on “Words,” the heavy rock found on his “Long Title: Do I Have To Do This All Over Again,” his ode to domestic bliss on “Lady’s Baby,” and the gentle folk-rock of “Come On In,” perhaps his finest vocal.

The Monkees have always fought for critical acceptance ever since guitarist Mike Nesmith admitted the band didn’t play on their first two albums in a memorable 1967 press conference. Critics used Nesmith’s admission as further ammunition in their disdain of The Monkees, and to this day, the band is still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

However, when their third album, Headquarters, arrived in summer 1967, the band wrestled control from music producer Don Kirshner and became an honest to goodness band. They played and wrote the majority of the songs on the album.

In fact, Tork contributed the memorable and driving “For Pete’s Sake,” along with the near-classical piano anchoring the beautiful “Shades of Gray.” The Monkees continued to be a tight recording unit, especially on the brilliant follow-up album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones Ltd.

The beginning of the end occurred when Tork exited the band in December 1968 citing exhaustion, immediately after the filming of their doomed television special, 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee (basically the TV version of Head, it aired against the Academy Awards).

Yet their influence is undisputable today. For example, they outsold both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in 1967, the year of the seminal Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band). Along with Rick Nelson and The Byrds, the band embraced and spread country music to rock audiences. The Monkees were the first major band to use a synthesizer (courtesy of Dolenz on “Daily Nightly”).

Their eponymous television show won two Emmys during its two-year run. Their comedic, manic, non sequitur and largely improvised humor was unique in 1960s television and greatly admired by John Lennon. In addition, they often broke the “fourth wall” by speaking directly to the camera. And lest we forget, Nesmith later founded MTV.

Jimi Hendrix was spotted by Dolenz at the Monterey Pop Festival and opened for the band on his first tour of the United States. Frank Zappa was given national exposure on their TV show and subsequently in Head.

The Monkees’ timeless music remains omnipresent. Punk bands have covered “I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone.” Country artists, including Jerry Reed, Pam Tillis, and The Grascals, count “Last Train To Clarksville” among their arsenal. Smash Mouth performed “I’m a Believer” on the blockbuster Shrek soundtrack.

Although Tork is 69 and a survivor of a rare form of tongue cancer (Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma), his love of playing music hasn’t diminished. Expect a splendid evening of blues with Monkee memories sprinkled in for good measure courtesy of Peter Tork and Shoe Suede Blues.

The concert will be at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5 on the campus of Cook High School at the Carolyn Harris Performing Arts Center. For tickets or more information, call the Adel Chamber of Commerce at 229-896-2281 .

What: Shoe Suede Blues featuring Peter Tork in concert
Where: Carolyn Harris Performing Arts Center, Cook High School, 9900 Highway 37, Adel, GA
When: Saturday, Nov. 5, 8 p.m.
Cost: $15
Information: Adel-Cook County Chamber of Commerc