Peter Tork may have been saddled with playing the dumbo in a group who received a lot of vitriol for "not playing their own instruments," but the real man was a living contradiction of all the idiotic stereotypes yoked around The Monkees. Tork was actually an immensely talented multi-instrumentalist (bass, piano, banjo, guitar, French horn) who was every bit the deep thinker the character he played on TV's The Monkees was not. He even sneaked some of that philosophy onto the sitcom at a time when anti-establishment ideals tended to be villainized on conservative shows like Dragnet. He also wrote some of The Monkees best songs, such as "Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All Over Again?", "Can You Dig It?", and "For Pete's Sake", which served as the series' closing theme in its second season. For a more thorough run down of Tork's musical achievements with The Monkees, check out this old Psychobabble post.
Peter Tork was diagnosed with cancer ten years ago, though he apparently beat it and continued making music for a while afterward. That included a fab new album and tour with fellow Monkees Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith. Sadly, Tork's sister Anne Thorkleson, announced today that her brother died today at the age of 77. No word yet on whether or not his death was cancer related, but Peter will be greatly missed here on Psychobabble.
