Book Review: Love Is Understanding: The Life And Times Of Peter Tork And The Monkees 

There have been many books about the made for television Rock band The Monkees, including autobiographies written by Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith about their experiences in the group and as solo artists. The one personal story missing was that of Peter Tork, the Greenwich Village Folk Hippie, who portrayed the lovable Ringo Starr-like “Dummy” in the TV series, who in real life was a very intelligent individual and considered the best musician in the group. Outside of a profile in the 1984 book ‘When The Music Mattered’ by Bruce Pollock, several in depth interviews and an abandoned autobiography, Tork’s story outside the Monkees was not generally known by the fans or general public. Author Sergio Farias has filled in this literary gap with his well-researched book ‘Love Is Understanding: The Life And Times Of Peter Tork And The Monkees’. 

Farias covers Peter’s pre-Monkees years as a Folk Singer on the Greenwich Village Folk scene, hanging out with such legends as Jose Feliciano, Mama Cass Elliott, John Sebastian, Stephan Stills before later heading out to California to try his luck and eventually auditioning for and winning a role on a new television series based on The Beatles, The Monkees. Peter’s story advances from the auditions, to the filming of the series, the recordings of the songs, the early and astounding success of the series and the hit records and concerts, launching a mania not seen since The Beatles just two years earlier.

Farias also doesn’t whitewash the darker areas of the Monkees story; the battles with music supervisor Don Kirshner, the ‘don’t play their instruments’ controversy, the struggles of gaining respect from the music industry, personality clashes and group infighting, drugs, and alcohol, etc. Farias is very honest in outlining the downside of the fame the Monkees attained and how it affected Peter Tork, who’s main ambition was to be a musician in a band, and the disillusionment he endured leading to his leaving the Monkees. 

The book covers the period after Peter’s departure, the disappointments of trying to launch a solo career while seeing other artists he helped like Stephen Stills go on to superstardom. His stint in jail for drug possession. Failed relationships. Taking on odd jobs and teaching positions while trying to reestablish himself in the music business. Early semi-reunions with Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones. Slowly reintroducing himself as a performer, leading to his appearance at the infamous CBGB’s Punk club. Television appearances on programs like Uncle Floyd and David Letterman. The first inklings of the 1980’s Monkees resurgence leading to the hugely successful 1986 20^th anniversary reunion tour and beyond.

Through all the highs and lows, Peter Tork remained spiritually optimistic and philosophical, reestablishing himself as a musical artist and entertainer, learning from his past mistakes and moving forward with his life. Farias’ book covers the struggles Peter and the other Monkees went through in trying to present themselves as true artists, eventually succeeding. 

The book is very well researched, and fans and Pop historians alike will gain new insights on Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones. 

‘Love Is Understanding: The Life And Times Of Peter Tork And The Monkees’ by Sergio Farias published by BearManor Media is the book fans have been waiting for which will introduce you to the real Peter Tork. 

Reasonably Spontaneous Conversation with Sergio Farias and Dennis Tardan

Fred Velez, 2022. 

BearManor Media Link:

https://bearmanor-digital.myshopify.com/search?q=Peter+tork

Amazon Link:

https://www.amazon.com/Love-Understanding-Times-Peter-Monkees/dp/1629339121/ref=pd_ybh_a_sccl_2/130-3547456-8949167?pd_rd_w=GhPMY&content-id=amzn1.sym.48b4f440-2099-4e34-afeb-210417d3bf51&pf_rd_p=48b4f440-2099-4e34-afeb-210417d3bf51&pf_rd_r=WWKK0DBTZHNR0MX7GPH0&pd_rd_wg=oMixq&pd_rd_r=902012d2-2846-4b8d-8ae9-7410ef5b1d77&pd_rd_i=1629339121&psc=1

Bear Manor Books Interview with Peter Tork Author Sergio Farias

Bear Manor Books Q&A with Sergio Farias, author of the new Peter Tork book Q: Did Jose Feliciano and Stephen Stills play with Peter before the Monkees? A: Yes, that was between 1963 and 1965, when Peter played gigs in Greenwich Village. Q:How many instruments did Peter play? A:. Six instruments. Piano, keyboards, banjo, guitar, bass and French horn. Q: On the first album “The Monkees”, none of them played instruments, like other groups at the time – Byrds, Mamas and The Papas etc. A: Yes, the vast majority of groups at that time did not play their own instruments on recordings. Peter was the only one who played guitar on the first Monkees album. Q:Is it true that Peter recorded with George Harrison? A: Sure. They had a session recording in London for the “Wonderwall” soundtrack. Q: The parties at Peter’s house in Los Angeles were notorious, tell me more about it. A: There’s a Rolling Stone article “Inside the Los Angeles Scene,” placed Peter as one of the most influential people in the city. Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were Peter’s guests. It was where Pete Townshend, leader of the Who, and John Sebastian, of the Lovin’ Spoonful, first met. Among these were David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash, as a group began to rehearse in Peter’s mansion Q: In 1970, Peter and his group Release recorded a demo for Ahmet Ertegün, why didn’t the project go ahead? A: They recorded material was supposed to be the foundation of a Release album, with a mixture of rock and roll and folk ballads sung by a singer called Judy Mayhan. When the material got there, producer Jerry Wexler was delighted by Mayhan’s vocals, but not so much by Release as a whole. Q: Ten years later, Peter recorded another demo for Sire Records. A: He recorded and mixed six tracks in a New York studio. Nevertheless, when the producer Pat Horgan handed the demo off to Seymour Stein, the president of Sire, he didn’t like the material.

Q: In 1980, the Monkees were invited to get together for an Emmy Awards ceremony, which ended up not happening because of a writers’ strike, would this be the first time they’d gotten together since the 1960s? A: No. Peter recorded a single with Micky in 1971. He played with Micky and Davy in a few gigs in 1976 and 1977, and recorded a Christmas single. Q: Did the Monkees made a triumphal comeback in 1980s? A: All in all, the Monkees was the top grossing tour in 1986, and had ten records on the 1986 US charts—more than at any other point in the 1960s. Q: What about Peter solo career after Monkees 20th Anniversary Tour? A: Peter Tork had a brilliant solo career. He released several albums, included a piece that he wrote for piano and sixty-five-musician orchestra. Peter still acting during the years. He was a artistic genius and a great human being.

Love Is Understanding: The Life and Times of Peter Tork and The Monkees Between 1966 and 1967, “the Monkees sold more records than the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined!” Whether this is true or not, they had a revolutionary TV series and they raised the bar of rock concerts. As songwriters and musicians, their musical diversity ranged from the pioneering use of the banjo and the Moog synthesizer in pop music to becoming one of the forerunners in the creation of country rock. This creative unity won admirers like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and Timothy Leary. However, when they  exposed the modus operandi of the American record industry, they paid the consequences, and public opinion designated the Monkees as just a prefabricated group at the height of the counterculture. After the band broke up, its members were relegated to brutal ostracism. Peter Tork was the most affected. Though he was a scholar, a classical musician capable of playing seven musical instruments, and an excellent actor and songwriter, for some Peter was simply “the dummy.” This book seeks to do justice to the Monkees’ extraordinary legacy in pop culture, revealing the ups and downs of the band’s backstory and tracing Peter’s dramatic trajectory and pilgrimage through life. A true rock and roll survivor, but, above all, a brilliant artist.  “Sergio Farias delves into the history of the Monkees, a band that lived through the glory and disgrace of stardom after coming face to face with the record industry.” O Globo. “This book fills an existing gap regarding the history of the Monkees” Folha de São Paulo.

Bear Manor Peter Tork Book Order Links:

https://bearmanor-digital.myshopify.com/products/love-is-understanding-the-life-and-times-of-peter-tork-and-the-monkees-paperback?utm_campaign=emailmarketing_127225659426&utm_medium=email&utm_source=shopify_email

Bear Manor ebook Order link: https://shop.app/p/7017916268578

Amazon Peter Tork Book Order Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Love-Understanding-Times-Peter-Monkees/dp/1629339121/ref=sr_1_1?crid=N48H7TQ4GKXC&keywords=sergio+farias&qid=1653398445&s=books&sprefix=Sergio+fa%2Cstripbooks%2C96&sr=1-1

Fred Velez, 2022.