I wanted
to write some more about Peter Tork, and what better way to do so than through
a Top Five Songs post? While I imagine I’ll
probably get around to the other three Monkees sooner or later, today is all
about Peter. No easy task for a first
crack at this, since the songs on the show don’t feature him nearly as much as
his bandmates. But, after some
totally-necessary online research, I’ve familiarized myself with some
lesser-known tracks and am now prepared to do a Peter Tork Top Five.
“Your Auntie Grizelda” – Might as well start
with the classic – this was Peter’s one signature song from the TV show. Released on the band’s second album, it’s
something of a novelty number, an odd little rock piece with a good beat and
just a hint of nonsense. Although Peter’s
singing is a little dubious here, he makes up for it by bringing lots of energy
and gusto to the proceedings. In the
end, it’s a relentlessly fun song that served as a slightly kooky background for
a number of amusing Monkee romps.
Best
moment: I like the higher parts that
come in near the end of each verse, a la, “I know she’s having a fit. / She
doesn’t like me a bit…” Again, there’s
so much energy here that’s just kind of infectious. I also admittedly love the interlude of
random noises in the middle – it makes me smile to imagine Peter recording that
part.
“Tear the Top Right Off My Head” – I’ve liked this Peter-penned
song since I heard him singing the first verse/chorus acoustically with Micky in
the middle of a Monkees episode – not
as a performance, just their two characters hanging around singing
together. It was never given a full
performance on the show and it wasn’t on any of the band’s studio albums, but
I’ve found a couple full versions of it online that were released on Missing Links albums of their
lesser-known songs (this one, with Peter on lead vocals, is my favorite.) It’s a simple tune with a catchy beat and a
nice atmosphere. I just really love the
whole feel of it – definitely my favorite of the songs he wrote for the group
over the years.
Best
moment: A couple here. First of all, I really like the chorus itself,
the way the guitar goes into high-gear as it kicks off and just the romantic
recklessness of that notion, “You tear the top right off my head, / You blow my
mind.” I also like the line in the last
verse, “Touch my lips with your fingertips” – there’s something lovely in that.
“(I Prithee) Do Not Ask for Love” – I discovered through
the bonus tracks on the albums available through Amazon Prime that both Davy
and Micky have recorded this song, but I was introduced first to Peter’s version,
performed as part of the truly-insane 33
1/3 Revolutions per Monkee TV special from 1969. It’s far and away my favorite part of that
special, quiet and stripped-down amid a lot of whacked-out stuff going on. I dig the sitar in the background, and while
now, having heard Davy and Micky’s versions, I can admit Peter doesn’t sing it
as well as either of them, I like his gentle, spare rendition of the song.
Best
moment: Probably the chorus, the rolling
beat of it that Peter rides like a wave until it breaks with, “Thou workest in
me / Slavery…” There’s something very earnest in his vocals
that I like, and it feels fitting to the number.
“Come On In” – I’ve taken an impromptu crash course
in Peter Tork’s songs over the last couple weeks, and for my money, this is the
one with the best singing. Also from a Missing Links Album, it’s a mellow,
moody song that’s really well-suited to Peter’s voice, and he sounds great on
it. It’s good proof that he wasn’t a bad
singer, he just fit into a particular style/range – when the song is a good fit
for me, it really works, as it does here.
Lovely and just a little plaintive.
Best
moment: I like every time the tempo
increase comes in, the way Peter’s vocals just sort of climb along with that
build-up until it settles back down again.
Good rhythm, and it makes the song a lot more dynamic and interesting.
“Wasn’t Born to Follow” – Okay, so some of my
favorite Monkees songs are the ones Gerry Goffin and Carole King wrote (I love
“Sometime in the Morning” so much.) This
one is an interesting case. Apparently,
Goffin and King wrote it for the Monkees back in 1968, but it wasn’t finished
at the time, and so the song wound up being recorded by a number of other
artists before finally returning to the Monkees in 2016, when it was performed
by Peter on their album Good Times! This lilting folk number is another that’s
well-suited for Peter’s style, and I like hearing how different his voice
sounds since the ‘60s. I like the “lone
wanderer” air about it, a little wistful but not ultimately sad.
Best
moment: That slower line at the end of
each verse is so pretty, especially the first verse. I’ll include a couple lines before it just to
get the full effect of the lyrics, but this part: “The trees have leaves of prisms / That break
the light up into colors / That no one
knows the names of…” Peter is in
such fine voice, and he sounds especially lovely on these lines at the ends of
the verses.
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