'Hey Hey We're The Monkees' well one of them anyway, is coming to Cornwall in February. Peter Tork was with the legendary '60s band, once America's answer to the Beatles, and appeared in all the band's TV shows, and cult movie 'Head'. Long before Peter became a legendary part of the prefab phenomenon known as the 'The Monkees', he was a well-respected musician/artist in the burgeoning New York folk and blues scene. Peter’s gift for playing a plethora of instruments generated high demand for his services as a sideman/back-up artist. Peter knocked around for several hungry years in the mid-60’s, hanging and performing with the likes of John Phillips, Steven Stills, Dave Van Ronk, Van Dyke Parks and Arthur Lee. The list goes on.
 | | First ever album |
The fateful call, which would change Peter's life forever, came in June of 1965. Friend and confidant Steven Stills, not quite hitting the mark with his own audition, rang his buddy Peter, urging him to give it a go. Twice. Stills remarks to the producers that he knew 'just the man to fill the bill' were spot on. Peter aced the audition for what was to become a ground breaking multimedia project centered on a zany, young, rock/pop band - styled as THE American answer to the Beatles. The results were stellar and changed the popular music and television biz forever. Peter, never totally satisfied with prefab fame, though at the height of his pop icon status, stuck to his roots as a starving artist. He could forever be found jamming with bands, learning and honing his chops. Music legend Jimi Hendrix jammed with Peter on several occasions, calling Peter 'The most talented Monkee'. Frustrated with circumstances in Monkeedom, Tork was the first to leave the group shortly after the 1968 release of Head, the Monkees' psychedelic experimental film. In addition to addressing the group's stigma as pre-fab musicians, Head explored themes of mass media's distortion of reality and identity, and individuals' strange interaction with celebrity.
 | | Peter Tork today |
"As far as being confused with the character I played on TV, that didn't happen too much," explains Peter. "People who came up to me sort of all got that I was just playing a part, so that wasn't a big thing. But something interesting came up not too long ago. I was at a seminar and I was enjoying it pretty much, and the leader at one point said to me, 'Hey, are you who they're telling me you used to be?' Suddenly the relationship totally changed. I was no longer a member of the public taking the seminar and he was the seminar leader. Suddenly, he was a fan and I was the former Monkee. It was so strange and so dislocating to have that shift in relationship so suddenly smack me in the face. In that way, it was strange, and remains strange." Peter has continued his solo career through the years, performing with his own bands, writing and recording music, and also making numerous guest appearances on a variety of TV programs. Peter realised a real love affair with the blues sometime during the '90s. The result of that love is called 'Shoe Suede Blues'. Defining Peter Tork and Shoe Suede Blues is akin to describing the history of popular music. Band mates Richard Mikuls, John Palmer and Arnold Jacks have shared the stage with some of the most influential recording artists of the last 50 years.
 | | Peter and his band |
But the band's performances do tip an affectionate nod towards The Monkees. ""One interesting thing we do, for instance, is a version of "Last Train to Clarksville' that is very bluesy, very newŠvery slinky," Peter says. "I mean, when you think about the tag line of that song, 'And I don't think that I'm ever coming home,' it can be pretty bluesy and have a lot of blues thought to it." Through Peter’s band of seasoned pros, Shoe Suede Blues delivers a heartfelt soulful, uplifting and quite unforgettable mixture, divined from their vision of what music is all about. Catch Peter's latest band, Shoe Suede Blues, when they come to Falmouth's Princess Pavilion in February 2007. Essential Information Date: Wednesday 7 February 2007 Support by: The Hitchcock Rules - Catch the popular local band at the gig as well.
Venue: Princess Pavilion, Falmouth
Time: 8.30pm
Tickets: £12.50 Advance / £14 Door Box Office: 01326 211222 | 
