When Monkees bassist Peter Tork heard that Susan Boyle had covered the prefab four's '60s pop hit 'Daydream Believer,' his first reaction was, "Good for her." Tork tells Popeater that he has
nothing but admiration for Boyle and her unusual story. "Can you imagine? You wait and you wait and you wait, and it's way past the time anyone else has ever got famous, and boy! Her first appearance was breathtaking. I was so impressed. What resonance. A great resonance. Yeah!" he says applauding the 'Britain's Got Talent' sensation.
Obviously, there are some very nice royalties to be had when a song is featured on the best selling album of 2009. But Tork's enthusiasm isn't motivated by money. He won't see a penny from Boyle's cover.
"The record was very little to do with me," he says humbly of 'Daydream Believer,' one of the greatest pop songs of the '60s beat era. "I did help make the record. That's my piano playing. But I didn't have anything to do with the writing of that song. Interestingly, the man who wrote that song was the first replacement member of the Kingston Trio, John Stewart," says the folk revival buff. "He didn't have anything to do with making our recording and making a hit of that song. I was there and he wasn't!" he adds with mock hubris, as sweetly goofy as his Monkees character.
Tork, born Peter Thorkelson, performs sporadically these days. Earlier this year, he was involved in a musical theater piece called 'Carny Knowledge: A Sideshow Extravaganza,' in Cambridge, Mass. The show was written and organized by Tork's brother, Nick, a Boston-based cartoonist and artist. The Tork brothers played in the Carny Band, a neo vaudevillian jug band. Tork's Shoe Suede Blues project keeps him active, too. Might the brothers hit the road? "I have not heard a word about that. I doubt it, but anything's possible."
Tork, born Peter Thorkelson, performs sporadically these days. Earlier this year, he was involved in a musical theater piece called 'Carny Knowledge: A Sideshow Extravaganza,' in Cambridge, Mass. The show was written and organized by Tork's brother, Nick, a Boston-based cartoonist and artist. The Tork brothers played in the Carny Band, a neo vaudevillian jug band. Tork's Shoe Suede Blues project keeps him active, too. Might the brothers hit the road? "I have not heard a word about that. I doubt it, but anything's possible."