Paul D Kile wrote:
>
> You're not going to believe this, but there is ANOTHER song about
> MGB-GTs! Peter Tork (yes, the ex-Monkee) has put out a solo album
> entitles "Stranger Things Have Happened". He has a song called
> "MGB-GT" in which he laments getting rid of his old GT. The song has
> sort of a honky-tonk sound to it, and is not as technical as Richard
> Thompson's version.
The following is an excerpt from an 1995 interview with Peter Tork where
he discusses his MGB-GT:
>From 1966 through ‘68, Tork played the band’s dim bulb bass
player on the immensely popular show. With the help of songwriters
Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart, Neil Diamond and Nesmith, the Monkees also had
a slew of chart hits, including “I’m a Believer,”, “Last Train to
Clarksville,” and
“Pleasant Valley Sunday.”
Five years after the series ended, in 1971, Tork moved to
Marin.
“I got out of the Monkees with my guitar, my car, a limited investment
I couldn’t touch and a tax debt I couldn’t pay,” he says. “The Monkees
got paid the minimum, but with all those records, we sold, you’re going
to put
some jack in your jeans. But I spent my money profligately, loaned it,
didn’t take care of it.”
He was so broke at one point that he took a job waiting tables
at
the Sleeping Lady Cafe, a legendary hippie cooperative in Fairfax that
has long been defunct.
“You know why so many hippies moved to Fairfax?” he says with a
sly grin. “Because there’s no work there.”
One of the songs on Tork’s new album, “MGB-GT”, is a homage to
the beloved sports car he drove in those days.
“I’m driving an Acura Integra now,” he says, “Acura Integras
don’t inspire songs.
|