Review: Peter Tork ‘Stranger Things Have Happened’ 7a Records Deluxe Edition

Review by Fred Velez

Of the solo recordings released by the former members of The Monkees, the solo catalog of Peter Tork was particularly sparse. There are no issued recordings of Release, the band Tork formed after leaving The Monkees in 1968. Peter had the roughest time after leaving the group, having served a prison term for possession and taking on a teaching position before slowly returning to performing music again. He made a couple of guest appearances with first Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart at Disneyland in 1976 and then with Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Coco Dolenz and the Laughing Dogs at the Starwood Club in 1977. Dipping his toes into the performance waters, he gave a couple of rare live performances at the infamous CBGB’s Club in 1977. By the late 1970’s into the early 1980’s, Peter began to tour again on his own and fronting bands like the New Monks, Cottonmouth and the Dashboard Saints. During this period, Tork returned to his Greenwich Village roots performing at clubs like Speakeasy, the Bitter End and the Bottom Line.

The first of his solo recordings also started popping up during this time, with a single with the New Monks featuring his proto-punk version of (I’m Not You) Steppin’ Stone and a rocking version of Jackie Wilson’s Higher and Higher. A rare Folk recording of I Truly Understand appears on the Traditional Folk Revisited album distributed by The Coop: The Fast Folk Music Magazine. With the New Monks, Peter did a tour of Japan in 1981 in connection with the Monkees revival that took place.

The Monkees 20th anniversary tour in 1986 propelled Peter Tork back into the spotlight along with Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones. In between the reunion tours, Peter would continue to perform solo at smaller venues. By the end of 1989, culminating with the Monkees receiving their Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after a sold out performance which brought back Michael Nesmith for a special performance at the Universal Amphitheater, Peter Tork returned to solo performances. Thanks to the insistence of his long time friend and music partner James Lee Stanley, Peter was encouraged to finally record his first and only true solo album Stranger Things Have Happened for Stanley’s label Beechwood Recordings. 7a Records, who have done excellent work on the solo recordings of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and Michael Nesmith, have now added their first Peter Tork recording to their impressive roster.

Original 1994 ‘Stranger Things’ CD.

Originally released in 1994, ‘Stranger Things’ is a wonderful showcase of Peter Tork’s incredible talent as a musician. The title track incorporates Peter’s quirky time changes with a rocking beat and a lush texture to the music and background vocals. ‘Get What You Pay For’ has an ominous beat as the lyrics reflect the song’s cautionary tale. ‘Sea Change’ evokes ocean imagery with its opening effects while using the same imagery in it’s story of a love affair. Peter’s Folk roots are explored in his version of the Monkees song ‘Take A Giant Step’, presented as ‘Giant Step’ on the album. The simple guitar backing and the background vocals by Mackenzie Phillips adds to the songs’ Folky flavor.

The next track is the suggestive ‘Milkshake’ that features backing vocals by Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz. The extensive liner notes written by Monkees scholar Mark Kleiner reveals that Davy Jones was visiting the studios during this recording, and due to time constraints, was not able to provide additional vocals to what would have been a full Monkees track.

The track is followed by ‘MGB-GT’ with Michael Nesmith on background vocals, which Tork had performed on his solo shows and on the 1986 Monkees tour, of which a live recording exists. This is a very playful song and doesn’t stray far from the live version. Next up is ‘Miracle’ which has a very heavy, crunchy beat. ‘Pirates’ follows with a very cool sounding horns-like synth arrangement. The next Monkees track is ‘Gettin’ In’, which originally appeared on the 1987 ‘Pool It!’ album. This is a heavier sounding version of the song with a minimal use of the synths  and a tasty backing vocal by Anita Sherman. ‘Tender Is’ is beautifully played by Peter with lyrics of reflection with wonderful backing vocals by Deborah Van Valkenberg. The original album ends with Peter’s version of ‘Higher and Higher’ which closely follows the arrangement he used while performing it live, assisted again on background vocals by Anita Sherman.

The 7a Records deluxe cd of ‘Stranger Things’ features nine bonus tracks that will really please Tork collectors. Among them are renditions of ‘Milkshake’, ‘MGB-GT’, ‘Miracle’, Pirates’ and a live version of ‘Get What You Pay For’ all sung with James Lee Stanley who produced the first four tracks. ‘Easy Rockin’ is a demo produced by Tork that has a very late 60’s sound to it, and could easily have been a B-side to a Monkees single. ‘I Truly Understand’ that was recorded for the Coop Folk album is next, a great Folk tune with Peter accompanying himself on banjo, and should make a lot of Tork completists happy for its inclusion. The album rounds out with both sides of the rare New Monks single ‘Steppin’ Stone’ and ‘Higher and Higher’. Peter sings the majority of the songs in his rich baritone and he sounds great throughout. There’s a quirkiness to Peter’s vocals that is similar to Ringo Starr that adds to the charm of the songs. The musical production is top rate with additional assistance by guitarist Laurence Juber of Wings playing on ‘Milkshake’ and Timothy B. Schmit of The Eagles lending backing vocals on ‘Stranger Things’.

A new front and back cover for the album features photos of Peter taken by Henry Diltz. The booklet features extensive liner notes by Monkees scholar Mark Kleiner. I’ve learned more about Peter Tork’s solo career by reading Kleiner’s liner notes than I’ve ever known before. The notes give a very fleshed out look at Peter as a solo artist, his frustrations at being known more as a member of the Monkees and not as a serious musician and how he eventually was able to balance the two. Until a proper biography becomes available, Mark Kleiner’s liner notes are the best source on Peter Tork as a solo artist. Sprinkled throughout the booklet are wonderful photos of Peter Tork during his solo period with a few photos of him during the Monkees reunion years.

The ‘Stranger Things’ cd features the eleven tracks from the original 1994 album with the additional nine bonus tracks. It’s also available as a very limited edition in 180g pink splatter vinyl, the first time the album has become available in vinyl. (The vinyl contains six of the nine bonus tracks, the missing bonus songs are ‘Pirates’, the live ‘Get What You Pay For’ and the ‘Easy Rockin’ demo.)

7a Records have done their usual excellent work in producing a quality music product, and they did a magnificent job on their first Tork release. Here’s hoping more Peter Tork releases will be forthcoming from 7a Records.

Fred Velez, 2020.

Purchase Links for ‘Stranger Things Have Happened – Deluxe Edition:

Deep Discount – Vinyl:

Deep Discount Stranger Things Vinyl Link

Deep Discount – CD: 

Deep Discount – Stranger Things CD Link

Amazon Stranger Things Vinyl Link

Amazon Stranger Things CD Link