Tork was a proficient musician before he joined the Monkees. Though other members of the group were not allowed to play their instruments on their first two albums, he played what he described as "third chair guitar" on Michael Nesmith's song "Papa Gene's Blues" on their first album. He subsequently played keyboard, bass guitar, banjo, harpsichord, and other instruments on the band's recordings. He co-wrote, along with Joey Richards, the closing theme song of the second season of "The Monkees", "For Pete's Sake". On the show, he was relegated to acting as the "lovable dummy", a persona he had developed as a folk singer in Greenwich Village.