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Posted March 3, 2007
Recently we lost a good friend and a good musician. Jerry Renino, bass
player for the Monkees and for each of the 
three of us individually at
various times, was found dead in his home Thursday, March 1st. Jerry
was an impeccable bass player, who never made a mistake, as far as I
can ever recall, and whose time was rigorously correct.
More than any of that, though, was his cheerful good fellowship, and his ability to be the go-to man under all circumstances. Throughout our time together, I never saw him belligerent, though he was just about fearless.
I first knew Jerry when we formed the Peter Tork Project in the early 80's. Since then he played with me on any number of occasions, and when the chance came to have him join the Monkees' back up band, I was eager to have him. He quickly became the captain of the band, doing the dozens of things it takes to make a band feel like a coherent unit, and not just an assortment of hired hands. He went back to school and studied music theory to outfit himself to be a musical director, and he succeeded in ways that made it look easy, tho' it can not have been so.
Meanwhile, he was always cheerful and always helpful. It's hard to imagine a better man, and a greater loss.
Safe travels, old buddyPeter
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