But when Nesmith revealed that fact to reporters, music critics quickly turned on “The Monkees,” dismissing the show as a fraud and the band as the “Prefab Four,” a mocking reference to the Beatles’ nickname, Fab Four. Nesmith and Tork, the group’s two most accomplished musicians, railed against the program’s refusal to allow them to play their own instruments at recording sessions. It would be the first of many confrontations Nesmith would have with producers during a tumultuous two-year run in which “The Monkees” won the 1967 Emmy for best comedy series. After pausing to gaze at a painting as if it were a mirror, he sat down and immediately put his feet up on a desk.īut he rebelled almost immediately when producers told him they were going to call his character “Wool Hat.” He demanded they use his real name, as they did with the other actors. With a harmonica around his neck, he stormed into a casting office, banging the door loudly.
Nesmith, with his twangy Texas accent and the wool hat he’d worn to his audition, became the serious but naive lead guitarist.Ī prankster by nature, he’d arrived at the audition carrying a guitar and bag of dirty laundry he said he planned to wash immediately afterward. Tork, a folk-rock musician, portrayed the comically clueless bass player. Dolenz became the wacky drummer, although he had to learn to play the drums as the show went along. Jones, with his British accent and boyish good looks, was the group’s cute lead singer. Three others, “I’m a Believer,” ″Daydream Believer” and “Last Train to Clarksville,” reached No. Each episode rolled out two or three new Monkees songs, six of which became Top 10 Billboard hits during the show’s two-year run.
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