Hey, hey, it's the Monkees! For a very brief period back in the late 1960s, wild pop-rockers the Monkees ruled pop culture. Despite being made for TV to start out, the Monkees eventually developed into a respected and quite popular band. Here's the untold truth of the Monkees.
Some bands start in a garage. The Monkees started at Raybert Productions. Run by TV producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, the company had a deal with Screen Gems to develop a sitcom about a rock band, inspired by the madcap Beatles movies A Hard Day's Night and Help! That idea became The Monkees, a show about a group of funny guys who also played music. NBC was interested, and so Rafelson and Schneider hired Colgems Records executive Don Kirschner to oversee the musical aspects of the show.
To find the actual Monkees, Rafelson and Schneider placed an ad in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. It read:
"Madness!! Auditions. Folk & Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in new TV series. Running parts for 4 insane boys, age 17-21. Want spirited Ben Frank's types. Have courage to work. Must come down for interview."
Ben Frank's was a hip hangout on Hollywood's Sunset Strip, and it set the tone for exactly the sort of show the producers wanted. They were channeling the spirit of not just The Beatles, but of massive 60s juggernauts like the Lovin' Spoonful, who, incidentally, Rafelson and Schneider had approached about doing the tv show. They said no, recruiting ads were published, and the Monkees were hired.
The producers eventually auditioned 437 Los Angeles area actors and musicians, and finally found who they were looking for. Among the notable names who tried out were folk singer Stephen Stills; Danny Hutton, just before he joined the enormously successful Three Dog Night; and Paul Williams, who'd go on to appear in movies like Smokey and the Bandit and write award-winning songs like The Muppet Movie's "The Rainbow Connection".
Monkee masters Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider found three band members through that extensive audition process, but everyone knows the Monkees were a four-piece band. What happened?
The fourth slot was supposed to go to seasoned folk musician Stephen Stills, before he became the "Stills" in the iconic trio Crosby, Stills & Nash.
Stills turned down the chance to be a Monkee, but he was kind enough to recommend his potential replacement: Peter Thorkelson, a guy he'd played with in New York who he thought shared the look producers were after. Thorkelson, who adopted the stage name Peter Tork, landed the part of "Peter Tork" while also singing and playing bass in the band. Keep watching the video to see what no one ever told you about the Monkees!
Special Thanks to The Hollyhobs’ Leah Robins.
Leah writes many of our videos here at The Hollyhobs, delivering to you the facts about your favorite artists and music related topics. She is a valuable partner assisting with social media management, consultation, research, and many things that make this growing channel operate.
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