‘The Monkees’: 3 Ways Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork Were ‘Partners in Silence’
The Monkees may have acted like they were happy-go-lucky band members on the set of their television series. Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz, and Davy Jones may have even acted friendly toward one another on stage during concerts. However, like with any partnership, some members don’t gel as naturally as others. Here are three ways Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork were “partners in silence” as Monkees members.
Mike Nesmith admits ‘Peter [Tork], and I went our own ways’
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Mike Nesmith admitted that he and Peter Tork typically “went our own ways.” He shared his take on their personal and professional relationship. Nesmith explained their estrangement was “known” on the series set.
“They knew Pete, and I went our own ways. This wasn’t a dislike of someone who had committed some infraction against me or some crime. It was an off-putting thing,” Nesmith continued.
“It was, ‘Oh, he likes to play paintball, and I don’t like to play paintball.’ So we never played paintball, but every once in a while, we’d find ourselves in the same paintball park because we owned it, so we had to keep it clean and do all the stuff we had to do, and we did do it,” Nesmith concluded of their relationship.
Mike Nesmith and Peter Tork ‘didn’t have too many civil words to say to one another
Per the same Rolling Stone interview, Nesmith explained that he and Tork “didn’t have too many civil words to say to each other, but we also didn’t fight all the time. We didn’t say much. There wasn’t a lot to say.”
Nesmith admitted that Tork would play him songs that he thought were good, and Nesmith didn’t—Vice-versa with how Tork reacted to much of Nesmith’s music.
“Then we just left it at that. Partners in silence,” he explained his and Tork’s songwriting process.
Nesmith said in 1967 that his closest friends were not members of The Monkees
In an interview for 16 Magazine, as republished by Cool Cherry Cream, Nesmith admitted that his closest friends were not members of The Monkees.
Nesmith cited the following pals as those he connected with most. “John London is one. We used to work together as Mike and John. He is a side-man when we tour now, playing bass guitar. Steve Blauner of Screen Gems, and Bert Schneider of The Monkees, are two other close friends.”
Nesmith said of his Monkees bandmates, “We were all friends on some level, very casual work-space partners. We enjoyed, to a degree, playing music.”
However, he did agree with Tork on one thing. They both believed in a fifth member of the band.
“When we were onstage, there was something that happened, a fifth member that sort of appeared supernaturally and cosmically that I’ve heard more than one person tell me about,” Nesmith shared with Rolling Stone.
“Pete said that to somebody once, I think to a New Age magazine, and they said, ‘Oh, that was the Monkees.’ I thought that was interesting. Maybe it was,” he concluded.
Micky Dolenz is the sole surviving member of The Monkees. Davy Jones died in 2012. Peter Tork passed in 2019, and Mike Nesmith in 2021.
