Think there's another thread, which I can't find at the moment, about this.
The Monkees were a typically Americanised manufactured band assembled to try and provide that country's competition to the Beatles. They failed, but the assembled ranks of songwriters charged with providing the competition to the likes of Sgt Pepper and Revolver did come up with some catchy and memorable tunes and the Monkees were not as cringeworthy as they might have been.
Mike Nesmith's connection with the Monkees clearly helped his career after the demise of that band, but, in contrast to his three colleagues, I think he showed that he had the talent to have probably made it on his own if the Monkees had never existed - Different Drum is a lovely record.
RIP