According to what I read, if they assigned roles in the Monkees on musical ability among the four, it'd be Tork.. Guitar, Nesmith.. Bass, Jones... Drums, Dolenz.. Lead singer
It seems Tork and Nesmith were both fairly competent players previously, I guess the criticism comes from the fact they were auditioned & assembled for the series, rather than came into being like a "real" band.
You can't argue with their success at the end of the day๐