Why was Stephen Stills not successful in his Monkees audition?
Pure aesthetics. The network was looking for attractive young men who would look good on television screens; their target audience was primarily teenage girls, and they wanted teen idols. Now, Stills was a perfectly attractive young man overall, and of course a stellar musician, but he had bad teeth, and fine hair that was beginning to thin even at 20. There was no way they were putting Stephen’s snaggleteeth on national television.
They did like his overall look, however, which is why they specifically asked him if he knew anyone who resembled him — what they called an “open, Nordic look” — but with “better teeth and hair”, prompting him to recommend his friend Peter Tork.
Frankly, being rejected for The Monkees was probably the best thing that ever happened to Stills. Peter Tork was himself a fine musician, and a serious one, but because he was a Monkee, he never achieved the level of respect or individual success he may have otherwise.
Stills’ rejection was a good thing for the rest of us, too — if Stephen had become a Monkee, there may well have been no Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, or Manassas, no “For What It’s Worth”, “Helplessly Hoping”, “Southern Cross”, “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”, “Johnny’s Garden”, etc.
So I suspect Stephen has no bitterness today over not having been a Monkee.
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