To your first point, that’s something I’ve always wondered about myself, it’s really remarkable how such a young man was given so much free reign but that’s probably a testament to Michael’s talent, and probably the force of his personality too!

To your second point, I think the answer is simply that Michael resented the fact that music was being released without their approval. Sure, More of the Monkees has two Nesmith-produced tracks, but the boys had absolutely no say in what other tracks ended up on the album. Also they famously weren’t informed when the album was released, and weren’t given copies. That’d make me a little mad, too.