Book of Larry

I began playing keyboards as a child and continued through high school. As an organist, I really liked Booker T. from the MGs. My favorite songs by them were "Green Onions" and "Behave Yourself." I also liked Jimmy Smith and Ray Charles. I wasn’t influenced by the English keyboard players. I liked some of the Beatles music, even though it wasn’t our style. I thought the arrangements were very well done.

On a lot of our songs I would accent the rhythm. Sometimes I would carry the melody. On different songs we would end up with different results. We were more or less pursuing and evolving into a different type of group. I don’t think we were imitating anyone. There were musicians that I admired, but I didn’t imitate them. And I don’t think band was imitating anybody else either. We evolved into a different sound. We didn’t sound like other groups.

I’m surprised at this current interest in the group. After the Monks, I returned to Chicago, got a degree in electronics. I was with IBM for over twenty years, moved south to Mufreesboro, Tennessee, made some good investments, and retired at 49. I fly my plane and go motorcycling for hobbies. I was going in a completely different direction. I didn’t know magazine articles were being written on us. It was a pleasant surprise. I’ve been out of the music business all those years, and it was only last year that I found out that the Monks’ music was being revived, and that I was "the lost Monk." It was great to hear from the guys after all that time, and I read Eddie’s book, "Black Monk Time." And I hear that a movie is in the process of being made about the Monks. Wow! Go, Monks!

I’ve always been a motorcycle fan. I had a new Harley shipped over from the States, and in my spare time went sightseeing on it in the cities we visited. Motorcycling on the no-speed-limit autobahns was fun. I had my Sportster up to about 110.

We used to see the Tielman Brothers. We used to play with some of the English bands, like the Kinks. There was a band called Manfred Mann. We played with them on TV. We also played with Jimi Hendrix. His music was different.

It seemed that we were always touring - loading and unloading instruments, setting up, and playing in so many cities and towns. I liked Germany. It seemed like it rained a lot over there and as a motorcyclist that was a disadvantage. We picked up some of the language. Fortunately, though, we found that a lot of the Germans spoke English. When we played, the audience was able to speak to us in English.

The other members in the group drank a little. I was a non-drinker. I never liked the taste. I’ve been asked about the different personalities in the group. We were together for over four years, and got along pretty well, with only the expected minor disagreements from time to time. For me, personally, I guess I liked Dave the best for his friendly and easy-going personality. I read that I was upset with Dave, and that seemed odd to me, because I don’t remember feeling that way.