Well, here we go. On this and following pages, I'll try to tell what it was like (for me) when the people that were later to call themselves "The Left Nut" first came together. We'll see the highs and lows, the dynamics of the times, and the inner workings of just a bunch of guys from Jersey who thought they could make a go of this music business.

BIG ANDY

It was the summer of 1972 and I had just finished a year of college. Don't get me wrong, I think that college is one of the better things that you can do for yourself. It's just that for me, personally, it was done for all the wrong reasons. The war in Vietnam was really heating up and they were going to start up the draft. When they picked the numbers guess who was Number 1? Right... so I was left with three choices. Go to 'Nam, go to Canada, or go to School.

I guess you can figure out which won. Suffice to say, it was not with a higher education in mind, that I went. Now, just wasting a year drinking, hanging out, and sleeping. I was sure ready for the summer! Into the equation comes my brother Don (who we'll talk about later) who says he knows some guys that want to start a band. He says that they need a singer and wants to know if I'd like to do it. This was how I met Steve Shevlino and Steve Lundy. They seemed alright (any BODY would have done) but Lundy had a guitar and amp! What else do you need!

Having recently grown from 4'8" to 5'11", waving my new shoulder length hair, and possessing a newly found attitude I, of course, said yes. Heaven help the World, we were gonna KICK AS*. There were just a few problems. Money, Equipment, Money, etc. But we'd worry about that later.

As the summer went by small things started to come together. Steve Shevlino (hereafter referred to as "Shevy") decided that he wanted to play Keyboards. Steve Lundy was to play Guitar and my brother Don would play Bass. We had a couple practice sessions, picked out some songs, but mostly hung out and got drunk. After all it was the summer.

But soon, summer was over and things began to change. First, Shevy normally lived up North and just stayed at the shore during the summer. Also, without a drummer the songs sounded pretty lame.

While going through High School my best friend was Len Salek (a.k.a. Wolfman). I got some of my finer Left Nut attitudes from him. Len could dance (boy, could he dance.) and a lot of my early memories are going to dances and freaking out. You see Len and I just didn't dance like normal people do. I guess the closest description would be of the scene from "Wayne's World" when they shake their heads in the car combined with the maniacal writhing of a spastic colon. Our trademark move was doing a front somersault off of anything. I thought this would be just the person to get in the band.

Well, we had all the members of the band (or so we thought) and we set up a few practices. Picked out some songs and away we went. Then the problems came. Nobody had transportation for practice, guys weren't learning songs, and everybody wanted to be the leader. On top of this there was the problem of ability.

You see, I was led to believe that Lundy could play guitar. After all, he had a guitar and amp. Sadly, this was not so. Don't get me wrong he was a fun guy to hang out with, but by this time, the music bug was starting to get a hold on me. As I got to know Shevy better I could see it had the same effect on him.

One day in December of '72 Shevy tells me he knows this really good guitar player and that we should try to get him in the band. Presto, Change-o, out with the old in with the new. Lundy didn't seem to mind that much, I guess we were just going in different directions.

We had already decided to call ourselves "The Left Nut" by then. One night we were screwing around with a local cop we knew (I won't tell you how or why we knew him, suffice to say we were not fine, legal, upstanding citizens) switching cars, drinking, f*cking off, when he says "You guys are the craziest bunch of S.O.B.'s I've ever known. You're all just a bunch of Left Nuts". Bam, drop dead right on the spot, there's our name!

Got some E-mail from a band in Australia called "Left Nut" (not affiliated with my band, but seem to be doing very well). Seem like a fine bunch of mates to be carrying on the name. As you may or may not know, my "Nut" has been inactive for quite some time now and if the doctors can ever figure out what the problem is...anyway, good luck guys! If anyone is interested in the Australian Left Nut they can visit them at the site below. That's all for now and like Canned Heat's "Big Fat" said, " ... Don't Forget To Boogie!!"

04/03/2001...Just thought I'd share a note from the mates in Australia...Just goes to show ya "The Nut" is WORLDWIDE...and...with Mates Like Matt "The Nut"goes on and on..."Long Live The Nut"!!!!

G'day Johnny H!

Great to get your note. I really enjoyed Andy's website and the whole Left
Nut story is a riot! I'm really proud i can be part of it too. Fuck man, I
can relate to so much of the tale, it certainly is a crazy ride.

I believe there's (was?) a Left Nut from Boston as well (about 1990?). Their
promo is pretty funny too. I guess there's only a few about that would dare
to be in a Band named Left Nut. That says something for us all, hahaha.
Meanwhile, we'll keep pluggin' away and havin' fun. I really appreciate the
note, the guys will get a kick from it.

Thanks for the new link, I'll fix that up soon. Its been awhile since I've
check out Andys page. It'll be cool to read it again, it kept me grinning
last time. Maybe you guys got some MP3's? It would be great to put some
sound to some images...which reminds me of a heap of work to do on our site.
This internet is great shit but it takes some time and patience dont it?

Regards, Matt Pursell

Big Andy

Left Nut-Australia. "Nut-Knock Rock!"

Rotten.com. Turned onto by Johnny.