Larry Nolan (Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows)

Larry “Big Twist” Nolan (b. Terre Haute, September 22, 1937 – d. Broadview, Illinois, 1990) – Singer, bandleader, and drummer. Terre Haute native Larry “Big Twist” Nolan got started playing drums in country bars in southern Illinois in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In the early 1970s in Carbondale, Illinois, he formed a band with saxophonist Terry Ogolini and guitarist Pete Special. With Nolan doubling on vocals and drums, the three of them comprised the nucleus of Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows. In 1978, the band—then about eight members strong and fronted by “Big Twist”—moved to Chicago. Their debut album on Flying Fish in 1980 established them as a slick horn-based band rooted in R & B and the Blues. Throughout the 1980s, the band recorded one more album with Flying Fish before switching to Alligator Records. Nolan’s strong, gravely vocals and intimidating physical presence as a sharply dressed 300 pound bluesman helped make Big Twist and the Mellow Fellows one the hottest acts in the Midwest college circuit. Following Nolan’s death of a heart attack in 1990, the group recorded another album with singer Martin Allbritton. Shortly thereafter, Special left and took the name Mellow Fellows with him, while other members including Ogolini and trumpeter Don Tenuto evolved into the Chicago Rhythm and Blues Kings.