Biography
Among musicians with fleeting stints in respected British rock outfits of the 1960s, few remain as little documented as Larry Nolan, the first guitarist in Soft Machine. Born in the United States, he entered the four-piece lineup that would evolve into Soft Machine in mid-1966, performing alongside Daevid Allen, Robert Wyatt, and Kevin Ayers. The group performed at the time under the name Mister Head before adopting the Soft Machine title soon afterward. Nolan exited after the band's fourth concert, held on September 30, 1966. Wrong Movements: A Robert Wyatt History notes that Nolan contributed to a pair of Kevin Ayers publishing demos taped with Soft Machine during summer 1966. In the same volume, Gilli Smyth describes Nolan as "an excellent guitarist who never quite fit in."