Under the Music: The 3 Legged Monster Story

3 Legged Monster, or 3LM as they are commonly known, rapidly rose to international superstardom on the wake of their debut 1973 concept album Line in the Sand.

3LM formed from the ashes of three bands in LA in 1970. Originally a five piece band called The Members (they weren't very creative yet, and figured since they had more than one member, The Members would be an apt name), the band haphazardly toured northern California and Oregon trying to find their groove. Eventually Eddie "Yeah, I can play that" Sludgepigeon (keyboards) and Norwegian-born Floorn Noorsboord (ethnic percussion) left the band to pursue musical directions more in tune with their respective cosmic auras (remember, this was just after the sixties). Shortly thereafter, original drummer Brian Johnson succumbed to the temptations of wealth and material success and became an Evil Music Retailer.

This left just guitarist Marty Halgrimson and singer/bassist Mick Klein to carry on. They soon recruited drummer Johnny Holland and were back on their feet. Realizing there were now only three members, and not being good at math, Marty figured they need to change the bands name, and somehow or other they arrived at the now legendary 3 Legged Monster.

A buzz rapidly grew in the music scene, and 3LM was courted by several major labels. A deal was worked out, and in the fall of 1972 work began on Line in the Sand. Adored by fans and critics alike, this landmark album set a new standard for bands of the time. The album was a deep and introspective work that seemed to touch nearly every listener on some level. Meanwhile the band enjoyed touching their female fans on several other levels as their "far out and groovy" antics became the stuff of legend.

After the release of Line in the Sand, 3LM embarked on a mammoth 16 month world tour, chronicled in the documentary Dragging the Line, directed by a then unknown film student named Steven Spielberg. It is an in-depth profile of a band's hard work, perseverance, dedication, vice, indulgence, and chaos. Plus you get to see how much beer three guys can drink and still end a song on roughly the same note.

Sadly, the band buckled under the enormous pressure to deliver a sophomore effort that would live up to Line in the Sand. Though never officially disbanding, they went their separate ways to regain perspective. No one could have predicted it would be nearly 30 years before they would play together again.

Mick indulged his interest in emerging technology, but sadly invested his efforts in something called the "Betanet" and Targa computers. Homeless and penniless,Mick spent the next decade wandering the streets of various cities, playing on street corners for spare change, and riding on the coat-tails of his earlier success by forming short-lived "tribute bands" that never came close to capturing the fire that was 3LM. This was Mick's life, stuck on indefinite hold, clinging to a past that he could never regain, until perchance, running into Marty in Fargo, North Dakota in 1997. He cleaned up his act, went to college, and opened a chain of erotic-themed laundromats.

Marty, being the creative mastermind behind the band, was understandably overwhelmed by the need to top Line in the Sand. He immersed himself in his work, recording and destroying a series of works that never reached the ears of any other human being. These recordings became almost mythical holy grails to rock music for collectors and critics across the globe Rumors abounded of Marty completing entire albums, deep concept works with working titles and all... More Lines in the Sand, Thrust at the Black Cave of Night, Hanging with Mr. Stupor, Runes in the Dunes.... the list goes on.

Unable to produce a work that he felt measured up to the original, Marty spiraled into a decade long haze of drug and sex addiction before finding salvation in the arms of a woman he met in South Dakota on one of his frequent extended blackouts. She cured him of his vices, and put him back on the track to creative freedom. They moved to Fargo, where he built The Beat Plant, a state of the art 200-track studio, in his basement. After the biblical floods of 1997, he built an even larger 400-track studio in his attic.

Johnny wandered aimlessly for several years. Unable to think of anything else to do, he embarked on a mission to tour every brewery in the world. While sampling the ales of a remote monastery in Poon Mai Wang, Nepal, he found the path to his inner self. Joining the ranks of the monks, he cut his legendary locks of hair (both Gunnar and the other Nelson brother refer to Johnny's early years as "an unattainable inspiration"). Sadly, it never grew back. Ten years later he returned to civilization and released a solo album Hair Not There Anywhere. It received dismal critical and commercial response (9 copies sold, and Marty bought four of them). Desolate and despondent, he moved to Fargo in 1996 after seeing "the movie", because he "liked the cool hats".

So through a bizarre set of circumstances, even for a band beset by random curves of meteoric success and abysmal downfall, the wandering strangers who once were almost brothers find themselves living in the same city, and decide its time to regroup. They are hard at work on the follow-up to Line in the Sand, tentatively titled Rising Again. The world can only wait as a new chapter in the story of 3 Legged Monster opens.