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Larry Norman

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Larry David Norman (born April 8, 1947 in Corpus Christi, Texas) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer who is considered a pioneer of Christian Rock. He has had a strong influence on several later rock musicians and has been called the grandfather of Jesus music and Christian Rock.

Contents

History

In the late '60s he was a member of the rock band People!. People! released its first album in 1968 and had a Top 20 hit with the song, "I Love You" (written by Chris White of The Zombies).
photo of Larry Norman from the '70s.
photo of Larry Norman from the '70s.

Norman left People! and released his first solo album, Upon This Rock, in 1969. This could be considered the first Christian rock album, and included one of Norman's most memorable songs "I Wish We'd All Been Ready." The apocalyptic song, which portrays a regretful singer thrust into a bleak and violent post-rapture society, became an instant classic and was covered by many artists. Although Norman was not the first, there were very few artists making Rock and Roll records with Gospel lyrics at the time, possibly because so many people associated rock music with secularism and hostility to traditional morals and Christian values.

Larry Norman changed that and opened the door for other artists with his 1972 classic LP "Only Visiting This Planet." This groundbreaking LP included an anthem for the burgeoning Christian rock movement, "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music." What made the album particularly significant was the combination of credible rock and roll music with razor-sharp songwriting that critiqued both American society and the contemporary church. Norman's songwriting stunned many in the Christian music scene by its bold references to subjects ranging from the Vietnam War to veneral disease and even the U.S. space program. Songs such as "Great American Novel" attacked hypocrisy in the American public square. Others, such as "The Outlaw" portrayed Jesus as an anti-establishment figure, fitting with Norman's identification with the Jesus Movement. These songs and others were often covered by Christian musicians such as Steve Camp and DeGarmo and Key in later decades. However, Norman's contribution to Christian music went beyond the songs themselves. His use of critique, satire and unflinching songwriting launched a tradition within Christian rock that was continued by artists such as Steve Taylor, Daniel Amos and Resurrection Band.

A huge boost at the beginning of Norman's career was an appearance at the Campus Crusade for Christ International youth convention 'Explo '72' in Dallas, Texas (1972). But the road wasn't always easy for Norman whose shoulder length white/blond hair, jeans and tee shirt, and sharp, sometimes caustic diatribes against secular influences in Christianity did not win him many friends with the older generation in the church. In the meantime, teens (both religious and non-religious) were buying his records and attending his concerts in droves.

Norman's albums were a mixture of hard rock styles, with lyrics that were usually very serious, but occasionally very silly, (especially when performing with his best friend Randy Stonehill, whose first albums in the early 1970s were produced by Norman).

In 1972, Norman and Stonehill made their acting debuts in the Larry Hagman-directed the Blob sequel, [Beware! The Blob (1972)] (also known as Son of Blob)(sic). Also appearing in the film were Dick Van Patten, Burgess Meredith, and Cindy Williams.

In the late 1970s, Norman formed Solid Rock Records, which went on to release Stonehill's Welcome to Paradise and The Sky is Falling. He also produced Tom Howard's A View From The Bridge, and Mark Heard's Appalachian Melody among other titles from other artists and several of his own works.

But perhaps the most controversial involvement in Norman's career occurred over Daniel Amos's Horrendous Disc LP. The album had been dropped by Maranatha! Records after the label decided to quit releasing rock and roll albums and focus on children's releases and gospel music. So the band, now without a record contract, began to shop the project around to various labels. After considering a number of offers including the Warner Brothers' label Curb, Amos settled on Norman's Solid Rock Records. Norman had the album mixed and took photos of the band for the album's cover, though most of the tracks were recorded back in 1978 with Mike "Clay" Stone (Queen, Frank Zappa) as producer. For reasons that remain a mystery, the album was shelved until its release in April 1981, weeks before the band's follow up on Newpax Records, ¡Alarma!, hit record stores. Interestingly, while in People! during the mid 1960's, Norman shared the stage with D.A.'s Terry Scott Taylor in one of his early pre-Daniel Amos bands, Copperbrick Window. Decades later, Norman paid homage to Taylor on the D.A. tribute album, . However, the Horrendous Disc episode strained the relationship between D.A. and Norman.

Norman re-released Horrendous Disc on CD in 2000. The re-release stirred controversy among Daniel Amos fans by the inclusion of two covers sung by Norman of the song "Hound of Heaven," a straight-forward version and a lounge-style cut. Norman was also accused of being too defensive in his liner notes regarding the long-delayed release of the album in the late 1970s. The amount of controversy generated twenty years after the album's original release is a testament to the lasting, devoted fan base both Norman and the band Daniel Amos have retained throughout their careers.

The late 70's marked a difficult time for Norman. He was severely injured aboard an airplane in 1978 when an overhead compartment door fell on his head. He did not record a studio album for the next twelve years. A dispute with Word Records resulted in the dismantling of the Solid Rock label in 1980. Norman moved to Europe and formed the Phydeaux label.

In 1980 Norman was divorced by his wife Pamela. A few years later he married the ex-wife of his best friend and writing partner, Randy Stonehill. Her name was Sarah Finch and together they have a son, Michael Norman.

In 1992, he suffered a severe heart attack and was expected to live less than one week. He survived high-risk surgery and was left with very limited cardiopulmonary ability. Even though easily winded, he continued to perform, although very infrequently. He performed what was billed as his "final" concert in December of 2003. Then, in 2005 he announced two more "final" concerts: one in his adopted home of Salem, Oregon and the other at a seaside festival in Norway. Additional dates in the United Kingdom were also planned.

Norman was inducted into the Gospel Music Association's Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

Influence

Many artists have been influenced by Norman's music including Frank Black of the Pixies, who covered one of Norman's songs, "Six-Sixty-Six" on his album Frank Black & the Catholics. During the song "Levitate Me", Black says "Come on pilgrim, you know he loves you" - a phrase that Norman would use in his concerts. Black was one of the "special guests" at Norman's June 2005 concert in Salem, joining him on the song, "Watch What You're Doing".

Other artists such as DC Talk, Van Morrison and U2 count themselves as fans of Norman's. Guns N' Roses keyboard player Dizzy Reed performed on Norman's Copper Wires album. Norman claims Pete Townshend of The Who got the idea for the musical "Tommy" from the People! album I Love You (1968).

In the 1990s, animators for the popular television series, The Simpsons created a limited edition comic book featuring Norman as a Simpsons character. Watches were also sold that featured Norman's yellow, three fingered Simpsons likeness.

Characteristics of Norman's Music

The majority of Norman's music that was produced during his most creative years (1969 - 1977, or from "Upon This Rock" through "Something New Under the Son") was markedly different than that of other artists in Christian Rock Music. In the early years, this was partially because so few Christian Rock artists existed; however, this minimizes how significantly different Norman's music was from other music in the genre.

Quality of Production

Other than "Street Level" and "Bootleg", which were intentionally raw and underproduced, Norman's music was of a significantly higher quality, production-wise, than that of other music of the genre. Larry was able to get significant figures in secular music involved in the producion process, most notably George Martin and Andy Johns. Most of Norman's releases through 1977 had sound quality and delivery much closer to that of their secular counterparts than other Christian Rock music at the time, most of which was of a noticeably inferior quality.

In addition, there were times when the lyrical content of Norman's work was more on par with that of Bob Dylan or other significant writers of 60's, rather than the cliched, superficial lyrics of most of Christian Rock music of the time. His songs addressed topics far beyond those of his contemporaries, touching on politics ("The Great American Novel"), the eventual emptiness of free love ("Pardon Me"), the realities of war ("The Six O'Clock News"), witchcraft and the occult ("Forget Your Hexagram") and alienation ("Lonely by Myself").

Prophecy, Surrealism and Nightmares

A recurring thematic element in Norman's music is that of surreal imagery and nightmares. In many of the songs in this style, the main characters seem to move in and out of alternate times and dimensions. On his debut album "Upon This Rock", songs like "Ha Ha World" and "The Last Supper" presented verbal imagery that seemed a hybrid of biblical prophecy crossed with "The Twilight Zone".

This continued on "So Long Ago the Garden" with "Be Careful What You Sign" and the lyrically brilliant "Nightmare", in which the sleeper engages in a tortured conversation with a marioinette of Harpo Marx that rattles off apocalyptic warnings about mankind's future.

"In Another Land" saw a more subdued version of this element with "The Sun Began to Reign" (featuring Dudley Moore on piano), and stretching the paradigm a bit, the song "666" (featuring John Michael Talbot of Mason Proffit fame on banjo). However, "Something New Under the Son" once again took listeners into another journey into the surreal with "Larry Norman's 97th Nightmare" and to a lesser degree "I Feel Like Dying".

To appreciate this distinctiveness of this style, one needs to compare it to the other albums and artists of the time. While Norman was recording these types of songs in 1969, it was probably not until Daniel Amos's "Horrendous Disc", recorded nearly a decade later, that writing of this style began to emerge in Contemporary Christian Music.

Many of Norman's songs refer to "the last days" as described in the Book of Revelation. The inspired bringing-together of current affairs and these apocalyptic stories, and his uncompromising challenges to the Establishment and complacent attitudes ("You Gotta Feed the Poor") give him the hallmarks of a modern-day prophet. As with the Old Testament prophets, his messages have made him quite unpopular at times. Much to his credit, he perseveres.

Albums as Conceptual and Thematic Art

While the "concept" album had probably been born with the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's" album, Norman took the idea a step further. The albums "Only Visiting This Planet", "So Long Ago the Garden" and "In Another Land", were grouped together as parts 1, 2 and 3 of the first trilogy. In an interview with CCM, Norman claims that all of these albums were not only related as a look at the past, present and future, but that each album had its own themes and sub-themes. In addition he has stated that the track order of the songs was originally designed to allow certain thematic elements to occur at specified intervals within and across albums. Because the record companies refused to allow the songs to be placed in the order he intended, Norman complained that the hints and foreshadowing intended by this creative technique were ruined.

His "Only Visiting This Planet" album was noticeably written all in lowercase. In the 70's at concerts, he was known for some jokes such as referring being invited to the White House to teach Jimmy Carter hair care lessons. This referred to his icon or image of hair down to the waist by the mid to late 70's.

While the "Trilogy" albums were obviously related, Norman seemed to intend a greater relationship between his albums. When "Something New Under the Son" was released on vinyl, many of Norman's fans were puzzled by the album sleeve art, supposedly showing a different inner gatefold jacket, strange drawings, a series of letters that formed circles, numbers and the cryptic statement "Numbers Don't Count". Those who listened carefully to the album realized that Norman was hinting at (if not outright telling them) the names of his next seven albums. Later on, Norman claimed that the first seven albums were supposed to be (in some way) related to the first seven days of creation and that the number of words in the titles of each set of seven albums had symbolic meaning. The second seven albums (of which "Something New Under the Son" was the first) were to represent a second "week", but with a different creative direction. While these albums were never finished, "The Best of the Second Trilogy" (released by Phydeaux) gave a peek into three of the next seven albums.

As a single album, "Something New Under the Son" stands as one of Norman's great conceptual achievements. The album contains a collection of songs that (at first) seem to be vaguely familiar, either in style, or form. As the album continues on, borrowed elements from classic 50's and 60's rock begin to become apparent. By the time we reach "Larry Norman's 97th Nightmare" the blatant re-working of "Stagger Lee" is so obvious that Norman and the musicians break up laughing and have to start the song over again. The concluding song, "Let the Tape Keep Rolling" is so clearly a remake of "Johnny B. Goode" that even the most naive listener will realize that something is going on.

Selected discography

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Selected Contributions

External links

 

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