You may hear today about Larry Norman, who died last night at age 60. You’ll hear that he was the “Father of Christian Rock,” or that he was the genre’s Bob Dylan, or that with his death a chapter in Christian rock will end. But when it comes to Larry Norman, the usual clichés never apply.
In the late 1960s, after leading his band People! to #14 on the Billboard chart with the radio hit “I Love You,” Norman launched a solo career with an album he intended to call “We Need A Whole Lot More Jesus and A Lot Less Rock & Roll.” His record company, Capitol, balked, and Norman eventually ended up releasing the album on his own. He became a role model for others who wanted to rock out without denying their faith, and created an audience for an organically Christian brand of soft rock.
But he didn’t invent Christian rock, however, so much as unintentionally manage to become the first Christian crossover act–in the wrong direction. He never accepted the moniker, alienated Christians with frank lyrics (“You’re still looking for the perfect lay/You think rock and roll will set you free/But honey you’ll be deaf before you’re 33,” he sings in “Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus”) and his last public performance was his adored Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time.” Norman’s chapter in Christian rock closed long ago, with the rise of a safe, sanitized Jesus music aimed only at the faithful.
Norman was an idealist of the kind that grew up in Southern California in the ’60s: longhaired, righteous, and dedicated to the proposition that we should reject labels and see for, and be, ourselves. That makes his life an American story, not a Christian one. You can see vintage and recent clips of Larry singing here and here.
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posted February 26, 2008 at 5:44 pm
“YOU’LL BE DEAF BEFORE YOUR 33″ Research the lyrics before you write an article!
posted February 28, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Larry was one of the most influential Christians in American society in the last half of the 20th century.
He grew up in Northern California. In the late 60′s his band People! had a hit on Capitol records. The band then split up over internal religious issues. Larry stayed on as a solo artist, and recorded “Upon This Rock”, for Capitol, which is considered to be the first Christian rock album.
He then signed with MGM, and released “Only Visiting This Planet”, widely considered to be the finest Christian rock album ever recorded. This was followed by “So Long Ago the Garden”, also on MGM.
At this point, he started his own label, Solid Rock, and in addition to releasing his own album, “In Another Land”, he helped introduce the world to artists such as Randy Stonehill, Tom Howard, and Mark Heard. It wasn’t until Solid Rock that his work received widespread “christian” distribution.
Was he “the Father of Christian Rock”? Yes, and no. He was not the father of the CCM industry, nor of the insipid “praise and worship” music filling churches today. He was the Father of those whose desire is to take the gospel to the streets, to use art to express Truth where it most needs to be heard, and to do this all with a sense of artistic integrity and originality.
His influence on several generations of artistic-minded Christians is immeasurable. He will be sorely missed.
posted October 14, 2008 at 2:55 am
i met him. he was the real deal. he really did love us. that was beacause he had LOVE in his heart