Larry Norman

Larry Norman (2001)

Larry David Norman (* 8. April 1947 in Corpus Christi , Texas ; † 24. February 2008 in Portland , Oregon ) was a US -American singer and composer . He was considered one of the most important pioneers of modern Christian music .

Life

Larry Norman grew up in the black ghetto in San Francisco and later explained that this was the reason why he could not do anything with traditional white church music . He was a member of the rock band People! . This band released their first record in 1968 and landed in the top 20 of the US charts with the song I Love You . Norman left the band in 1969 and released his first solo album, Upon This Rock .

Norman was one of the first artists to release serious modern music with Christian lyrics. In his 1972 song Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music (German: "Why should only the devil have the good music"), he laid the foundation for many other artists, in which he demonstrated that you can live as a Christian can and listen to rock or even play. The lyrics of the song are based on a quote from William Booth , the founder of the Salvation Army . Later on, Norman was often referred to as the grandfather of Jesus Rock . Billboard called him the most important songwriter since Paul Simon . In 1972, Norman made his acting debut in the second part of The Blob . In the 1970s, Norman produced his friend Randy Stonehill's first albums .

Norman founded the record label Solid Rock Records in 1975 . This released Stonehill's Welcome to Paradise and albums by Daniel Amos, Tom Howard and Mark Heards Appalachian Melody . He barely survived a plane crash in 1978 and suffered severe brain damage that healed completely after years. No studio album was released during the next twelve years. Disagreements with his record company Word Records ended with the dissolution of the Solid Rock Records label in 1980. Norman moved to Europe and founded the Phydeaux label . In 1990 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Christian Artists Seminar . In the same year he gave legendary seven concerts in the Moscow Olympic Stadium , each with 35,000 spectators.

In 1992 he suffered a serious heart attack . An operation seemed pointless, as the doctors assumed that he had no chance of survival. A surgeon dared the operation, inserted a novel pacemaker, and Norman survived. Since then, long trips and appearances have hardly been possible for him. On June 24, 2005, Larry Norman officially gave his last US concert in Salem (Oregon) . Since his health improved again, this officially last concert was followed by more concerts in Europe, again in 2007. There he made some of his last studio recordings in Berlin and sang two songs for her album Early Morning Hours with Sarah Brendel . He last lived in Portland, where he died in February 2008 at the age of 60.

In 2001 he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame by the Gospel Music Association .

Discography

1. People: I Love You (1968)
2. People: Both Sides Of People! (1969)
3. Upon This Rock (1969)
4. Street Level (1970)
5. Bootleg (1971)
6. Only Visiting This Planet (1972)
7. So Long Ago The Garden (1973)
8. In Another Land (1976)
9. Streams Of White Light (Into Darkened Corners) (1977)
10. Larry Norman (1977)
11. The Israel Tapes (with People ) (1980)
12. Roll Away The Stone (And Listen To The Rock) (1980)
13. Something New Under The Son (1981)
14. Larry Norman And His Friends On Tour (with Norman Barratt and Alwyn Wall ) (1981)
15. Barking At The Ants / The British Invasion (1981)
16. Letter Of The Law (1982)
17. Labor Of Love (1982)
18. The Story Of The Tune (1983)
19. Come As A Child (1983)
20. Quiet Night (1984)
21. Barchaeology (1984)
22. Stop This Flight (1985)
23. Back To America (1985)
24. Down Under (But Not Out) (1986)
25. Rehearsal For Reality (1986)
26. White Blossoms From Black Roots (1988)
27. Home At Last (1989)
28. Live At Flevo (with Q-Stone ) (1989)
29. The Best Of The Second Trilogy (1989)
30. The Best Of Larry Norman (1990)
31. Barking At The Oops! Rough Mix # 3 (1990)
32. Stranded In Babylon (1991)
33. Children Of Sorrow (1994)
34. Totally Unplugged (1994)
35. A Moment In Time (1994)
36. Footprints In The Sand (1994)
37. Omega Europe (1994)
38. Remixing This Planet (1996)
39. Gathered Moments (Somewhere In This Lifetime) (1996)
40. Shouting In The Storm (with Beam ) (1998)
41. Breathe In, Breathe Out (with Beam ) (1998)
42. Copper Wires (1998)
43. Live At The Mac (1979)
44. We Wish You A Larry Christmas (1999)
45. The Vineyard (1999)
46. Rough Street Love Letter (1999)
47. Father Touch (1999)
48. The Cottage Tapes - Book One (with Randy Stonehill ) (1999)
49. In The Beginning (2000)
50. Blarney Stone (2000)
51. Sticks And Stones (2000)
52. Tourniquet (2001)
53. The Belfast Bootlegs (2001)
54. Agitator (2002)
55. Collaborator (2002)
56. Survivor (2002)
57. Instigator (2002)
58. Rock, Scissors et Paper (2003)
59. Live At Cornerstone (2003)
60. Restless In Manhattan '72 (2003)
61. American Roots (2003)
62. The Very Best of Larry Norman Volume 1 (2003)
63. Road Rage (2003)
64. Christmastime (2003)
65. Snowblind (2004)
66. Infiltrator (2004)
67. Liberator (2004)
68. Heartland Junction (2004)
69. The Cottage Tapes - Book Two (with Randy Stonehill ) (2004)
70. The Norman Invasion (2004)
71. Emancipator (2004)
72. 70 Miles From Lebanon (2004)
73. Underground Manouevers (2005)
74. The Very Best Of Larry Norman Volume 2 (2005)
75. Hattem (2005)
76. Siege At Elisnore (2005)
77. 4 Track Motorola '66 Corolla (2005)
78. Live At the Elisnore (2005)
79. Ten Times Two (with Randy Stonehill ) (2005)
80. Snapshots from the '77 World Tour (2005)
81. The Norman Conquest (2005)
82. Slinky (2005)
83. Monsters (2006)
84. Wounded Lion (2006)
85. How Then Shall We Live (2006)
86. The Best of People Volume 1 (2006)
87. The Best of People Volume 2 (2006)
88. Dust On Rust (2006)
89. Safecracking (2006)
90. Face To Face (2007)
91. Pot O 'Gold (2007)
92. People - The Reunion Concert (2007)
93. Sixty - The Trilogy Concert (2007)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Website of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame ( Memento of the original from December 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

Web links

• Official website
• Larry Norman in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Larry Norman biographer Allen Flemming's website