RIP - Larry Norman

The Great Larry Norman

UPDATE - Yesterday while reading an interview Larry did, I read where he wrote the song, Why Don't you Look Into Jesus about Janis Joplin. His group People were performing a concert, and Janis was standing behind the curtain with a bottle of Southern Comfort in one hand, and a paper cup in the other. He was moved to write the song:

Sipping whiskey from a paper cup,
You drown your sorrows till you can't get up,
Take a look at what you've done to yourself,
Why don't you put the bottle back on she shelf,
Yellow fingers from your cigarettes,
Your hands are shaking while your body sweats,
Why don't you look into Jesus, He's got the answer

Don't go into shock, I am posting two days in a row. It is with great sadness that I must report one of my heroes, The Father of Christian Rock Music, Larry Norman has passed from this earth. His funeral was March 1st near Salem, Oregon.



When I was a radical Christian teenager, I loved Larry's no-compromise lyrics, and rockin' out tunes. I had never heard anything like it. From Why Should the Devil Have all the Good Music, to I Wish We'd All Been Ready he made music that sounded sort of like the Stones and Bob Dylan had a collision. Perhaps my favorite song, the Rock That Doesn't Roll depicted all that was great about Larry Norman's music. Larry was the originator of the "one way" hand signal, the index finger pointing upwards. The guy was a geniune pioneer.


He ended his life much like he lived it. He was writing music and trying to make an impact right up to the end. He also was pretty much shunning the spotlight, and music companies right to the end. In spite of his refusal to follow along with the main stream music companies, his ministry grew.

Excerpt from an interview with Contemporary Christian Music Magazine (CCM):

CCM: "What then was your view of the church?"

NORMAN: "I had no time for the church matrix. I didn’t think you needed a majority vote from the elders on the board to undertake a musical ministry. The churches weren’t going to accept me looking like a street person with long hair and faded jeans. They did not like the music I was recording. And I had no desire to preach the gospel to the converted. I wanted to be out on the sidewalk preaching to the runaways and the druggies and the prostitutes.

When non-believers used to criticize the church I would say, "Yeah, I agree and I think that God is disappointed in what people have done with Jesus." And then I would go on to talk about what Christ personally said and did. It worked. I wasn’t there to argue against people’s beliefs. I was there to talk about what God’s truth is."



Larry wrote a post at his blog shortly before his death. In that post he stated, I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home. He was gracious in life, even at the end. This is a guy who gets it.


You can read more about Larry at his website, http://www.larrynorman.com/ (that there is a link).


You can also order his music there. I would suggest you start with In Another Land or The Best of Larry Norman, Vol I


Rest in Peace Larry, you will be missed.