Larry Norman Home At Last
Vintage Christian rocker Larry Norman died on Sunday morning, February 24, aged 60. What a loss! Larry was a statesman for Christian rock and folk music.
I remember picking up his records in a store back in 1977 (Upon This Rock, Only Visiting This Planet, and So Long Ago The Garden, In Another Land) and being encouraged that there was a bridge between the sacred music culture of my parents’ generation and the emerging popular culture of my own generation. Larry, with his colleagues, sang and talked about real things in their concerts and albums. I went to Larry’s concert in Dunedin as a teenager in the late 1970s. I was deeply impressed by Larry’s commitment to helping Christians improve their attitudes towards each other and the world. Larry was copping a lot of flack from the conservative wing of the church for his use of rock music. His perseverance gave courage to many of us who were struggling to perform in new musical genres as Christians.
Larry Norman Songs in my blood
I Wish We’d All Been Ready - a song for a rapture-obsessed generation
Why Should the Devil Have All The Good Music? - a response to criticism of Christian rock music
Why Don’t you Look Into Jesus? - evangelism meets rock music
The Rock That Doesn’t Roll - ditto
I am a servant - ego on the line for God
U.F.O. - thinking beyond this planet
For more information check out www.larrynorman.com and the Wikipedia article on Larry.
via Rodney Olsen
2 Responses to “Larry Norman Home At Last”
By Rodney Olsen on Feb 27, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for finding that video. It’s one of the songs that I’ve had going through my head ever since I heard the news.
Right near the start of the video he flashes that amazing smile he had. He could light up a room with that one.
By matt on Mar 9, 2008 | Reply
I remember listening to Larry Norman on cassette in a car during some church youth group excursion one weekend. Good memories (though I shudder now at the thought of some random youth leader driving a car full of teenagers at high speeds on the highway).