Larry Who?
The Father of Contemporary Gospel
Before O Happy Day
Let me try and connect the dots: in the late 50’s Larry Norman
fronted a band called People which was signed with Capitol
records. People had a big hit, “I Love You,” but Capitol refused
to allow Norman to title their album, We Need A Whole Lot
More Jesus and A Lot Less Rock & Roll, so Norman ultimately
left the group, which fell apart without his writing talent.
Norman signed with Verve/MGM, releasing startling, unprecedented
rock music with Christian lyrics. While hardly shocking now,
this stuff was reviled as Satanic by conservative Christians,
and Larry was ostracized from the mainstream of Christian
circles. Meanwhile, the Christian content was so offensive to
the secular retailers that nobody knew what to do with him.
Norman recorded one secular album for MGM, So Long Ago The
Garden, but, while not overtly Christian, the obvious
Christian themes were still off-putting.
Getting nowhere fast with the record labels, Larry formed his
own, Solid Rock Records, and eventually worked out a
distribution deal with Word Records, which was emerging as a
leader in contemporary Christian music. Word heavily edited
Norman’s content, and Norman lost a bunch of fights with them,
finally releasing the final part of The Trilogy, In Another
Land, in 1976. Compared to his earlier work, In Another
Land, while still high-octane Norman, had clearly been
de-clawed by Word, and the relationship was not a happy one.
Now, follow me: in 1969, Edwin Hawkins released "Jesus, Lover Of
My Soul" as a single. Pop radio stations and listeners soon
discovered the record's B-side and the song— “Oh Happy
Day”—simply exploded, becoming one of the earliest contemporary
Gospel hits ever released. Norman’s 1960’s innovations helped
break down barriers to permit a cultural revolution in Gospel
music, as more and more Christian artists began experimenting
with contemporary styles. Not quite rock—that was going too far.
But slowly, a quiet revolution had begun. “Oh Happy Day” was
released into that turbulent Vietnam era environment, where it
found acceptance and success.
Which, in turn, created an opportunity for a young preacher’s
kid named Andraé Crouch. Crouch built on the modern stylings of
Hawkins’ hit, carving out his own R&B sound in the early 70’s
before landing his own deal with Light records, Word’s black
artist label, in 1974. It’s hard to conceive now, but Andraé
Crouch was openly reviled, rebuked from pulpits, for his
aggressive mixing of R&B and Gospel lyrics, a mix which became
more aggressive with each successive release. 1977’s “Perfect
Peace,” with its acid wah-wah’s, Brecker Brothers horn section,
Joe Sample piano riffs and Psychedelic Shack urban
groove, was the final proof that Crouch had in fact backslidden,
and pastors around the country just ripped the singer to shreds
from their pulpits—even while quietly adopting a classic anthem
Crouch cleverly placed on the album’s B-side, "Soon and Very
Soon," and adding Crouch classic “The Blood Will Never Lose Its
Power” to their hymnals.
Larry Norman made Edwin Hawkins possible, who made Andraé Crouch
possible, who got Walter Hawkins his record deal, and
Contemporary Gospel simply exploded from there, with even the
conservative James Cleveland moving toward contemporary styles
toward the latter days of his career. The Winans crystallized
the signature sound still dominating the charts today, a sound
refined all the more by Commissioned, whose lead singer, Marvin
Sapp, now has the hottest album on the charts.
Larry Who?
Norman In Africa: I used to wear my hair just like his.
Lonely By Myself
I met him once after a show. I was in journalism school and had
a press pass, but didn't need it. Larry routinely came out after
a concert to meet people and pray with them. He wasn’t a fan of
autographs, but he’d spend a few minutes with you. He’d pray
with you. He was short, and had the most amazing blue eyes ever.
A quiet intellectual, a thoughtful and devout Christian, he
changed my life in profound ways that are difficult to explain.
I don’t claim to be nearly as creative as he, but he reoriented
my thinking about Christianity, about the church. In many ways,
I blame him for making me such an outsider. But, see, once your
eyes have been opened, it’s very difficult to fit in again with
business as usual. The last song I recorded, before I just got
to the point where I was sick of being in the studio, was a
quickie cover of one of Larry’s songs, “Pardon Me.” It was for a
demo for a 13-year old girl who was terrified of the lyrical
content—which was why I wanted her to do it. I didn’t use any
sequencers, just kind of stayed up all night and slapped it down
real quick. Larry’s recording is much more fragile, just an
acoustic guitar and sad violas. The isolation in his original
struck me as how lonely awareness and discovery can make you.
The bible teaches us that to whom much is given, much is
required. Solomon, a man who pursued wisdom all his life, who
had seven hundred wives, was ultimately, likely, a lonely and
misunderstood person. Discovering truth, connecting with God in
a real, visceral way, awakens both your instinct and your
intellect. And it makes it that much harder to go back to being
ignorant. Wisdom often makes you an outcast. Creativity can
brand you as a nut.
Meet Larry.
Gospel Rambling: Liner notes from Only Visiting This Planet.
Hymn To The Last Generation
And that’s why I’m spending so much time talking about him. I’m not arrogant enough to say that if there was no Larry Norman there’d be no Marvin Sapp—God will bring to pass what He chooses. But he chose Larry Norman as a vessel to open doors. Marvin Sapp will sell more records this year than Larry did in his entire life. But we can trace Sapp’s success, his opportunity, right back to Norman’s living room. And, surely, this web ministry would not exist were it not for the profound impact Norman’s life and ministry had on mine. Larry Norman died in February of 2008 from complications from heart disease. Broke and uninsured, he’d been trying, unsuccessfully, to raise money for a heart transplant.
