RIP Larry Norman

[Phy]

Larry Norman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Norman) was the father of Christian Rock. You may remember songs of his like "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" and "Why Should The Devil Have All the Good Music". Larry Norman died early this morning following a lengthy illness.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/LN_ONLYVISITING.JPG


MESSAGE FROM SOLID ROCK - PLEASE READ
Hello everybody.

Our friend and my wonderful brother Larry passed away at 2:45 Sunday
morning. Kristin and I were with him, holding his hands and sitting in
bed with him when his heart finally slowed to a stop. We spent this past
week laughing, singing, and praying with him, and all the while he had
us taking notes on new song ideas and instructions on how to continue
his ministry and art.

Several of you friends here got to come and visit with him in the last
couple of weeks and were a great source of help and friendship to Larry.
Ray Sievers, Derek Robertson, Mike Makinster, Matt Simmons, and a few
more. Thank you guys. Larry appreciated your visits very much. And he
greatly appreciated the thoughts, wishes, support and prayers that came
from all of you Army members on a daily basis. Thank you for being part
of his small circle of friends over the years. Yesterday afternoon he
knew he was going to go home to God very soon and he dictated the
following message to you while his friend Allen Fleming typed these
words into Larry's computer:
________________________________

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.

My brother Charles is right, I wont be here much longer. I cant do
anything about it. My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to
everyone. In the past you have generously supported me with prayer and
finance and we will probably still need financial help

My plan is to be buried in a simple pine box with some flowers inside.
But still it will be costly because of funeral arrangement,
transportation to the gravesite, entombment, coordination, legal papers
etc. However money is not really what I need, I want to say I love you.

I'd like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort. There will be
a funeral posted here on the website, in case some of you want to
attend. We are not sure of the date when I will die. Goodbye, farewell,
we will meet again.

Goodbye, farewell, we'll meet again
Somewhere beyond the sky.
I pray that you will stay with God
Goodbye, my friends, goodbye.

Larry
________________________________________

Thank you to all of you who were so nice to my brother over the years.
Kristin and I will post funeral information in the next day or two.
Right now we're not able to function very well, but the whole family is
here... our mother Margaret, our sisters Nancy and Kristy, Mike Norman
and his new wife Tiffany, and Silver.

We miss him beyond words. Thank you for everything.

Peace to you all in Christ,

Charles Norman


As a trivia note, my online handle, Phydeaux (Phy, for short) came from Larry Norman's bulldog, and also from the record label of the same name.

[ProfessorAlan]

I remember going to a fund-raiser ocncert of his maybe 10 years ago. Yes, he battled illnesses for along time.

Interesting guy, influential musician. I'll miss him.

[Tamera]

I will miss him. His music had a great influence on me when I was a young Christian.

[Cymrugirl]

Glad I caught him at Cornerstone a few years back. He looked great then. Sad to hear that he's gone.

[Ransom v. Unman]

Found a really solid essay talking about his contribution to music in the Kingdom – and contrasting it subtly (or not) with what the world has done with it.

http://www.internetmonk.com/articles/L/larry.html

Frankly, I think there's much we as writers can learn from this brilliant musician's example.

[Tamera]

Good essay, Austin. Thanks for making it available to us.

[ProfessorAlan]

He was uncomfortable (to say the least) with the notion of a "christian music industry."

[Phy]

Chris Willman wrote up a nice piece in Entertainment Weekly:
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/02/remembering-chr.html

Favorite line: "Of course, I got a big smile on my face as the youth pastor’s disappeared, because, as a rock kid, I lived for status quo-breaking moments like that one, when a "Christian concert" could turn into something altogether less predictable. He didn’t always follow through on his early promise, but that’s the Larry Norman I’ll remember — the maverick who never deviated from his chosen mission in search of any big brass ring, but who didn’t give many second thoughts to subverting the expectations of fellow believers, either."

I was thinking about this on the way home last night. Terry Taylor of Daniel Amos did follow through on his early promise, and so much more, and yet he still labors in near obscurity while being the one who really did stretch and transform early Christian rock. What I decided was that we needed all of them; Norman, DA, Stonehill, Malcom & Alwyn, Lovesong, all of them, to help grow and nurture and stretch and craft the musical freedom we have today.

That got me thinking about who today's mavericks and visionaries are in the writing world. It's easy to identify the Peretti's and the Dekker's - it's the others who are just beginning to make their presence felt, or who just preparing to, who interest me. Maybe it will be you. Maybe it will be me.

[ProfessorAlan]

It's often the obscure ones who -- years later -- turn out to be the influential ones.

The 2000 death of Gene Eugene struck me awfully hard in these terms.

[Phy]

I was sad when Mark Heard died. I was shocked when Rich Mullins passed on. But I only wept for Gene Eugene. The Lost Dogs have been brilliant since then, but they have never been the same.

[ProfessorAlan]

And of course Keith Green.

But the more time that passes, the further back in time the foundings of the modern Christian music scene becomes, the passings of the greats will start to come more and more regularly. Time marches on.

[Cymrugirl]

Another great article at Burnside Writer's Collective: http://www.burnsidewriterscollective.com/general/2008/03/larry_norman_says_goodbye.php

According to this, it was his last interview.