I Wish We'd All Been Ready

Note: I've moved my blog to my own web site - the new address is:
www.nonaverage.net/insomanywords/
Comments can only be left at the new location.

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You probably won't read about this on Yahoo! News or CNN, or see it on "Good Morning, America". It won't be front page news in your local paper and probably won't be the talk of the office at the water cooler tomorrow morning. But this morning at 2:45 A.M., Larry Norman passed away, a little over a month shy of his 61st birthday. Today, and for several days to come, there will be hundreds of blogs and articles written about Larry and his effect on modern Christianity and music as well as testimonies to the impact of Larry's music on individuals (and I am one of those individuals). But even with all that will be written, it will still be difficult if not impossible to fully express Larry's influence on several generations of musicians and believers. He is known as the grandfather of Christian rock, but he was never comfortable with the multi-million dollar industry that developed out of the ministries of musicians like himself who simply wanted to share their faith through their music. And that message of faith is the main message you got from Larry in everything that he did - he wanted the world to know about Jesus, and his music always expressed that. Of course, as with all who obtain some measure of fame, he didn't have a perfect life - he was an extremely talented singer/songwriter/musician who, while giving interviews, would brag about himself or drop the names of famous people like an insecure sycophant, as through he needed to validate himself in some way (he didn't need to). He had a 40+ year career of selling hundreds of thousands of records/tapes/CDs and influencing thousands more who enjoyed his music and admired and respected him, yet at the end of his life he struggled to pay his medical bills. He preached about the compassion of Jesus and and the importance of giving to the poor, and he criticized corporate greed and wealth, yet he offended and broke relationship with some of his musician friends by withholding their royalty payments and the rights to their music for decades (my understanding is that he finally resolved these issues in recent years). He wrote songs with lyrics like "watch what you're doing", yet he married the ex-wife of one of his best friends. He was a hypocrite, he made many mistakes and sometimes said foolish things, but maybe that's part of the reason his songs had such an effect on so many of us - because he was just like us.

I first heard of Larry Norman from the leader of the youth group I attended in 1972. I was one of the group's musicians, and our leader asked me to play "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" on guitar. When I told her that I'd never heard of that song, she looked at me with wide-eyed amazement and asked "You mean you've never heard 'I Wish We'd All Been Ready'?. You HAVE to hear this song!". So I listened, and although I wasn't impressed on first listen, I soon understood the impact of the song's concept. A while later I picked up my first Larry Norman album, a record I found at a garage sale and still own - Only Visiting This Planet. It's still my favorite Larry album, recorded in 1972 in the time period between Upon This Rock and So Long Ago The Garden - many fans consider these three albums Larry's best work. Larry continued putting out albums, and while many of them were just repackaging of his older songs, some newer albums like 2001's Tourniquet showed that Larry still had something creative to say. Larry lived in Salem, Oregon for the last several years - it's only a 6 hour drive from where I live, and I was tempted to drive there and try to meet him, but he didn't know me and had no reason to meet me, so I never made the trip. He suffered from heart problems and bad health for the last several years, and that is what finally got the best of him, although thankfully he is no longer suffering.

Larry, I know you're finally resting like never before. To your family I offer my condolences - your fans, me and the thousands all around the world, will miss you, but we've all "got to learn to live without you".

Nothing really changes, everything remains the same, we are what we are 'till the day that we die

King Of Hearts

Note: I've moved my blog to my own web site - the new address is:
www.nonaverage.net/insomanywords/
Comments can only be left at the new location.

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In the early 70s I was living in Southern California playing bass guitar in a little-known Christian band called Crossfire. Our band did cover songs from several well-known Christian bands of the time including several songs by a band called Love Song. At the time, Love Song was a premier “Jesus Music” group and was probably at the height of their popularity, so we were disappointed when, in 1974, we learned that the band had broken up. However, in 1976 Love Song went out on a reunion tour, and in March of that year my friend Mark and I went to see their show in Santa Monica, Ca. Sitting in the auditorium waiting for the show, we were primed to see Love Song and a bit impatient, so we were a little disappointed when the show started and out walked an opening act. It was a guy - a tall, skinny geeky-looking guy with thin-rimmed glasses and long, curly blond hair, wearing skin-tight blue jeans that had multi-colored patches randomly attached, and topped off with a blue t-shirt that had a yellow Superman emblem on the front. Mark and I glanced at each other and grimaced, and I said something like “Let’s hope this guy’s set is short so we can get to the real music”. The skinny geek had a nice Martin guitar (a D-28, I believe) strapped around his neck, and he stepped up to the mic amid scattered laughing and started his first song. Right away we realized that the geeky guy could play guitar well, and his Martin sounded pretty awesome. Then he started singing - he had a nice voice and he could really hit the high notes. His songs were very good, and in between songs he made comments and told stories that had the audience laughing hysterically. So after the concert Mark and I headed straight to the lobby and bought the geeky guy’s record album, Welcome to Paradise. I still own that record, and after all these years I’m still listening to, and enjoying, the music of that guy, Randy Stonehill, who turned out to be not so geeky after all.

Several years ago I had the pleasure of playing with Randy. He came to our church for a concert, and our pastor asked him to play “King Of Hearts” with our church’s worship team (I was the bass player). Several months later Randy came back for another concert and asked if our band would play with him again, this time for several songs and also at another concert at a second church. Quite a thrill for a long-time fan like me! Now, I’m not wanting to sound syrupy or gushy, but meeting Randy and hanging out with him really caused me to respect him more than ever. Again and again I saw him interact with his fans, always being patient and treating them with compassion and respect, always stopping to listen and spend time with them. One particular encounter I remember was after a Sunday morning service. Randy had just finished playing and was in the lobby alone at his merchandise table when a man approached. The man started mouthing words and moving his hands - he was deaf, but he was able to communicate to Randy that he wanted Randy to wait in the lobby. The man left, then returned a few minutes later with a friend who knew sign language. Randy took the two of them out to a small, umbrella covered table in the courtyard and sat with them for a half hour or more while the deaf man, through his translator, asked questions and “talked” with Randy. I think I will always remember that image of Randy sitting with them in the courtyard… that’s what I think of when I think about Randy, which I suppose might please Randy more than thinking about that skinny geeky guy in the Superman shirt.