Prophet of Old

I found a CD re-release of Larry Norman's classic "raw" live album a couple of days ago (which I promptly bought, naturally), and it's great to hear a decidedly non-commercially friendly, but very passionate, album from a guy who had a HUGE influence on my early days as a Christian teenager.

Larry has always been an iconoclast -- "too rock 'n' roll for the Christians, and too Christian for the rock 'n' rollers", somebody once said. I've always admired him and been challenged by his no-holds-barred approach to both music and speaking out prophetically to the culture (and church culture) around him.

Here's some snippets from the liner notes of "Roll Away The Stone (and Listen to the Rock)":

"So while you're listening to this album, keep in mind that a lot has changed in the last 25 years. This is a concert by an artist who was angry at the music industry for cranking out gospel disco, gospel exercise records like Firm Believer and tepid radio-ready music which perpetuated mediocrity...

"Suddenly... limp gospel disco was the preferred musical style, and Larry was labelled as being too controversial... Christian music was scrubbed clean of the smudge and soil of the street ministries. It was hypo-allergenically sterile and consumable for the masses. Forget the visionary statements of the individuals... Mass marketing was what counted the most... 'The Merchants of Vinyl', Larry named them. 'These are the whores of the new Babylon...'

"Gospel companies were becoming part of the Borg Collective and Larry wanted nothing to do with that mentality. He could make a lot of money and be respected within the gospel music community or he could follow Jesus. At least that's the way he saw it."

Agree with him or not (and I don't always, myself), I admire someone who has thought through his beliefs, and stands up for them, even if it costs him.

Good on ya, Larry.