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Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace. For many years, Reader's Digest was the best-selling consumer magazine in the United States, losing the distinction in 2009 to Better Homes and Gardens. According to Mediamark Research, it reaches more readers with household incomes of $100,000+ than Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week and Inc. combined.^[2]

Global editions of Reader's Digest reach an additional 40 million people in more than 70 countries, with 50 editions in 21 languages. It has a global circulation of 17 million, making it the largest paid circulation magazine in the world. It is also published in Braille, digital, audio, and a version in large type called Reader's Digest Large Print. The magazine is compact, with its pages roughly half the size of most American magazines'. Hence, in the summer of 2005, the U.S. edition adopted the slogan, "America in your pocket." In January 2008, it was changed to "Life well shared."

History[link]

This section requires expansion with: Early years.

Inception and growth[link]

The magazine was started by DeWitt Wallace, while recovering from shrapnel wounds received in World War I. Wallace had the idea to gather a sampling of favorite articles on many subjects from various monthly magazines, sometimes condensing and rewriting them, and to combine them into one magazine.^[3] Since its inception, Reader's Digest has maintained a conservative^[4] and anti-communist perspective on political and social issues.^[5] The Wallaces initially hoped the journal could provide $5,000 of net income. Mr. Wallace’s continuing correct assessment of what the potential mass-market audience wanted to read led to rapid growth. By 1929, the magazine had 290,000 subscribers and had a gross income of $900,000 a year. The first international edition was published in the United Kingdom in 1938 and was sold at 2 shillings. By the 40th anniversary of Reader’s Digest, there were 40 international editions, in 13 languages and Braille, and it was the largest-circulating journal in Canada, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, Peru and other countries, with a total international circulation of 23 million.^[3]

The first "Word Power" column of the magazine was published in the January 1945 edition.^[6] The author's name, Wilfred J. Funk, was disclosed in the February 1945 issue.^[7] In December 1952 the magazine published "Cancer by the Carton", a series of articles that linked smoking with lung cancer.^[8] This first brought the dangers of smoking to public attention which, up to then, had ignored the health threats.

From 2002 through 2006, Reader's Digest conducted a vocabulary competition in schools throughout the United States called Reader's Digest National Word Power Challenge (NWPC). In 2007, the magazine said it had decided not to have the competition for the 2007–2008 school year, "but rather to use the time to evaluate the program in every respect, including scope, mission, and model for implementation."^[9]

In 2006, the magazine published three more local-language editions in Slovenia, Croatia and Romania. In October 2007, the Digest expanded in Serbia. The magazine's licensee in Italy stopped publishing in December 2007. The magazine launched in The People's Republic of China in 2008.

For 2010, the U.S. edition of the magazine planned to decrease its circulation to 5.5 million, from 8 million, to publish 10 times a year rather than 12, and to increase digital offerings. It also planned to reduce its number of celebrity profiles and how-to features, and increase the number of inspiring spiritual stories and stories about the military.^[10] The regular features include the cartoon series Reynolds Unwrapped by Dan Reynolds.

Business organization and ownership[link]

The magazine's parent company, The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. (RDA), became a publicly traded corporation in 1990. As of 2010^[update] RDA has reported a net loss each year since 2005^{[citation needed]}. In March 2007, Ripplewood Holdings LLC led a consortium of private equity investors who bought the company through a leveraged buy-out for US$2.8 billion, financed primarily by the issuance of US$2.2 billion of debt.^[3][3][10] Ripplewood invested $275 million of its own money, and had partners including Rothschild Bank of Zurich and GoldenTree Asset Management of New York. The private equity deal tripled the association's interest payments, to $148 million a year.^[3]

On 24 August 2009 RDA announced it had filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy court a pre-arranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy, in order to continue operations, and to restructure the $2.2 billion debt undertaken by the leveraged buy-out transaction.^[3][11][12] The company emerged from bankruptcy with the lenders exchanging debt for equity, and Ripplewood's entire equity investment was extinguished.^[3]

In April 2010, the UK arm was sold to its management. It has a licensing deal with the US company to continue publishing the UK edition.^[13]

In the US the company cut the number of issues it published a year from 12 to 10 last year. It also cut its circulation guarantee for advertisers to 5.5 million copies from 8 million.

Sweepstakes agreement[link]

In 2001, 32 states attorneys general reached agreements with the company and other sweepstakes operators to settle allegations that they tricked the elderly into buying products because they were a "guaranteed winner" of a lottery. The settlement required the companies to expand the type size of notices in the packaging that no purchase is necessary to play the sweepstakes, and to:

1. Establish a "Do Not Contact List" and refrain from soliciting any future "high-activity" customers unless and until Reader's Digest actually makes contact with that customer and determines that the customer is not buying because he or she thinks that the purchase will improve his or her chances of winning.
2. Send letters to individuals who spend more than $1,000 in a six-month period telling them that they are not required to make purchases to win the sweepstakes, that making a purchase will not improve their chances of winning and that, in fact, all entries have the same chance to win whether or not the entry is accompanied by a purchase.^[14][15][16]

The agreement appeared to adversely affect Reader's Digest circulation in the U.S.^{[clarification needed]} Its 1970s peak circulation was 17 million U.S. subscribers.^[3]

Direct marketing[link]

RDA offers many mail-order products included with "sweepstakes" or contests. U.S. Reader's Digest and the company's other U.S. magazines do not use sweepstakes in their direct mail promotions.

Criticism[link]

Reader's Digest in the UK has been criticised by the Trading Standards Institute for preying on the elderly and vulnerable with misleading bulk mailings that claim the recipient is guaranteed a large cash prize and advising them not to discuss this with anyone else. Following their complaint, an investigation was launched by the Advertising Standards Authority.^[17] The ASA investigation upheld the complaint, ruling that the Reader's Digest mailing was irresponsible, misleading (particularly for the elderly) and had breached three clauses of the Committee of Advertising Practice code.^[18] Reader's Digest was told not to use this mailing again.

International editions[link]

Although Reader's Digest was founded in the U.S., its international editions have made it the best-selling monthly magazine in the world. The magazine's worldwide circulation including all editions has reached 17 million copies and 70 million readers.

Reader's Digest is currently published in 52 editions and 35 languages and is available in over 100 countries, including Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, and the People's Republic of China in 2008.

Its international editions account for about 50% of the magazine's trade volume. In each market, local editors commission or purchase articles for their own market and share content with US and other editions. The selected articles are then translated by local translators and the translations edited by the local editors to make them match the "well-educated informal" style of the American edition.

Over the 90 years, the company has published editions in various languages in different countries, or for different regions.

Usually these editions started out as translations of the US version of the magazine, but over time many non-US editions became unique, providing local material more germane to local readers. Local editions that still publish the bulk of the American Reader's Digest are usually titled with a qualifier, such as the Portuguese edition, Seleções do Reader's Digest (Selections from Reader's Digest), or the Swedish edition, Reader's Digest Det Bästa (The Best of Reader's Digest).

The list is sorted by year of first publication.^[19] Some countries had editions but no longer do; for example, the Danish version of Reader's Digest (Det Bedste) ceased publication in 2005 and was replaced by the Swedish version (Reader's Digest Det Bästa); as a result the Swedish edition covers stories about both countries (but written solely in Swedish). The Japanese edition ran from September 1946 until present.

Arabic editions[link]

The first Reader's Digest publication in the Arab World was printed in Egypt in September 1943.^[20] The license was eventually terminated.

The second effort and the first Reader's Digest franchise agreement was negotiated through the efforts of Frederick Pittera, in 1976, an American entrepreneur, who sold the idea to Lebanon's former Foreign Minister, Dr. Lucien Dahdah, then son-in-law of Suleiman Frangieh, President of Lebanon. Dahdah partnered with Ghassan Al Tueni, (former Lebanon Ambassador to the United Nations, and publisher of Al Nahar newspaper, Beirut), in publishing Reader's Digest in the Arabic language. It was printed in Cairo for distribution throughout the Arab world under title Al- Mukhtar. In format, Al-Mukhtar was the same as the U.S. edition with 75% of the editorial content. Dr. Philip Hitti, Chairman of Princeton University's Department of Oriental Languages and a team of Arabic advisers counseled on what would be of interest to Arabic readers. The publication of Al-Mukhtar was terminated by Reader's Digest in April 1993.

Canadian edition[link]

The Canadian edition first appeared in February 1948, and today the vast majority of it is Canadian content. All major articles in the August 2005 edition and most of the minor articles were selected from locally-produced articles that matched the Digest style. There is usually at least one major American article in most issues.

"Life's Like That" is the Canadian name of "Life in These United States." All other titles are taken from the American publication. Recent "That's Outrageous" articles have been using editorials from the Calgary Sun.

Under new management—the new editor is Robert Goyette—the Canadian edition continues to publish.

Indian edition[link]

The Indian edition was first published in 1954. Its circulation then was 40,000 copies. Today, the magazine is published in India by Living Media India Ltd., and sold over 600,000 copies monthly in 2008. It prints Indian and international articles.^[21]

The Indian Reader's Digest was published for many years by the Tata Group of companies.^[21] Reader's Digest first entered India in 1954. It is currently published by the Living Media Group.^[21] According to the Indian Readership Survey Round II of 2009, the readership for Reader's Digest is 3.94 million, second only to India Today at 5.62 million.^[21]

The Indian edition is published by the India Today Group under licence. Editorial control rests with the global editor-in-chief of Reader's Digest, as with all global Digest editions; the Chief Executive Officer is Ashish Bagga. The India Editor is Mohan Sivanand.^[22]

Books[link]

Reader's Digest publishes bi-monthly a series of softcover anthology books called Reader's Digest Select Editions (previously known as Reader's Digest Condensed Books). During the 1970s, there was also a Reader's Digest Press which published full-length, original works of non-fiction.

Editors[link]

1. Lila Bell Wallace and DeWitt Wallace (1922–1964)
2. Hobart D. Lewis (1964–1976)
3. Edward T. Thompson (1976–1984)
4. Kenneth O. Gilmore (1984–1990)
5. Kenneth Tomlinson (1990–1996)
6. Christopher Willcox (1996–2000)
7. Eric Schrier (2000–2001)
8. Jacqueline Leo (2001–2007)
9. Peggy Northrop (2007–2011)
10. Liz Vaccariello (2011-present)

See also[link]

• World's Best Reading
• List of United States magazines

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

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Larry Norman
Larry Norman in Ohio, October 2001
Background information
Birth name	Larry David Norman
Born	(1947-04-08)April 8, 1947 Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
Origin	San Jose, California, US
Died	February 24, 2008(2008-02-24) (aged 60) Salem, Oregon, United States
Genres	Rock music, Folk rock, Jesus music
Years active	1966–2007
Labels	Capitol, MGM/Verve, Solid Rock, Phydeaux
Website	larrynorman.com

Larry David Norman (April 8, 1947 – February 24, 2008^[1]) was an American Christian musician, singer, songwriter, record label owner, and record producer, who was one of the pioneers of Christian rock music.^[2][3] Since Norman's first professional release in 1967 as a lead singer of the one-hit wonder band People!, more than 100 of his own albums have been released through such commercial record labels as Capitol, MGM, Verve, and his own independent labels: One Way Records, Solid Rock Records, Street Level Records, and Phydeaux Records.

In January 1973 Cashbox named Norman as one of the Best New Male Artists of the year.^[4] In 1989 Norman was awarded the Christian Artists' Society Lifetime Achievement Award.^[5][6] On November 27, 2001 Norman was inducted into the Gospel Music Association's Hall of Fame in a ceremony at the Ryman Auditorium,^[7] and was voted into the CCM Hall of Fame in January 2004 by the readers of CCM magazine.^[8] In 2007 Norman was inducted into the San Jose Rocks Hall of Fame, both as a member of People! and as a solo artist. At that time Norman reunited for a concert with People!^[9] In 2009 Norman was among those honored in a tribute segment of the Grammy Awards.^[10]

Early life[link]

Larry Norman was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, the oldest son of Joe Hendrex "Joe Billy" Norman (December 9, 1923 – April 28, 1999), who had served as a sergeant in the US Army Air Corps during World War II and worked at the Southern Pacific Railroad while studying to become a teacher, and his wife, Margaret Evelyn "Marge" Stout (born in 1925 in Nebraska).^{[11][12][13][14]} After Norman's birth his parents joined the Southern Baptist church, which prohibited dancing, going to the cinema, and "almost everything that didn't occur inside [the Church]".^[15][16] Because of his religious convictions, Norman's father discouraged any interest in music by his children.^[16] Norman noted, "We were poor and I had no children's records in Texas. But I listened to my parents' radio whenever they turned it on. I developed an appreciation for swing music, big band arrangements and solo singers like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby".^[17] Also from an early age, he listened to the "blues and Negro spirituals on 78s his grandfather [Burl W. Stout] had collected".^[18] Other musical influences he later acknowledged included gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, Belgian jazz musician Django Reinhardt, American concert singer Paul Robeson, and Black comedian Bert Williams.^[17][19] Norman was strongly influenced also by classical music, jazz, blues music, and black gospel music, but "didn't like country and western ... because of the nasal, twangy vocals", or "some kinds of fast-paced jazz".^[17]

In 1950 Norman and his parents moved to San Francisco where the family attended a Black American Pentecostal church, later they attended the First Baptist Church at 22 Waller Street where Norman became a Christian in 1952 at the age of five.^{[20][21][22][23]} He began composing songs around this time.^[24] He stated, "I started to write music when I was four or five and didn't realise I was composing tonally because I was simply using the piano".^[11] He recalled: "When I was five I wrote a song about the rain because I loved the San Francisco drizzles, and later I wrote about a dog because I couldn't have one, and a clown because my uncle was a circus performer, and when I was eight I wrote a song ["Riding in the Saddle"] about a cowboy in the desert watching the stars at night and thinking about God because I often looked at the stars and tried to picture Heaven", inspired by seeing Roy Rogers and hearing Dale Evans give her testimony at the civic auditorium.^[24][25] Among his earliest songs was "Lonely Boy" (1956), "The Man From Galilee" (1956) "inspired by Sunday School stories", the unreleased "Bopping With My Girl"; "My Feet are on the Rock" (1958), "The Thanksgiving Song" (1959); "Country Church, Country People" (1959), was written for his grandmother Lena.^[26]

From 1956 Norman was fascinated with the music of Elvis Presley.^[22] According to Norman, his father banned him from listening to rock and roll music on the radio.^[22] Norman frequently accompanied his father on Christian missions to prisons and hospitals. In 1959, he performed on Ted Mack's syndicated CBS television show The Original Amateur Hour.^[27] In 1960 his father accepted a teaching job in San José, California. The family lived in Campbell, California,^[28] Later, while a junior at Campbell High School, he was the youngest person voted into the Edwin Markham Poetry Society, and won first place in the Society's student poetry contest.^[24][29] Norman won an academic scholarship to major in English at San Jose State College.^[27] By the fall of 1965 Norman left the family home and rented an apartment in Downtown San Jose.^[30] After one semester, he "flunked out of college and lost [his] scholarship".^[31]

Career[link]

Back Country Seven (1964–1965)[link]

The Back Country Seven

While still a high school student, Norman formed a group called The Back Country Seven, which included his sister, Nancy Jo;^[32] Mark A. Ebner, and high school friend, Gene Mason,^[33] who was later to be (alongside Norman) one of the lead singers of People!. The Back Country Seven played at hootenannies held at Campbell High and throughout San José.^[28] After graduating from high school, Norman became involved in the local rock music scene in San José, opening for both The Doors and Jimi Hendrix.^[34][35]

People! (1965–1968)[link]

Gene Mason and Larry Norman

People! September 1968 Back Row: (l to r) Robb Levin, Denny Fridkin, Al Ribisi, Geoff Levin; Front Row: Gene Mason and Larry Norman

In 1966 Norman opened a concert for People! at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove, California.

Norman became the band's principal songwriter, sharing lead vocals with Gene M. Mason.^[36]

Capitol Records signed People! to a record deal at the beginning of 1966.^[37] As Norman was legally underage, he required parental permission and court approval to sign.^[38]

People! performed about 200 concerts a year,^[39] appearing with Van Morrison and Them, The Animals, The Dave Clark Five, Paul Revere & the Raiders, The Doors, The Who, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Moby Grape, and San Jose bands Syndicate of Sound, and Count Five.^[40]

In 1967 Capitol released People!'s first single "Organ Grinder/Riding High", with both songs co-written by Norman and Mason,^[41] and produced by their manager, Mikel Hunter "Captain Mikey" Herrington. It failed to chart. In 1968 Capitol released People!'s second single,^[42] also produced by Captain Mikey,^[43] an extended cover version of The Zombies' non-chart song "I Love You",^[44] backed by "Somebody Tell Me My Name".^[45] After extensive promotion by the band and its manager,^[46] and industry advertising by Capitol,^[47] including the creation of a promotional film that appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand,^[48] "I Love You" became a hit single, selling more than one million copies. It reached reaching a peak of No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[49] and No. 13 on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles Chart in June 1968,.^[50] It became a No. 1 single in several markets, including Italy, Israel, and Japan.^[51][52] People! continued to tour extensively, appearing three times on Dick Clark's American Bandstand,^[53] and also on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.^[54]

Despite the success of "I Love You", and despite favorable reviews,^[55] the subsequent album, named after their hit single and released in July 1968,^[56] only reached No. 138 on the Billboard charts.^[57] In August 1968 Capitol released People!'s third single "Apple Cider", backed with "Ashes of Me",^[58] but it failed to chart.

By the time the I Love You album was released and the band undertook its first major tour of the USA in the summer of 1968, Norman had left People!. Norman and Mason reunited in 1974 for a benefit concert for Israel at UCLA, later released in 1980 as the live album Larry Norman and People!—The Israel Tapes—1974 A.D. Norman, Fridkin and Mason came together in August 2006 for a People! reunion concert in the G. Herbert Smith Auditorium on the Willamette University campus in Salem, Oregon.^[38]

Hollywood street ministry (1968–1969)[link]

Soon after Norman left People!, he had "a powerful spiritual encounter that threw him into a frenzy of indecision about his life [and] for the first time in his life, he received what he understood to be the Holy Spirit".^[59] Norman moved back home to live with his parents, with no plans for his future. In answer to his father's inquiry, Norman responded: "My plans? Oh, I've got great plans. I'm going to sit down in the middle of my life and I'm not moving until God comes and gets me".^[60] Norman was offered a position with Youth For Christ, and a week later was invited by Herb Hendler to come to Hollywood to write musicals for Capitol Records.^[61] Norman recalled in 2007 that he "just prayed and prayed and prayed. And I had no peace about joining YFC. And a lot of peace about Hollywood. But God was silent".^[60]

In July 1968, Norman moved to Los Angeles and rented "a tiny, one-room, flophouse apartment, with the rent paid on a monthly basis and no lease, water or electricity costs required"^[62] at Apartment 406 at 1140 North Gower Street, Hollywood.^[63] near the corner with Santa Monica Boulevard, across the street from the Hollywood Memorial Cemetery.^[64]

In 1969 Norman auditioned for a role in the Los Angeles production of the rock musical Hair,^[46][61] which was playing at the Aquarius Theatre at 6230 Sunset Boulevard,^[65] and which was directed by Tom O'Horgan and produced by Michael Butler and the Smothers Brothers.^[66] As co-creators James Rado and Gerome Ragni and half of the cast were leaving the production to join the Acapulco production,^[67] Norman and his friend, Teddy Neeley, were offered the replacement parts as George Berger and Claude Bukowski respectively.^[68] Norman indicated in a July 2007 interview, "When I got [to Los Angeles], there were auditions for Hair. And I thought, I'm going to try out for Hair just to see if I have what it takes. Because maybe I'm just some lame person and I shouldn't be in music at all. So I tried out for Hair, and they gave me a callback and they said 'You're it. Come down on Saturday, there's a contract waiting for you to sign'.^[69] Believing God had something more important for him to do,^[61] and that "Jesus is the only personal, social and political answer for this generation or any other",^[68] Norman rejected the role because "of its glorification of drugs and free sex as the answers to today's problems".^[68] Norman decided "I couldn't do it when I found out what it was about. I just didn't agree with what it had to say. So I turned it down".^[46] Neeley accepted the role of Claude,^[67] but the role offered to Norman eventually went to Ben Vereen.^[66] Norman, who was broke, went home to his apartment, locked his guitar in the closet, and cried.^[70]

Years later Norman would recall that "It was a beautiful time of my life because it was just me and Jesus. And I had to depend on him, which I wanted to, because nothing else was happening. I wasn't performing, I'd given up music. 'Cause I wanted to be pure".^[71] In 2006 Norman recalled: "Even after one of my recordings had charted, I continued to live a spartan existence, slept on the floor, got my teeth fixed without a shot of Novocaine, chose to have no car and walked everywhere – trying to toughen myself for whatever vicissitudes the future might bring. I wasn't concerned with the ephemeral, wasn't really emotionally geared up for wide public acceptance; I was busy getting ready for the end of the world."^[72] According to Norman, about this time he wrote his most covered song, "I Wish We'd All Been Ready",^[73] "right after I gave up music completely so I could talk to people on the streets. I felt that rock music and love and peace was all a big lie".^[74] In a 2001 interview, Norman indicated: "The Bible says we should go into prisons and hospitals and witness to people and also bring them encouragement. ... I wanted to go out into the streets and witness to the people on Hollywood & Sunset Boulevard whether they were prostitutes or homosexuals or drug users and bring them into the kingdom. I remember getting a lot of irritated responses because they thought I wanted to turn the church into a half-way house. No I didn't – I wanted to turn the church into a house that brought people all the way through to the kingdom".^[75] Norman recalled: "One night I was singing on stage and Janis Joplin was sitting behind the front curtain watching the concert with a bottle of Southern Comfort in one hand and she was sipping whiskey from a paper cup. She was drunk and really unhappy. And every now and then, she would start yelling at me. I wrote "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus" about Janis. I felt really sad for her. I felt sad for all of them. They seemed so unhappy and so lost. I couldn't easily break through the haze of drugs by using music. I felt like the only time I had any real effectiveness was in personal conversations. At one point I even felt that maybe music was of no use at all. So I gave it up. All I did was street witness."^[76]

After Norman moved to Los Angeles in 1968,^[77] he "spent time sharing the gospel on the streets of Los Angeles",^[78] especially along Hollywood Boulevard.^[79] Norman described his street witnessing: "When I left my band in 1968 and moved to Los Angeles, I didn't feel awkward about witnessing anymore – I felt directed. I chose my ground and worked my beat. I walked up and down Hollywood Boulevard several times a day; at first alone, then with Richard Gerstle and later Sarah Finch, witnessing to businessmen and hippies, and to whomever the Spirit led me. I spent all of my Capitol Records' royalties starting a halfway house and buying clothes and food for new converts. Each Friday and Saturday I borrowed cars and drove almost 150 miles to pick up certain kids and take them to a church in a home in Santa Ana. Our meetings usually lasted five hours on Friday and eight hours on Sunday.^[80]

After he moved to Los Angeles in 1968, Norman was associated initially with the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood,^[81] and its Salt Company coffee shop outreach ministry, which operated in the upstairs loft of a converted apartment building located behind the Hollywood Presbyterian Church.^[82] Glenn D. Kittle believes that "rock-gospel music was born at the Salt Company Coffeehouse" by Norman.^[83] According to Don Williams, who founded the Salt Company coffeehouse in the summer of 1968, Norman "heard ‘The Agape,’^[84] a hard rock Christian group, play songs about Jesus", which "convinced Larry that he could use his rock music to communicate the gospel".^[85]

After several months of musical inactivity, Norman began writing songs again. He recalled: "And months later the music started coming to me in my sleep. And I realized that somehow, perhaps because I was willing to give it up, the music had changed."^[76] One of those songs was "I've Searched All Around the World", which Norman says was "written in 1968 after walking up and down Hollywood Boulevard almost every day for a year talking to the runaways, pushers, bikers, prostitutes and homeless winos".^[86] According to Philip Cooney: "Norman's songs often contain a series of self-contained vignettes that (he hoped) would give the passers-by something to think about, or that might hook them in to hear more of the gospel message. The audience for these songs was not those already saved, it was those to whom church was a foreign language. He understood the ability of music to get behind people's gates, to draw them in with a beautiful melody and good words, to make people drop their defensive position to the gospel—even if for a short time—and allow God to speak to them in that moment....Norman's songs sought to have a relevance to life on the street, establishing a rapport with the musical and social culture around him, and leading his listeners to look to Jesus for the answers in their search for meaning."^[79]

Norman had a "passion for the pavement [and] he took his signature voice and his beat-up nylon-string guitar to festivals, coffee shops, and major theaters",^[87] including concerts at The Troubador and The Hollywood Bowl, "witnessing before and after the performances on the streets during the day and to the customers after the gigs."^[72] Norman appeared with the Salt Company band in a concert at the Vogue Theater in 1970.^[88]

Musicals (1968–1969)[link]

In 1968 Norman wrote several songs for the rock musical Alison,^[89] which was performed in Los Angeles,^[90] and Birthday for Shakespeare,^[91] also performed in Los Angeles.^[92] Soon after Birthday for Shakespeare was performed, Norman decided to produce his own works.

In 1969 Norman was involved writing the rock opera Lion's Breath.^[93] His work on this musical "caught Capitol's attention and they lured him back in 1969, promising him total control over his next album, Upon This Rock".^[94]

Norman's next musical was Love on Haight Street,^[93] also written in 1969, and another project that involved Norman was Bailey;^[95] Some songs from these unreleased musicals appeared later on various albums.^[93]

Capitol Records (1969–1970)[link]

[edit] Upon This Rock (1969)

In 1969 Norman returned to Capitol Records, now headed by Mike Curb, to honor his original 1966 contract with the understanding that he would have complete artistic control.^[96][97] Believing that "Kids just don't want to listen to God's empty songs anymore",^[98] in December 1969 Capitol released Norman's first solo rock album,^[99] Upon This Rock, "the first major label record to marry rock music with the gospel",^[100] "the Sergeant Pepper of Christianity",^[68] widely regarded as "the album that first recruited rock in the service of salvation",^[101] later cited as being "one of the roots of the current Contemporary Christian Music";^[102] and now considered to be the first full-blown Christian rock album".^[103] Upon This Rock, whose music was "a blend of folk, psychedelic, and rock influences",^[103] combined "street language and gritty imagery".^[78]

While Norman was denounced by television evangelists like Bob Larson;^[104] Jimmy Swaggart,^{[105][106][107]} who called rock music "the new pornography";^[108] and Jerry Falwell;^[109] and others within the conservative religious establishment, who considered the development of Christian rock-and-roll, "a sinful compromise with worldliness and immoral sensuality",^[34][110] his music gained a large following in the emerging counter cultural movements.^[111]

In February 1970, two months after Upon This Rock was released, Capitol dropped Norman from their label, as the album was deemed a "commercial flop" as it had failed to reach the sales target Capitol expected,^{[96][102][112]} telling Norman that "there is no market for your music."^[113] Norman analyzed its poor reception in a 1972 interview: "It was too religious for the rock and roll stores and too rock and roll for the religious stores."^[114] In April 1970 Capitol leased Upon This Rock to Heartwarming/Impact Records for two years a small sum.^[115] While Norman decided to leave Capitol Records in protest,^[96] because he had a different audience in mind, he cooperated with the re-release of Upon This Rock.

Upon This Rock received increased sales due to its distribution in Christian bookstores,^[116] and "became Benson's most acclaimed release",^[96] selling 23,000 copies when it was eventually released in England in 1972 through Key Records.^[96] In 1971 Upon This Rock was submitted unsuccessfully for Grammy Award nomination.^[117] By May 1970 Capitol released a single (Capitol 2766) with both songs from Upon This Rock: "Sweet Sweet Song Of Salvation" backed with "Walking Backwards Down The Stairs".^[118]

1969–1971[link]

Norman continued playing Christian rock, mostly to audiences in California during this period.^[102] By October 1969 Norman was a regular performer at the Salt Company, "a combination of late Victorian and early Salvation Army", which held concerts on weekends in the upstairs loft of a converted apartment building in downtown Hollywood.^[119] Norman would frequently show up at the Hollywood Palladium unannounced and unscheduled on Sunday afternoons and sing to as many as 4,000 people at the Jesus People Festivals organized by Duane Pederson.^[120] At the "Rock of Ages Folk Festival" held on February 26, 1970 in Northridge, California, Norman appeared as part of the Larry Norman Experience.^[121] In March 1970 Norman performed at the Youth for Christ-sponsored Faith Festival, the first major Jesus music festival,^[122] at Evansville, Indiana, which attracted 6,000 people to hear him, Pat Boone and his family, Christian folk singer Gene Cotton, and Jesus rock artists Danny Taylor, Crimson Bridge, and e,^[123] a band that included Greg X. Volz.^[124] In October 1970 Norman and Randy Stonehill, who had only become a Christian in August, were among those who performed at an Earth Harvest concert at Thy Brother's House, a Jesus coffee house near the campus of California State University at Fullerton, California.^[125]

In a 1970 concert Norman wrote "The Tune", which one reviewer described as "probably ... Larry's finest achievement as a songwriter and recording artist",^[126] while improvising on the piano.^[127] While some claim "The Tune" was inspired by Bill Gaither and Gloria Gaither's 1969 song "God Gave the Song",^[128] Norman claims in a 1981 article in Contemporary Christian Music magazine: "Bill Gaither's music first came to my attention in 1973 when a friend played me 'God Gave the Song'. I was shocked; perhaps for personal reasons more than reasons of musical taste. 'God Gave the Song' seemed striking and yet very familiar."^[129] On the Phydeaux website, it reads: "'The Tune' was written by Larry in 1971 (sic). During the next two years an author, [Calvin Miller]^[130] from the town where Larry first performed this, wrote a book called "The Singer"^[131] and another book called "The Song."^[132] The books were gigantic sellers. And the biggest gospel artist [Bill Gaither] from the Southern gospel end of Christian show biz (who shall remain nameless) took "The Tune", kept the tempo and the flavor and re-titled it "God Gave The Song." It was one of the biggest hits the artist had up until that point.^[133] When Bill and Gloria Gaither created their 1973 musical Alleluia!: A Praise Gathering for Believers,^[134] "the first album from a Christian record company to achieve this honor",^[135] which was certified gold by the RIAA,^[136] and nominated in 1974 for a Dove Award for Gospel Song of the Year,^[137] their arranger Ronn Huff added the prefatory words to "God Gave the Song" that are similar to those in "The Tune".^[138] While "The Tune" was played frequently in concerts since its composition, it was first recorded in a studio in 1977,^[139] backed by 45 piece orchestra,^[140] and only released in 1983.^[139]

Norman, along with Pat Boone; Arthur Blessitt; Duane Pederson; Jack Sparks,^[141] a founder of the Spiritual Counterfeits Project; and other Jesus People leaders were prominent participants in the Spiritual Revolution Day march and rally in Sacramento, California on February 13, 1971.^[142] By 1971 Norman was playing at Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa in Orange County,^[102] where other Jesus music pioneers (and future Maranatha! Music artists) Love Song, Chuck Girard, The Way, and Children of the Day were also performing.

One Way Records (1970–1971)[link]

After receiving his only royalty check from Capitol in 1970 for songs he had written for People!, Norman moved from the "rat-hole" apartment at Gower Street and established a half-way house on North Beachwood Drive, Hollywood, where he "housed and fed various groups of people, supervised their Bible studies and drove them to church on Fridays and Sundays".^[62] However, after he "ran out of money", Norman negotiated to write songs on demand for Capitol and was paid $80 per month subsistence advanced against future earnings, for his work polishing and refining songs for H.R. Pufnstuf, Hawaiian singer Alfred Alpaka, and Tennessee Ernie Ford, and was even asked to write English lyrics for the Japanese song "Sukiyaki".^[62] Norman claims he contributed 87 songs the first year of this arrangement, but was never compensated^[143]

By August 1970 Norman had moved to a three room "little white cottage" at 6007 Carlos Avenue, Hollywood,^[144] near the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. About that time Norman was in negotiations to sign with Elektra Records, but "it fell through when the president of the label was confronted by someone who gave him a copy of the Hollywood Free Paper. He feared that I was part of an abrasive subculture and took back his offer".^[145] On September 3, 1970 Norman began writing a regular column called "As I See It" in the Hollywood Free Paper,^[146] an evangelistic newspaper founded by Duane Pederson,^[147] one of the leaders of the Jesus People in Hollywood and Los Angeles."^[148]

Seeking to make a "more earthy sounding album which I could hand out to the street people I talked to on Hollywood Boulevard",^[145] in 1970 Norman established One Way Records with his own money,^[149] which was described as "an underground experimental" label,^[102] which was headquartered initially at his rented home at 6007 Carlos Avenue, Hollywood.^[150] When Norman left Capitol he took with him "demos" of songs he had recorded between 1966 and 1969, some of which were released on his One Way albums.^[151] Norman recorded, produced and released two independent albums of his own music through his One Way Records: Street Level (1970) and Bootleg (1971). Both albums "would feature grainy, underground looking black and white artwork. Both would also be ... mixing live concert recording, studio demos of previously unreleased songs and future classics. These albums would also reveal the smart and piercing humor Norman would always be noted for. Norman concerts were part rock and roll show, part revival meeting and part comedy. This facet of his life and ministry would be introduced on these two albums.^[152] According to Norman, One Way "used secular sub-distributors or "rack jobbers" and "one stops" to disseminate its records".^[153] Additionally Creative Sound,^[154] owned by Bob Cotterell,^[155] released and distributed Street Level, as well as Stonehill's Born Twice.^[156]

In 1970 One Way Records released Street Level, which had on side one "a [1969] live concert recorded at Hollywood's First Presbyterian Church which ran a nightclub called the Salt Company".^[157] As the first version of Street Level was "too confusing to the Christians", Norman recorded "a second version for the church kids" in 1971 that completely replaced side two with one recorded with a band called White Light.^[158] After its release in 1970, the Hollywood Free Paper described Norman as "a combination of lyricist, composer, performer, backwoods preacher [and] poet."^[159] In 1971 Norman produced an album (Born Twice) for Randy Stonehill,^[160] who had been converted in August 1970 in Norman's kitchen.^[161]

In 1971 Norman started Street Level Productions, Inc.,^[162] a legal corporation with the mission to "reach intro the streets; to avoid the lofty climes and the commercial heights and to labor instead at street level."^[163] Street Level (and One Way Records) was headquartered at 7046 Hollywood Boulevard.^[164] Also headquartered at that address was New Generation Artists,^[165] which managed Norman at that time.

In early 1972 One Way Records released Bootleg, a double album retrospective covering the previous four years of Norman's career compiled from demonstration recordings made while at Capitol,^[166] private recordings from his friends, and various interviews and live performances.^[167] In 1999 Norman explained the unpolished nature of Bootleg: "Many songs which ended up being released on Bootleg, ... weren't really finished but I had to release the album immediately so it wouldn't violate the terms of my MGM contract which was soon going to be in effect. ... I just didn't have time to finish it. ... I didn't have the budget to make it a real album, I just used songs laying around to fill it up, which I regretted".^[24]

MGM/Verve (1971–1974)[link]

Despite the offer of a revised contract from Capitol Records,^[96] in 1971 Norman decided to sign with MGM Records,^[153] who had decided to sign Norman on the basis of his work on Street Level and Bootleg,^[151] but Norman accepted a publishing agreement with Capitol.^[96] By 1971 Norman was associated with Chuck Smith's Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.^[102] By 1973 over 200 "covers" had been recorded of Norman's songs,^[96] including by Cliff Richard, Jack Jones,^[168] Petula Clark, Sammy Davis, Jr., Pat Boone, The Imperials, and The Oak Ridge Boys.^[96]

In November 1971, Norman recorded "Without Love You Are Nothing" (also known as "Righteous Rocker") and "Peace, Pollution, Revolution" in Los Angeles for MGM.^[169]

In 1971 Norman visited England for the first time, and lived in a house at 153 Park Lane, Carshalton, where he wrote a number of songs including "The Great American Novel", and the as yet unreleased "Living on Park Lane".^[170] Norman had an influence on the emerging English gospel music scene.^[171] Early in 1972 Upon This Rock was released in England, and sold 5,000 copies in its first three months, making it the top selling religious album in England.^[172] In March 1972 Norman performed 38 concerts in 35 days, including a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in the Spring of 1972,^[173] for which he claims he was only given about $700 by the tour promoter.^[174] His song "Stop This Flight" describing the vicissitudes of touring and record companies was inspired by this tour.^[175]

In June 1972 Norman was one of the featured performers at "probably the high-water mark of the Jesus Movement",^[176] Explo '72, the "Jesus Woodstock",^[177] "Godapalooza",^[178] or "Godstock",^[179] which attracted 80,000 young people to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas,^[180] On June 17, the final night of Explo' 72,^[181] with "the thousands who showed up included everything from short-hairs out of conservative Bible colleges to hair-to-your-waist devotees of Larry Norman, Christian rock, and the Jesus People".^[182] Norman performed a fifteen minute set before his largest ever crowd at the eight hour Jesus Music Festival that attracted an estimated 180,000 people^[183] to a speedway at the uncompleted Woodall Rodgers Freeway near Dallas, Texas.^[184] At the conclusion of his set, which included "I Wish We'd All Been Ready", the "laconic lament" of the Jesus Movement,^[185] Norman encouraged those attending: "Don't let this week of love pass away – let it be for a lifetime".^[186] Norman is included on the subsequent commemorative album, Jesus Sound Explosion,^[187] which was sent free to 170,000 viewers of the television program,^[188] singing his "Sweet, Sweet Song of Salvation".^[189] On June 21, 1972 Beware! The Blob (also known as Son of Blob), in which Norman appeared briefly,^[190] was released in the USA.^[191]

On Saturday, September 2, 1972 Norman also performed at the Festival of Light-sponsored Festival for Jesus held in Hyde Park, London,^[192] which was filmed and released as a 50-minute documentary Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?,^[193] which featured Norman's 1972 song of the same name, which was written in response to the criticisms of Christian Rock music by American evangelist Bob Larson, whom Norman regularly lampooned at his concerts.^[194] Norman's 1969 apocalyptic song, I Wish We'd All Been Ready”, was also featured in the 1972 Christian end times film A Thief in the Night,^[195] which was watched by an estimated 50,000,000 people,^[196] but sung by an obscure group known as The Fishmarket Combo.^[197]

[edit] Only Visiting This Planet (1972)

On September 8, 1972 Norman began recording his second studio album,^[198] Only Visiting This Planet,^[199] the first album in a projected trilogy,^[200][201] in George Martin's London AIR Studios.^[202] Only Visiting This Planet, which was "Initially coordinated by George Martin", and was produced by The Triumvirate of British producers Rod Edwards, Roger Hand, and Jon Miller,^[203] often ranked as Norman's best album,^[78] "mixed his Christian message with strong political themes", and "was meant to reach the flower children disillusioned by the government and the church" with its "abrasive, urban reality of the gospel".^[78] In 1990 CCM magazine voted Only Visiting This Planet as "the greatest Christian album ever recorded".^[204]

On January 6, 1973 Norman was one of three named as Best New Male Artist of the year by Cashbox.^[4] and performed in two sold-out concerts at the Royal Albert Hall.^[173][203] After a tour of South Africa in June and the UK in July,^[205] and the release in July of his "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?", a songbook featuring some of Norman's songs from both Upon This Rock and Only Visiting This Planet.^[206]

[edit] So Long Ago the Garden (1973)

On August 7, 1973 Norman entered AIR studios in London to record his favorite album, the second album in his Trilogy, So Long Ago the Garden,^[202] which was produced again by Edwards, Hand, and Miller. According to John J. Thompson, "lyrically, as the title suggests, the album reflects on the nature of the human condition. The songs deal with characters ... knee deep in the madness of life without God".^[207] By October 1, 1973 these recording sessions were completed and the recordings were submitted to MGM.^[208] However, financial problems at MGM, which would result in its collapse within fifteen months, "couldn't adequately promote or advertise the album. The corporate attention was focused on more pressing things like survival and solvency".^[209] According to Norman, the record company dropped several Christian songs, including "Butterfly," "If God Is My Father," "Kulderachna", and "I Hope I'll See You In Heaven",^[210] in favor of more lightweight love songs like "Fly, Fly, Fly," the album's opening track",^[211] and "Christmastime', both previously released as singles.^[212] Believing that MGM was interfering with the subject matter of his records, by 1974 Norman left MGM due to "a squabble with MGM over song choices for his next album, ... So Long Ago the Garden".^[210] Not long after this decision, MGM Records folded due to economic difficulties.^[213]