Farewell, Larry Norman
The man known as the Father of Christian Rock, whose health has been failing in recent years, played his last U.S. concert Friday night in his hometown of Salem, Oregon.
David Sanford | posted 6/27/2005

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Norman's sister, Nancy Norman-Overmeyer, then joined him on stage as Norman reminisced about their childhood. They then sang a medley of childhood songs, including several brief forays into early rock 'n' roll. When the audience applauded, Norman smiled and chided, "You can't clap—Christians didn't have emotions in the fifties."
Norman briefly discussed the rich heritage of black music in American history before he and Nancy closed the set with the haunting yet hopeful nineteenth century spiritual, "Drinking Gourd."
Michael Manning then accompanied Norman for a bluegrass version of "The Outlaw." Manning played a musical saw, one of a variety of exotic instruments he's played on Norman's albums.
Norman then introduced the African Gospel A Cappella Choir, five blind men dressed in rich blue shirts with white circles, black slacks, and matching sunglasses. They enjoyed enthusiastic applause after all four of their songs. Norman returned to join them for "Put Your Life into His Hands."
After an intermission, Norman returned wearing a white dress shirt and tuxedo. He sat at the piano for a humorous song—"For the kids," he said—before renowned pianist Dan Cutrona took over, accompanying Norman on "As Time Goes By," "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress," and his classic anthem "One Way." At the end of that song, audience members again flashed their index fingers heavenward.
Norman then recalled his father saying in 1956, "No son of mine is going to grow up to be Elvis Presley." He banned Larry from listening to the radio, saying, "I don't like rock 'n' roll music. It's only about one thing."
"What's that?" Norman asked.
Stuttering as if trying to say the word "sex," Norman's father ultimately replied, "Uh, romance."
Norman then spoofed his father's music from that time—which just happened to include a lot of sex and romance. Then he told a sober story about writing "I Am a Servant" on a plane after his father's futile efforts to get his grown son to conform. Norman sang "I Am a Servant, "Still Standing" and the melancholic "Piano" with great feeling.
After the audience watched a fast-paced, MTV-quality video that he produced last December, Norman walked back on stage in black jeans, a black T-shirt, and white jacket. Joined by special guests Mark Lemhouse and Gary Pomeroy, Norman sang "My Feet Are on the Rock," tossing his jacket during the acoustic guitar solo. Two Softcore band members joined them on stage—Silver Sorenson on bass guitar and Jason Carter on drums. Norman and Lemhouse then did a rousing version of "Can't Get That Stuff No More."
Before his last set, Norman thanked the fans and said, "I know I'm a bit more restrained than maybe you've seen with other bands. I just realized I better not put off till next year what I ought to do."
Norman announced upcoming concerts in England and Norway, and then was joined by his full band—Cutrona, Lemhouse, Pomeroy, sister Nancy, brother Charles, and the rest of the Softcore band. They rocked the Elsinore with "Why Don't You Look Into Jesus?"
The biggest surprise of the night followed when Frank Black from the Pixies joined the band for "Watch What You're Doing." After "Twelve Good Men," Norman stood still, looking out at the audience for a long time before saying, "As far as I can tell, this is the last time I'll be able to play in America, in Europe, and planet earth."