Larry Norman, The Grammy's & Me Part 4
UPDATE See Below
In the fall of 1981, October 17th to be exact, Larry Norman came to Denver to do a concert.
I remember the exact date because years later, someone in the industry gave me a T-shirt sold that night. It's one of my treasured possessions.
Even without the T-shirt, I could never forget that night. The concert was held at the Paramount Theater in downtown Denver, a restored old movie house. It was a big deal for kids from the burbs to go to downtown Denver, and that night I headed down with a small group of kids from my youth group. I don't know who was more excited, me or the kids. I'd been pushing Larry's music with them ever since I started (at age 18) to work with junior highers. Cassettes were the technology of the day, and the Larry's trilogy albums seemed to be playing continuously from the boom boxes of my kids everywhere we went. "In Another Land" was particularly popular with them. Even I got tired of hearing it on one choir trip to Texas. So the kids I took that night were geared up.
Larry was in fine form that night, and all my kids were seeing him for the first time. He made us laugh, and he made us cry. He sang every song we had hoped for, and some we hadn't expected. The audience was transfixed. I was stunned to find out years later that the concert had been recorded, and was released in 1983 as "Come As A Child". I have the vinyl I found on ebay, and at some point in the past I found it on CD from Larry's website.
For anyone reading this that may have the recording, it's Barry McGuire who introduces Larry. Our group ran into him in the line outside the Paramount that night. Barry was a regular musical guest at our church, and I had spent some Sunday afternoons hanging out with him as a kid.
It was an amazing night..........my kids were literally "rocked". One young man insisted that he wanted to talk to Larry after the concert. There were hundreds of others who wanted the same thing. So we waited, and waited............Larry stayed and talked to every last person who wanted to meet him. I was blown away by that. I never asked that young man what they talked about......though I could see them talking for a long time. Whatever Larry said, that kid was changed.
This is a pattern that repeated itself......Larry making music that changed lives,me pushing it on unsuspecting teenagers, who still listen to it today. But most important to the heart of a youth pastor, Larry took time for my kids.........
Even later when I began to hear negative stories about him........I couldn't make those things line up. Does one cancel out the other?
MORE TO COME
In the fall of 1981, October 17th to be exact, Larry Norman came to Denver to do a concert.
I remember the exact date because years later, someone in the industry gave me a T-shirt sold that night. It's one of my treasured possessions.
Even without the T-shirt, I could never forget that night. The concert was held at the Paramount Theater in downtown Denver, a restored old movie house. It was a big deal for kids from the burbs to go to downtown Denver, and that night I headed down with a small group of kids from my youth group. I don't know who was more excited, me or the kids. I'd been pushing Larry's music with them ever since I started (at age 18) to work with junior highers. Cassettes were the technology of the day, and the Larry's trilogy albums seemed to be playing continuously from the boom boxes of my kids everywhere we went. "In Another Land" was particularly popular with them. Even I got tired of hearing it on one choir trip to Texas. So the kids I took that night were geared up.
Larry was in fine form that night, and all my kids were seeing him for the first time. He made us laugh, and he made us cry. He sang every song we had hoped for, and some we hadn't expected. The audience was transfixed. I was stunned to find out years later that the concert had been recorded, and was released in 1983 as "Come As A Child". I have the vinyl I found on ebay, and at some point in the past I found it on CD from Larry's website.
For anyone reading this that may have the recording, it's Barry McGuire who introduces Larry. Our group ran into him in the line outside the Paramount that night. Barry was a regular musical guest at our church, and I had spent some Sunday afternoons hanging out with him as a kid.
It was an amazing night..........my kids were literally "rocked". One young man insisted that he wanted to talk to Larry after the concert. There were hundreds of others who wanted the same thing. So we waited, and waited............Larry stayed and talked to every last person who wanted to meet him. I was blown away by that. I never asked that young man what they talked about......though I could see them talking for a long time. Whatever Larry said, that kid was changed.
This is a pattern that repeated itself......Larry making music that changed lives,me pushing it on unsuspecting teenagers, who still listen to it today. But most important to the heart of a youth pastor, Larry took time for my kids.........
Even later when I began to hear negative stories about him........I couldn't make those things line up. Does one cancel out the other?
MORE TO COME
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