|
|
|
|
Jewhoo! Profiles |
Page II of II
In 1968, producer Eric Jacobsen asked Greenbaum and his wife to move to Greenbaum’s first solo album, released in 1969, was called Spirit in the Sky. Two singles flopped before the title track was released. Spirit went as high as number #3 on the charts and sold two million copies. I asked Greenbaum the big question: Why did you write a sort of religious song that featured Jesus? Are you now or have you have been born-again? The answer is that Norman Greenbaum wasn’t a Christian then, and still isn’t a Christian. The writing of Spirit is the story of a bunch of things coming together. Greeenbaum saw country singer Porter Waggoner on television singing a song about a preacher. That gave him the germ of an idea (after all these years, Greenbaum cannot even recall the name of the song). He determined that he was going to write a religious rock song. Greenbaum figured, much like the many Jewish writers of Christmas songs, that there was a lot bigger market for a song that mentioned “Jesus” than one that mentioned, say, some Hebrew name for G-d. He told me that the lyrics came really quickly. The music took months to work out. Greenbaum’s background in blues and a bit of gospel can be heard in the song. It is a wonderful mélange of gospel, rock, and other influences. Maybe that is why Greenbaum says, “it sounds as fresh today as when it was recorded.” And he’s right, the song is not dated. Some songs are meaningful to the people who heard them when they were young, but sound today like period pieces. Spirit comes out of the radio sounding like it could have been written last week. Maybe because there is nothing quite like it. Its gospel feel is different from most rock, so it stands alone in its own category. Greenbaum told me that his parents were quite shocked when they heard their son singing a song about Jesus on the radio. However, when it climbed to the tops of the charts they asked “got any more?”. Unfortunately, Greenbaum’s subsequent albums and follow-up singles failed to sell. He tells me, and I believe him, that there was a lot of good music on those albums. But the public just didn’t respond. By 1980, he told me, his musical career dried up and he went to work in a restaurant as a cook. He rose to manager and head cook. He did that for about five years. Things started to turn around in the mid-'80s. Spirit was re-released as a single in Britain and went high up on the charts. But the real money came in when Spirit was used as a song in many films, television shows, and commercials. Spirit has been used in such films as Miami Blues, Contact, Apollo 13 and Wayne's World 2. Greenbaum says he has practically lost track of the number of projects it has been licensed to.
For Greenbaum, personally, the song has provided continuous connection with his past. Old friends from high school visit his site and keep him apprised of their lives. Each time Spirit appears in a new film, another old friend or acquaintance contacts him and they usually tell him how they went on to be a success in some field or another. Greenbaum, by the way, says he tries to answer all his e-mail. Greenbaum does not tour, anymore. Despite offers to go on the road, he says he would rather have people remember him and the song as it was performed decades ago. He told me that some days he can “hit” the notes and some days he cannot. Therefore, he’d rather let the recorded version be the memory in fans’ minds.
So now you know the rest of the story.
For more information on the radical Jewish chicken farmers of Petaluma Additional Information If you have any additional questions, please contact: editor@jewhoo.com. |
Mill Valley, California (near San Francisco) and invited them to stay with him
while Greenbaum worked on a solo album. Greenbaum eventually settled in nearby Petaluma and, for a time, ran a local goat farm as a sideline to his
musical career. Greenbaum was not, incidentally, the first Jewish farmer in
Petaluma. A rather large colony of Jewish socialist chicken farmers settled in
the area early in the century and flourished until the early 1950’s. 
Greenbaum is frank about the marvel of his “one-hit wonder”. He told me it
brings in more money today than when it was on the charts. He is able to live,
albeit modestly, off of what Spirit brings in. But it was also clear from our
conversation that he is proud of the song’s artistic merit and the way it has
affected many people. On his web site, he displays letters from fans who say
how the song was important to them following a death or other tragedy. 