Norman Greenbaum

Recently I attended the funeral of Betty, the mother of my friends Sue and Sandy. It was a very good funeral, and I was struck by the choice of recessional music, a recording of Norman Greenbaum's 1970 hit, "Spirit in the Sky." My late father, who was about the same vintage as Betty and no fan of youth culture, bought the album when it came out, and listened to it frequently.

My father was either an agnostic or an atheist. His father before him, my grandpa, was a vocal non-church goer. In fact, he told me that he attended church only twice in his adult life. The first time, the pew broke when he sat down, and the second time when he emerged from the church he found that his car had been stolen. These may be apocryphal stories, but you get the idea.

I wonder why my dad liked "Spirit in the Sky." Was it the ZZ Top style guitar riffs? Was it the catchy tune? Did he secretly have a friend in Jesus? This is, and shall remain a mystery to me.

I also wonder how someone named Norman Greenbaum came to write a song about Jesus. In the mid 60s, he fronted a band called "Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band." They had a fairly successful single called "The Eggplant that Ate Chicago." In the early 70s, he retired from the music business to devote himself to dairy farming. I'm posting a link to a really cute picture of him with a cow. Also check out this pre-video video: looks like it was directed by Ingmar Bergman on acid.

I have to admit, I kind of like "Spirit in the Sky" too.

www.ask.com/music/artist/Norman-Greenbaum/18016
www.dailymotion.com/video/x2iuqj_norman-greenbaum-spirit-in-the-sky_rss.fun