spirit in the sky

Music Legend Norman Greenbaum Relaunches Official Website -- Spirit In The Sky

Norman Greenbaum releaunches Spirit In The Sky website.

Santa Rosa, CA (PRWEB) November 18, 2007 -- "I'm going up to the Spirit in the Sky - That's where I want to go when I die...", the words and music hum through the minds of anyone who has listened to top-40 radio in the past four decades. Music legend Norman Greenbaum penned and recorded the hit song "Spirit In The Sky" in late 1969, which rocketed to #1 in the U.S. and Great Britain. Named song of the year by Cashbox magazine in 1970, the single would go on to sell over two million copies.

" 'Spirit In The Sky' is, without a doubt, one of the greatest recordings of the 20th century. We're talking about, perhaps, the greatest, most definitive four minutes in the storied, glorious history of rock...", writes Steve Roeser in Note 4 Note.

Recently, much to the elation of his fans, Norman Greenbaum has relaunched his official website - www.spiritinthesky.com and has made available his much sought after CDs from the '60s and '70s, along with T-shirts, hats, mouse pads, signed photos and other memorabilia. Although Norman hasn't recorded in recent years, he is very active with his new website, posting messages to his fans and making available rare photos for viewing.

"There can be no greater joy in life than being what they call, 'a one hit wonder'. And when you've created an international chart smash that just about everyone remembers, then you can hold your head up with pride!" said writer Chris Welsh about Norman and "Spirit In The Sky". In actuality, Norman Greenbaum had the rare distinction of having two 'one hit wonders', the first being the novelty hit "The Eggplant That Ate Chicago", which he recorded in 1965 under the guise of Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band.
Spirit in the Sky
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"Spirit in the Sky"

Single by Norman Greenbaum
Released 1969
Format 7"
Recorded 1969
Genre Rock
Length 3:57
Label Reprise Records
Producer Erik Jacobsen
"Spirit in the Sky"

Single by Doctor and the Medics
from the album Laughing at the Pieces
B-side Laughing at the Pieces
Released 1986
Format 7"
Recorded 1986
Genre Rock
Doctor and the Medics singles chronology
"Spirit in the Sky"
(1986) "Waterloo"
(1986)

"Spirit in the Sky" is a song written by Norman Greenbaum and released in 1969. The single sold 2 million copies in 1969 and 1970 and got to number 3 in the U.S. Billboard chart, as well as number 1 on the UK charts in 1970. The song was featured on the 1969 album of the same name. Cover versions by Doctor and the Medics and Gareth Gates have also made the number 1 spot in the UK.

Contents
1 Original version by Norman Greenbaum
2 Cultural impact
3 Other versions of "Spirit in the Sky"
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Original version by Norman Greenbaum
Greenbaum had previously been a member of psychedelic jug band Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band. When they split up he won a solo contract with producer Erik Jacobsen, who had previously worked successfully with The Lovin' Spoonful. He was inspired to write the song after watching Porter Wagoner on TV singing a gospel song. Greenbaum later said : "I thought, 'Yeah, I could do that,' knowing nothing about gospel music, so I sat down and wrote my own gospel song. It came easy. I wrote the words in 15 minutes."[1]

"Spirit in the Sky" contains lyrics about the afterlife, making several references to Jesus and Christianity. However, Greenbaum, who identifies himself as Jewish, stated that he had no particular religious intentions with the song.[2] He simply wanted to reach a bigger market.

The song's arrangement came together in the studio in San Francisco, when Greenbaum was recording his first solo album with Jacobsen for Reprise Records. The production team brought in the Stovall Sisters, an Oakland-based gospel trio, to sing backing vocals. According to one source[3] , Greenbaum himself used a Fender Telecaster with a fuzz box built into the body to generate the song's characteristic guitar sound. However, elsewhere guitarist Russell DaShiell[4] explained how the tone was created:

"I actually played the lead guitar parts on Spirit, using a 61-62 SG Les Paul, a 68 Marshall Plexi 100w half stack and a home-made overdrive box in front of the Marshall. Regarding the 'beep beeps' as I call them, when the producer asked me to play some fills in between the verses, as a joke I said how about something spacey like this and I did the pickup switch/string bending thing. I saw him stand up in the control booth and he said "that's it! let's record that!" so we did. (There was no slide involved, just my fingers, and I used the bridge humbucker and the pickup switch). The fuzz part is Norman with a built-in overdrive circuit built into his Tele pickguard."
"I've been asked a lot over the years how I did the 'beep beep' guitar parts on Spirit, so for any guitar players out there who would like to learn how, try the following: Using a 2-pickup Gibson, set the neck pickup volume to zero, bridge pickup volume to max, with the pickup switch in the middle position (with Gibson wiring this gives you silence in the middle position). Do a string bend, picking the B & E strings together with one hit, just ahead of the beat, then use the pickup switch to kick in the bridge pickup in triplets (6 per bar) as you let the B string bend down two frets."
"I mainly used two positions on Spirit, which is in the key of A. For the low position, fret a stationary C note (8th fret) on the E string while bending the B string up to an A note for your starting-position, then pick the two strings together once while the guitar is silent and work the pickup switch as you let the A note bend downwards to a G. For the high position, do the same thing at the 15th fret holding a stationary high G note on the E string while bending down from E to D on the B string."
"I must give credit to Jimi Hendrix as my inspiration for this technique (as well as for the double-string riffs I did at the beginning of the Spirit solo tail section). I saw him perform live in a small club in Madison, Wisconsin and loved the way he used his Strat pickup switch to create stacato feedback on songs like Voodoo Child. The difference is, on a Gibson you can start from silence and create the on/off effect, which worked well with the downward string bending thing I did on Spirit."[5]
The resulting sound was an innovative and compelling combination of gospel and psychedelic rock music, with loud drums, distorted electric guitar, clapping hands, tambourines, and a female gospel backing chorus. Because of its unusual lyrics and style, the record company were initially reluctant to issue it, but was finally released as a single after two other singles from the album had poor sales. "Spirit in the Sky" became a worldwide hit, and was at the time the best-selling single ever for the Reprise label.

[edit] Cultural impact
During John Lennon's famously scathing 1970 Rolling Stone "Beatles break-up" interview (Jann S. Wenner), while highly critical of the recent work of many of his peers, including Bob Dylan and ex-bandmate Paul McCartney, Lennon professed to liking the then-current radio single, "Spirit in the Sky," stating that he "always liked simple rock and nothing else."

Rolling Stone ranked "Spirit in the Sky" #333 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Of the song, Greenbaum once said, in an interview: 'It sounds as fresh today as when it was recorded'.[1] "Spirit in the Sky" was also ranked #85 in VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders.

The song has been featured in many movies, including Superstar, Saving Grace, Contact, Michael (trailer only), Apollo 13, Remember the Titans, Ocean's Eleven, Jesus Camp, Wayne's World 2, The Sandlot 2, The Longest Yard, Knocked Up, Miami Blues, Universal Soldier II: Brothers In Arms, The Wolves of Kromer, The Huntress, and Evan Almighty.

Recently, Nike, Inc. used the song in a commercial featuring Deion Sanders, Matt Leinart, and Steve Young, among others.

It was included on the list of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

[edit] Other versions of "Spirit in the Sky"
Many artists have released cover versions of the song. Some of the recordings even went on to repeat the same feat as the original, by reaching the number one spot in the UK, as well as other countries.

1970s Manchester band The Cheetahs covered the song on their album.
In 1986, Doctor and the Medics released a version which went to number 1 in 32 countries, including the UK.
In 1991, the song was released by country rock group Kentucky HeadHunters on their album Electric Barnyard.
In 1998, a successful recording of the song was released by Travis Allen White.
In 2000, the song was covered by the Christian rock group dc Talk, for the CBS mini-series entitled Jesus: The Epic Miniseries.
In 2003, a version was released by pop-singer Gareth Gates and The Kumars, in aid of the charity Comic Relief. It reached number 1 in the UK charts for two weeks.
In 2005, song was released on the album Atom Bomb by the Blind Boys of Alabama.
In 2005, the song's repetitive bassline was appropriated by British electronic artist Goldfrapp in their single "Ooh La La".
The song was also covered by Henry Lee Summer on his live album.
The song was also covered by German artist Nina Hagen, and covered by Bauhaus
The song was also covered by the Howard Stern band, The Losers.
The song was also covered by the joy Riders.
In 2006, the song was covered by Tom Cochrane on his album No Stranger.
In 2006, Elton John did a version in his album 16 Legendary Covers from 1969/70, as Sung by Elton John
In 2007, The Havingas did a version in their up-and-coming CD Girl of My Dreams.[6]
In July 2007 Jim Davidson used this song as his encore for a series of gigs in Dubai

The story behind the song "Spirit In The Sky" is an interesting one. The original idea for the song came from Norman watching a performance on TV one night by country legend Porter Wagoner, who was singing about a preacher. This inspired Greenbaum to write a religious rock song. The intro to "Spirit In The Sky " is one of the most memorable guitar intros in rock music history! "I played a Fender Telecaster through a Fender tube amp", explains Norman. "A friend custom built the fuzz box, just a small something or other, into the body of the guitar with a switch. I didn't slit the speakers. I fingerpicked and used lots of reverb. There really wasn't much else done in the mix."

Norman Greenbaum recorded several subsequent LPs and singles through the '70s. Although critically acclaimed, none of them reached the height of success that "Spirit In The Sky" had. By the mid 80's Norman had retired from music, yet the song would not die! In 1986 the band Doctor and the Medics recorded a cover version of the song which reached number one in Great Britain. Then, in 2003, the British television series The Kumars also scored a number one in the UK when they recorded "Spirit" with Gareth Gates, marking the 3rd number one for "Spirit In The Sky". Besides being a massive hit on both sides of the Atlantic back in the early '70s, "Spirit In The Sky " has endured the test of time and is as innovative and exciting today as it was when first released, and continues to inspire young musicians everywhere. Eventually, the track would find its way into over 40 movies (such as Miami Blues, Contact, Apollo 13 and Wayne's World 2) as well as a dozen TV commercials. Norman ha
s been told by funeral directors across the country that "Spirit in the Sky" is one of their top requested songs to be played at memorial services, indeed an honor. Norman adds that there will soon be a ringtone available for all fans who do not want to get the riff out of their heads.

Now with the relaunching of Norman Greenbaum's official website we can all once again go to the Spirit In The Sky.