So I went, “That’s kind of interesting.” These two had nothing to do with each other. In the meantime, I had come across a greeting card that said “Spirit in the Sky.” And it was American Indians sitting in front of a tipi, with the fire going and being spiritual towards what they had deemed God, which was a spirit in the sky. He came up to me after the show and introduced himself and said, “I like you. I was playing at the Troubadour and a producer of all the Lovin’ Spoonful hits happened to be there that night. I did that for a while and then I wanted to do something more rock & roll. It’s about as different from “Spirit in the Sky” as you can get. The first record we made was called “The Eggplant That Ate Chicago.” Mostly because when I started doing my first band, I did something completely different. Musically, I never knew quite what to do with it. You pack it away in the back of your head and know that you’ll get back to it. Songwriters occasionally have an idea but not a complete one. What do you remember about writing “Spirit in the Sky”? Greenbaum spoke with RS about how a Jew managed to write a song about Jesus, why the song’s use in Apollo 13 blew his mind, and what he’s up to these days. “All of a sudden I’m getting a little resurrection of my career,” he continues. Now there’s a whole young generation that is into the song. “The song started with kids’ grandparents and then their parents and then they hear it in all these movies. “I’ve got an audience that’s coming around again,” Greenbaum, now 77, says over the phone from his home in California. The song has appeared in more than 30 commercials and 60 films, including Wayne’s World 2, Apollo 13, Remember the Titans, and I, Tonya. In the 50 years since its release, “Spirit in the Sky” has never really gone away. Propelled by a chugging, bluesy riff and featuring lyrics about befriending Jesus and preparing for death, it peaked at Number Three on Billboard’s Hot 100 and was certified gold. It just sounded too good.”įlashback: The Monkees' Peter Tork Sings a Gleeful 'Your Auntie Grizelda' in 2015įlashback: The Monkees' Peter Tork Makes a Deal With the Devilįlashback: Don McLean Plays a Stirring 'American Pie' in 1972 “At first the record company said, ‘Gee, they don’t play anything like this on Top 20,'” the singer-songwriter tells Rolling Stone of his immortal boogie-rock anthem. Right from the start, Norman Greenbaum had a good feeling about “Spirit in the Sky.”
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