Larry Norman – Only Visiting This Planet – 1972

OVTP is part 1 of Larry’s trilogy, which contains his iconic songs that lasted throughout his career. He never stopped performing “Reader’s Digest” and “The Outlaw” in concerts. Also included is the second studio release of “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” which is his most famous song for people who don’t know who Larry was. The first was on Upon This Rock, released through Capitol Records before he started releasing music through his own channels. In its original form, these are protest songs and relationship songs intertwined. The setting is 1972 and Larry went into the studio with the ideas that were floating in the air in California. Larry’s desire to be as counter-cultural as the hippy movement, but as a Christian drives the content. The songs are highly contemporary musically, ranging from folky in “The Outlaw” to rock in “I Am The Six O’Clock News.” The content gets deeply personal in songs like “I’ve Got To Learn To Live Without You,” and “Pardon Me.” These songs were confusing for Christian music fans because they did not talk about Jesus. The refreshing part here was that Larry was actually willing to talk about human problems. This extended into his political and social protests in the rest of the songs. Larry makes no attempt to hide the Gospel in his music, but also makes no attempt to pretend that human issues don’t need to be addressed, spoken about, preached about and sung about. This is truly what made Larry stand out as an artist.

Tracklist
1 – Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus – 4:03
2 – The Outlaw – 3:55
3 – I’ve Got To Learn To Live Without You – 3:36
4 – Without Love You Are Nothing – 3:33
5 – I Wish We’d All Been Ready – 5:21
6 – Six O’Clock News – 6:06
7 – Great American Novel – 4:31
8 – Pardon Me – 3:38
9 – Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music – 2:40
10 – Readers Digest – 2:42
11 – Oh, How I Love You –

Credits
Acoustic Guitar – Gordon Giltrap, Roger Hand
Arranged By [String Arrangements] – Chris Gunning
Backing Vocals – Rod Edwards, Roger Hand
Bass – John Wetton
Drums – Keith Smart
Engineer – Bill Price
Lead Guitar – Mickey Keen
Photography By – Pam Norman
Piano – Bob Brady, Larry Norman, Rod Edwards
Producer – Jon Miller, Rod Edwards, Roger Hand
Written-By – Larry Norman

Companies, etc.
Produced For – Triumvirate Productions
Produced For – Street Level Productions, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – MGM Records, Inc.
Pressed By – H.V. Waddell Co.
Manufactured By – MGM Records, Inc.
Published By – Strawbed Music
Published By – Jace Love Music Pub. Co.
Published By – Beechwood Music Corp.