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Norman Greenbaum
Spirit in the Sky
Album cover |
45 label |
Although "Spirit in the Sky" has a seemingly Christian
theme, Greenbaum was and still is a practicing Jew. He was inspired to write
the song after observing country singers Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner
singing a religious song on television.
Cultural impact
During John Lennon's famously scathing 1970 Rolling Stone "Beatles
break-up" interview with 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."
"Spirit in the Sky" is a precursor to the sound of early-70s British glam
rock pioneers in numerous respects. It features:
●High-pitched backing vocals similar to those
in almost all hit singles by T. Rex or Sweet;
●A prominent shuffle rhythm with handclaps and
a double emphasis in the third bar, exactly like that used in Gary Glitter's
later worldwide hit "Rock and Roll, Parts One and Two";
●The use of nascent synthesizer technology more
for its novelty/effects value than its musicality, as heard later in Roxy
Music's "Virginia Plain" and Chicory Tip's "Son of My Father".
●Alvin Stardust's first single "My Coo-Ca-Choo"
even uses the chord pattern of "Spirit in the Sky": each song can be sung
along with the other quite easily. The guitar break in Alvin's second
single, "Jealous Mind", is also very similar to the guitar break in "Spirit
in the Sky".
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
War, The Wolves of Kromer, The Huntress, Forrest Gump, Evan Almighty,
December Boys, "Sunshine Cleaning" "Angel Baby", When I Die, and Ben Stein's
2008 documentary "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed".
"Spirit in the Sky" was ranked #85 in VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders. It
was included on the list of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel
following the September 11, 2001 attacks. "Spirit in the
Sky" also was ranked #333 in The Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Songs
Of All Time December 1970 survey of the top 100 songs of
the decade, hosted by radio personality Robert W. Morgan, listed "Spirit in
the Sky" at #7.
Other Trivia
Use of the song in
other contexts
Was played during a Season 5 episode of the television series Supernatural
entitled "Good God, Y'all!"
Is played at Los Angeles of Anaheim Angels home games as the starting
lineups are announced.
Was played in Apollo 13 throughout the film.
Used by Nike, Inc. in a commercial featuring Deion Sanders, Matt Leinart,
Steve Young, and LaDainian Tomlinson among others.
Is featured at the end of a 30 second commercial featuring Gatorade Tiger.
Tiger Woods appears in the commercial.
Played on August 20, 2005, as the late Hunter S. Thompson's ashes were fired
out of a cannon at his home, Owl Farm, in Woody Creek, Colorado.
Used in the opening scene for the movie Sandlot 2
Used on several commercials for the Tigua Indian casino and gaming center.
Featured in the video game Rock Band 2 as a playable song.
Featured in the movie "Remember the Titans" (2000)
Used at the beginning of Law & Order: Criminal Intent in the episode
"Brother's Keeper."
Used in July 2007 by Jim Davidson as his encore for a series of gigs in
Dubai.
Featured at the end of the House episode "Games" in November 2007.
Featured in 2008 in the SoapNet series MVP. It also featured at the end
credits of The Channel Four Broadcast of "Jesus Camp."
Used in The Longest Yard during the scene where the guards and police
prepare for the big game and the end of Caretaker's funeral.
Played in part at the end of each episode of the US version of the TV show
"Life On Mars".
Played in "My Name Is Earl" in the episodes called "Get a Real Job" that
aired May 3, 2007 and "Chaz Dalton's Space Academy" that aired March 5,
2009.
Used as the name of a one-time performance super group formed by members of
The Electric Prunes and Smashing Pumpkins in order to commemorate the life
of psychedelic musician Sky Sunlight Saxon. The song also served as the
opening number to the memorial concert held on July 24, 2009.
Featured in the episode "Judgement" of the UK version of The Office
Played during the movie "Contact" in the scene where the masses show up to
celebrate humanity's first contact with alien intelligence.
Was played in the end credits for the 2008 movie "Sunshine Cleaning"
Was played over the closing credits of Episode #4.5 ("Sins of the Father")
of the HBO TV series "Big Love."
Used in the movie Michael staring John Travolta
Jason Mraz covered the song with a blues riff at the annual benefit festival
Farm Aid in 2009.
And if you haven't noticed already, with a minor spelling change, Spirits in
the Sky serves as a link to the Memorial page on this website as seen on the
left column. Said Norman in a recent interview: “‘Spirit In
The Sky’ sounds as fresh today as when it was first recorded.”
That’s the spirit.
"Spirit in the Sky" Lives On...and On
Sources:
www.answers.com
www.discogs.com
www.nytimes.com
www.imdb.com
www.repertoirerecords.com
www.encyclopedia.com
Some of these historical facts and trivia may seem "overextended" in some
areas but, hey, I tried to make a short synopsis and
sometimes that was hard to do. You will find that most of these artist(s),
bands, groups has a lot of history than you realize. You also keep finding
items to add or you had to leave data there because the next paragraph might
refer back to the previous, etc, etc...catch my drift?
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