Why is Larry Norman important historically?
Larry Norman was the engine for an entire genre of music known as contemporary Christian music (or CCM). To his credit, Larry was on the front lines of a cultural battle against the traditional church and her antagonistic stance, for the most part, against contemporary forms of music. Evangelists like Jimmy Swaggart were loud in their denunciation of rock music as the devil’s province. Already a veteran of a long and drawn out battle with his father over this issue, Larry became the prime apologist for using Christian rock music as a device to evangelize youth. As was his genius, Larry brilliantly captured the entire issue in the song “Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?” To understand the journey that Christian rock ‘n’ roll has taken from being demonized through to its wholesale adoption by evangelical mega-churches in their want to be more seeker-sensitive, it is impossible to underestimate the influence of Larry Norman.
