Something New Under the Son

In 1977 Norman recorded Something New under the Son, a blues-rock concept album that some regard as his tour de force, and as "one of the roughest, bluesiest, and best rock and roll albums of his career or the whole industry", that took its title from "an ironic inversion of a phrase in Ecclesiastes", namely: "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9b). Norman indicated that the songs chronicled "Pilgrim's" journey into faith. On this album Norman deliberately "took lots of musical & lyrical parts from old blues songs and from Bob Dylan songs". The album cover replicates Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home's cover on the inner sleeve of the original LP. Jesus Music historian David Di Sabatino described the album as "Musically reminiscent of The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street"(1972). "Nightmare #97" imitates the "false start" of Bob Dylan's 115th Dream and uses the opening line and a similar tune of Lloyd Price's version of Stagger Lee. "Watch What You're Doing" uses the opening line of Stump Johnson's "The Duck Yas-Yas-Yas". With the song "Let That Tape Keep Rolling" Norman pays homage to Mick Jagger and Van Morrison. Norman explained the philosophy behind this album:

The album is called Something New Under the Son. Well my music is not new. "There's nothing new under the sun", Solomon said and my album is not new. I'm not trying to say that my album is new under the sun but I'm trying to say that we are something new under the Son. When we're born again we're a new creature and old things pass away, so on my album I wanted to put some remnants from the past. There are little bits and pieces in the music that some people might recognise have been on other albums before. Just a word there, a little sentence or some musical riff or lick and a lot of people have figured out what they are and when you listen to it you say "wait a minute, I think I've heard that before!" Yes, you have, because there's nothing new under the sun - except us. We are new in Christ.

Norman had intended to release this as a double album with his 1971 song "The Tune" on the second album (and a blank fourth side or a side with a lengthy version of "Watch What You're Doing"). However, Word rejected Norman's wishes as they believed two separate albums would be more profitable, censored some of the songs, and delayed the album's release until 1981. A full length (almost 12 minute) version of "The Tune" was recorded in Hollywood in 1977, but not released until 1983 on the album The Story of the Tune, which is called "the continuation of Something New Under The Son on the back cover".

The CD reissue restores a censored verse to "Watch What You're Doing" and omits a brief intro from "Leaving The Past Behind."

Tracks

Original LP release

Side 1

"Hard Luck Bad News"
"Feeling So Bad"
"I Feel Like Dying"
"Born To Be Unlucky"
"Watch What You're Doing"

Side 2

"Leaving The Past Behind"
"Put Your Life Into His Hands"
"Larry Norman's 97th Nightmare"
"Let That Tape Keep Rolling"

Bonus tracks

"Twelve Good Men"
"It's Only Today That Counts"
"Watch What You're Doing" (8:36 version - previously unreleased)

These bonus tracks appear on the 2003 CD re-issue

Personnel

Larry Norman - vocals, guitars, percussion, piano, harmonica, saxophone
Jon Linn - guitars and flaming fingers
Alex MacDougall - drums
Peter Johnson - drums
Dave Coy - bass
Billy Batstone - bass
Tim Jaquette - bass
Randy Stonehill and Tom Howard - loose strings and lost paperwork

References

Bryan Moore, "LARRY NORMAN'S COMPLEAT DISCOGRAPHY (almost) V.3.8", (24 September 1999), http://www.prismnet.com/~aslan/images/ln.disco
John J. Thompson, Raised by Wolves: The Story of Christian Rock & Roll (ECW Press, 2000):50-51.
"Something New Under the Son (1981):, http://www.alivingdog.com/Music-Larry_Norman_3.html
Larry Norman to David Sabatino (sic), (13 April 1999), . For an explanation of the songs, see "Extracts from the Lyric Book", http://www.onlyvisiting.com/music/discography/Son/book.html Archived July 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
^ Robert Termorshuizen, "Something New Under The Son (1981)", "Something New Under the Son". Archived from the original on 2014-11-26. Retrieved 2014-10-05.
The cover of SNUTS features Norman outside of the Esquire Record & Afro Store, which apparently was located at Church Street, Norfolk, Virginia. See "Alma C. Williams", (15 June 2000),
"Let the Tape Keep Rolling." does contain autobiographical references to the recording of both Something New Under the Son, and Upon This Rock. See "LET THAT TAPE KEEP ROLLING (C:12/L:5)", http://www.onlyvisiting.com/gallery/lyrics/songs/rolling/rolling.html; and See Bryan Moore, "LARRY NORMAN'S COMPLEAT DISCOGRAPHY (almost) V.3.8", (24 September 1999), http://www.prismnet.com/~aslan/images/ln.disco
The song contains several references to "Goin' Home" by The Rolling Stones. There is also a dedication to "Lip Jagged" in the album's "linear" (liner) notes.
David Di Sabatino, "Larry Norman", www.one-way.org/jesusmusic/norman.htm
"Larry Norman Interview re Bob Dylan - 1982", Shaker (1982), http://www.billparr.org/ST/norman1982.html
"Larry Norman Down Under But Not Out", On Being (1985/1986):7.
"Larry Norman (Part 1)", http://www.onlyvisiting.com/larry/about/story1.html. This is taken from A Moment In Time and Footprints In The Sand CD booklets; Robert Termorshuizen, "Something New Under The Son (1981)", "Something New Under the Son". Archived from the original on 2014-11-26. Retrieved 2014-10-05.
Robert Termorshuizen, "The Story Of The Tune (1983)", "The Story of the Tune". Archived from the original on 2014-10-20. Retrieved 2014-10-05.. Among those who sung harmonies on "The Tune" were Norman's future second wife (Sarah Finch); his brother Charly; and his parents, Joe and Marge Norman. See See also http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/Singles/SRD121b.jpg

Larry Norman

Studio albums

Upon This Rock (1969)
Bootleg (1972)

The Trilogy	Only Visiting This Planet (1972) So Long Ago the Garden (1973) In Another Land (1976)

Live albums

Street Level (1970)

History