Spirit in the Sky

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"Spirit in the Sky"

Single by Norman Greenbaum, covered by Doctor and the Medics and others
from the album Laughing at the Pieces
Released	1986
Format	7"
Recorded	1986
Genre	Rock music
Chart positions
#1 (UK Singles Chart)
Norman Greenbaum, covered by Doctor and the Medics and others singles chronology
	"Spirit in the Sky" (1986)	"Waterloo" (1986)

"Spirit In The Sky" is a song written by Norman Greenbaum and released in 1969. The single sold 2 million copies between 1969 and 1970 and got to number 3 in the U.S. Billboard chart, as well as number 1 on the UK charts in 1970. The song was featured on the 1969 album of the same name. Cover versions by Doctor and the Medics and Gareth Gates have also made the number 1 spot.

The song typified psychedelic rock music and featured slight elements of hard rock - loud drums and fuzzy, distorted electric guitar, as well as elements of traditional folk music - clapping hands, tambourines, gospel song-like lyrics, and an all-female backing chorus.

1 "Spirit In The Sky" & Religion
2 Cultural impact
3 Guitar tone
4 Other versions of "Spirit In The Sky"
5 Trivia
6 References
7 External links

[edit] "Spirit In The Sky" & Religion

"Spirit In The Sky" contains lyrics about the afterlife, making several references to Jesus and Christianity.

However, an interview with Norman Greenbaum (who identifies himself as Jewish) notes that he had no particular religious intentions with the song. [1]

[edit] Cultural impact

During John Lennon's famously scathing 1970 Rolling Stone "Beatles break-up" interview (Jann S. Wenner), while highly critical of the recent work of many of his peers, which included such notables as 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".

The song has been featured in many movies, including Saving Grace, Contact, Michael, Apollo 13, Remember the Titans, Ocean's Eleven, Jesus Camp, Wayne's World 2, The Longest Yard, and Miami Blues.

Recently, Nike, Inc. used the song in a commercial featuring Deion Sanders, Matt Leinart, and Steve Young, among others.

[edit] Guitar tone

Lead guitarist Russell DaShiell explained on the Line 6 forums how the legendary tone of this song was created:

"I actually played the lead guitar parts on Spirit, using a 61-62 SG Les Paul, a 68 Marshall Plexi 100w half stack and a home-made overdrive box in front of the Marshall.

"Regarding the 'beep beeps' as I call them, when the producer asked me to play some fills in between the verses, as a joke I said how about something spacey like this and I did the pickup switch/string bending thing. I saw him stand up in the control booth and he said "that's it! let's record that!" so we did. (There was no slide involved, just my fingers, and I used the bridge humbucker and the pickup switch).

"The fuzz part is Norman with a built-in overdrive circuit built into his Tele pickguard

"I've been asked a lot over the years how I did the 'beep beep' guitar parts on Spirit, so for any guitar players out there who would like to learn how, try the following:

"Using a 2-pickup Gibson, set the neck pickup volume to zero, bridge pickup volume to max, with the pickup switch in the middle position (with Gibson wiring this gives you silence in the middle position). Do a string bend, picking the B & E strings together with one hit, just ahead of the beat, then use the pickup switch to kick in the bridge pickup in triplets (6 per bar) as you let the B string bend down two frets.

"I mainly used two positions on Spirit, which is in the key of A. For the low position, fret a stationary C note (8th fret) on the E string while bending the B string up to an A note for your starting-postition, then pick the two strings together once while the guitar is silent and work the pickup switch as you let the A note bend downwards to a G. For the high position, do the same thing at the 15th fret holding a stationary high G note on the E string while bending down from E to D on the B string.

"I must give credit to Jimi Hendrix as my inspiration for this technique (as well as for the double-string riffs I did at the beginning of the Spirit solo tail section). I saw him perform live in a small club in Madison, Wisconsin and loved the way he used his Strat pickup switch to create stacato feedback on songs like Voodoo Child. The difference is, on a Gibson you can start from silence and create the on/off effect, which worked well with the downward string bending thing I did on Spirit."

[2]

[edit] Other versions of "Spirit In The Sky"

Many artists have released cover versions of the song. Some of the recordings even went on to repeat the same feat as the original, by reaching the number one spot in the UK, as well as other countries.

1970s Manchester band The Cheetahs covered the song on their album.
In 1986, Doctor and the Medics released a version which went to number 1 in 32 countries, including the UK.
In 1991, the song was released by country rock group Kentucky HeadHunters on their album Electric Barnyard.
In 1998, a successful recording of the song was released by Travis Allen White.
In 2000, the song was covered by the Christian rock group dc Talk, for the CBS mini-series entitled Jesus: The Epic Miniseries.
In 2003, a cover version was released by pop-singer Gareth Gates and The Kumars, in aid of the charity Comic Relief. It reached number 1 in the UK charts for 2 weeks.
In 2005, song was released on the album Atom Bomb by the Blind Boys of Alabama.
In 2005, the song's repetitive bassline was appropriated by British electronic artist Goldfrapp in their single "Ooh La La".
The song was also covered by German artist Nina Hagen, and covered by Bauhaus
The song was also covered by the Howard Stern band, The Losers.
The song was also covered by the joy Riders.
In 2006, the song was covered by Tom Cochrane on his album No Stranger.
In 2006, Elton John did a version in his album 16 Legendary Covers From 1969-70, As Sung By Elton John

Rolling Stone ranked "Spirit In The Sky" # 333 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Of the song, Greenbaum once said, in an interview: 'It sounds as fresh today as when it was recorded'.[3]

[edit] Trivia

"Spirit in the Sky" was ranked #85 in VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders.

Preceded by "All Kinds Of Everything" by Dana	UK number one single (Norman Greenbaum version) April 28, 1970	Succeeded by "Back Home" by England national football team
Preceded by "The Chicken Song" by Spitting Image	UK number one single (Doctor & The Medics version) June 1, 1986	Succeeded by "The Edge of Heaven" by Wham!
Preceded by "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera	UK number one single (Gareth Gates & The Kumars version) March 16, 2003	Succeeded by "Make Luv" by Room 5 featuring Oliver Cheatham