People! - I Love You (1968)

Some bands have unusual backstories. People! - yes, the exclamation point is part of their name - could be the only rock band in history that suffered from serious personnel issues due to religious differences.

People! were a one-hit wonder from San Jose, CA who had a #14 hit with "I Love You," a cover of a Zombies song written by the British Invasion band's bass player, Chris White.

Lead singer Larry Norman - already a devout Christian - joined the psychedelic rock sextet in time to add his vocals to this fun single released on Capitol Records. It's success allowed People! to record a full album that included a song he brought to the band, "What We Need is a Lot More Jesus and a Lot Less Rock & Roll" written by country singer Wayne Rainey that was also covered by Linda Ronstadt. The LP was not a hit.

Just as "I Love You" was gaining momentum - a year after the Summer of Love - most of the group became devotees of Scientology and pressured Norman to join them. Due to his own deeply held convictions he refused, so they asked him to leave, believing he no longer fit in. As it turns out, most of the remaining members still follow Scientology today.

Some readers may recognize Norman's name. After leaving the band he moved on to religious music and is considered by many to be the founder of the Christian rock movement although he never achieved much commercial success in the genre. He acknowledged his music was "too secular for the Christians and too Christian for the secularists."

Norman died in 2008 at age 60. In its obituary Christianity.com wrote, "It is certainly no overstatement to say Larry Norman is to Christian music what John Lennon is to rock & roll or Bob Dylan is to folk music."

People! broke up in 1971 after several personnel changes and two more albums failed to attract any attention. There have been several short-lived reunions over the years. Norman participated in one shortly before he passed away.

Watch People! lip-synching their song on Dick Clark's American Bandstand in 1968.

Comments

  1. Todd Mason4:05 PM, February 10, 2024

    Well, the Jim Kwesking Jug Band was pretty much done in by being taken over by a member who became a cult leader.

    Hey, did I point you toward People!? Was just discussing them on George Kelley's blog a few weeks ago...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Charlie Ricci5:26 PM, February 10, 2024

      Thanks for the Jim Kweskin info. I didn't know that. Did you know the jug band is where Maria Muldaur got her start?

      No, I didn't get the idea for the post on People! from you. A person recently gave me a burned CD with a mix of hits from 1968 and "I Love You" was on it. I knew of the song but I knew nothing about the band and that CD spurred me into action.

      Delete
    2. Todd Mason1:44 PM, March 10, 2024

      I did know that Ms. Muldaur was the not so hidden star of the Jug Band (and I was clearly using one of the bad keyboards the other week...Kwesking is an interesting verb...

      Delete

Post a Comment

WHAT'S HOT TODAY!

Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records

Image
Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen
Read more

Chicago: An Album By Album Analysis Of The Terry Kath Era (1969 - 1977)

Image
The original lineup of Chicago has always been one of my all time favorite bands. My affection for this great horn band is such that I want to discuss all of the albums they recorded before Terry Kath's unfortunate and accidental passing. Their debut album is now forty years old, and it's followup is not far behind, yet their music endures to this day. * * * * * Everyone Must Own * * * * Excellent * * * Good * * Fair * Poor * * * * * Chicago Transit Authority (1969) - Whether they were playing screaming psychedelic hard rock, jazz, blues, or love songs, everyone in the band proved they were worthy of the huge mass success that followed CTA 's release. The band's ability to play anything and play it well is the hallmark of their debut album. The stars are Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, and the horns, and even Peter Cetera demonstrates he can be a rock and roll animal when he wants to be. The standout tracks are Lamm's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It
Read more

Laurie London - He's Got The Whole World (In His Hands) (1958)

Image
Today we're going to discuss an almost totally forgotten hit record along with a little bit of related Billboard chart history. The inspiration for this post came about while sorting through some extremely old 45s that I didn't remember I owned. I've had "He's Got The Whole World (In His Hands)" by Laurie London - a rare, popular, gospel hit - in my record collection since my childhood, even though it wasn't really mine. The single belonged to either my mother or my grandmother who lived with us. I played it once in awhile because I was always allowed free access to their records, and it was eventually absorbed into my collection. Despite the name, teenager Laurie London (born January 19, 1944) was a boy singer who - at age thirteen - became a one-hit wonder in his native UK and in America the following year. Information about London is sparse. Details vary depending on the particular website you're reading, but according to Wik
Read more

Louis Armstrong - Louis In London (2024)

Image
Louis In London is a live album of a concert Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars recorded for the BBC on July 2, 1968. It was first aired by the network on September 22, 1968. Armstrong died in 1971 and his health was already taking a a sad turn when this concert took place. It's often been called his last great performance because his health deteriorated significantly shortly thereafter, and his ability to tour was severely limited. When the great tumpeter and singer received a tape recording of his London show he marked it "for the fans" because he was so proud of it. He also made copies on his recently installed high-end Tandberg tape system for each member of the All-Stars. In 1970, nine of the thirteen tracks from this new CD were released on LP as  Louis Armstrong's Greatest Hits Recorded Live  on Brunswick Records in both America and in the UK. The CD was digitally transfered form the original BBC telecast recording and no
Read more

Why Do 45 RPM Records Have Big Holes?

Image
Today we're going to find out why 45 RPM records have much larger holes than 78s and 33s. Believe it or not I often wondered about this burning question when I was collecting hundreds of these little seven inch gems back the 1960s. According to several websites, including Answerbag , the reason for the large hole used by 45s was simple. It was difficult for the old 78s, with their smaller holes, to find their way onto jukebox spindles. The large hole effectively eliminated that problem. Strangely, seven inch 45s were often pressed with the smaller holes used for LPs in many countries outside the United States, especially in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Overseas the inserts (commonly know as spiders) were manufactured into the large holes at the factories but they could be punched out if desired. The Beatles' British single of "Love Me Do," pictured here, is a typical example. Why were the spiders built into English 45s? I was unable to fi
Read more