Fallen Angel: The Outlaw Larry Norman (2009)

Orion Acaba, Larry Norman

Larry Norman was a singer and guitarist who seemed poised for big things in 1968 -- as a member of the group People, he scored a major hit single, "I Love You", and the group's profile was on the rise... read more . But Norman quit the band as their start was rising to follow a calling that was both musical and spiritual. Larry Norman became known as the father of the Christian Rock movement; his first solo album, 1972's Only Visiting This Planet, has been cited as the one of the best and most influential Christian albums ever, and he became one of the most visible figures on the "Jesus People" scene, a showman who could work a crowd as well as any of rock's biggest stars while passing along a potent spiritual message. But while Norman had a large and loyal following among young Christians and the admiration of his musical peers, there was another side to him that drove away some of his closest friends. After discovering and befriending songwriter Randy Stonehill, Norman had an affair with his wife; a disagreement with members of the Christian rock band Daniel Amos led Norman to refused to release an album he produced for them. And some who worked with Norman speak of a man with a powerful ego and a short temper whose motivations seemed hard to fathom and hardly Christian. Filmmaker David Di Sabatino, who profiled another controversial figure of the "Jesus People" movement with his documentary Frisbee: The Life and Death of a Hippie Preacher, explores both the triumphs and failings of a self-styled Christian troublemaker in Fallen Angel: The Outlaw Larry Norman. The documentary received its world premiere at the 2009 Cinequest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi