Song:I Love You
Album:Love Is The Song We Sing: San Francisco Nuggets 1965-1970
This classic piece of psychedelia was a top twenty hit in 1968. The most interesting thing about People! is that lead singer Larry Norman went on to be one of the architects of Christian Rock. People! was formed in San Jose, CA in 1965. Guitarist Geoff Levin was a student at San Jose State and had been a member of bluegrass bands The Pine Valley Boys and The Black Mountain Boys which included Jerry Garcia, his younger brother bassist Robb Levin and keyboard player Al Ribisi. Ribisi was also a member of surf music band The Aardvarks along with drummer John Riolo and guitarist Dave Anderson. Local DJ Mike Hunter AKA Captain Mikey became their manager. Anderson came up with the name People! and even designed a logo. But then Hunter kicked him out of the band and he was replaced by Larry Norman after Geoff Levin saw him perform. Norman brought his buddy Gene Mason with him. They thought they were The Righteous Brothers or something. Norman became the main songwriter and he and Mason shared lead vocals. People! went on tour and started getting a following. Norman wrote a song called The Epic which he claims influenced Pete Townsend to write the rock opera Tommy. People! did tour with The Who and Townsend has acknowledged some influence. People! signed with Capitol Records and their first three singles went nowhere. While they were recording their debut album, their fan club president suggested they record The Zombies song I Love You. It was written by Zombies bassist Chris White. I Love You reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and did even better internationally. Since Norman usually wrote all the songs, it appears he may have been annoyed by the success of I Love You and that his own songs were not hits. He left People! in 1968 and went on to be a pioneer of Christian Rock in the 70s. It also appears that some members of People! were Scientologists and that was an obvious conflict for Norman. People! replaced Norman and attempted to continue but they went nowhere and split up in 1971. You can get I Love You on this 4CD Nuggets comp. People! reunited a couple of times. As I said, Larry Norman had a very successful Christian Rock career until his 2008 death. Geoff Levin is the leader of the Children's Music group Celestial Navigations. Al Ribisi owns a publishing company and is the father of actor Giovanni Ribisi. Here's the video for I Love You by People!
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