Free Republic

Story of 1970 Hit: Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum: How a Jew wrote a song about Jesus. By the time the song went to #1 around the world, he was not rubbing shoulders with rock stars but herding goats in Petaluma, CA.

The singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing the 1969 hit song "Spirit in the Sky" remained in a hospital Monday, two days after he was hurt in a car crash north of San Francisco that left a motorcyclist dead, according to the California Highway Patrol. Norman Greenbaum, 72, was brought to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in critical condition after the car he was a passenger in collided with a motorcycle, according to a statement from the California Highway Patrol (CHP

Greenbaum set out to write a religious rock song. He is Jewish, but instead of using a Jewish word for God, he used "Jesus" because he thought it would be more marketable. The original inspiration for this was a song about a preacher by Country singer Porter Waggoner. Greenbaum was also influenced by Folk revival music and traditional Southern Blues.