Norman Greenbaum -Spirits in the Sky-

Esta canción no alcanzó el número uno, una de esas que llegó al número dos. De 1972, esta melodía constituye otra de las cuales recopilaría en un disco, de esas que se podrían llamar imprescindibles. Me gusta demasiado. Un vídeo ilustrado por una enfermera retirada y fotógrafa de 54 años, con imágenes muy bellas, pero sin duda alguna la canción es insuperable. Hay una versión, de entre bastantes, que me llama la atención, es de un grupo británico de los ochentas que se llama Dr. & the Medics, con un estilo a lo Kiss en el vestuario y recordando un poco los días del glam rock. Lo incluimos también, como dato curioso.

Best-known for his 1970 hit "Spirit in the Sky," singer/songwriter Norman Greenbaum was born November 20, 1942, in Malden, MA. He began his musical career while a student at Boston University, playing area coffeehouses before relocating to the West Coast during the mid-'60s and forming a kind of psychedelic jug band dubbed Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band. After issuing the 1966 single "The Eggplant That Ate Chicago," which fell just shy of reaching the Top 50, the group disbanded, and Greenbaum subsequently formed a series of short-lived acts before finally returning to his solo career in 1968. A year later he issued his debut LP, Spirit in the Sky, releasing several unsuccessful singles before reaching the Top Three with the smash title track, which sold some two million copies. It proved to be Greenbaum's only hit, however, as follow-ups like 1970's "Canned Ham" and the next year's "California Earthquake" tanked; after the release of 1972's Petaluma, he retreated from music to focus on his California dairy farm, but returned to show business during the mid-'80s in a managerial capacity, also promoting a number of concerts. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide.