Editing Larry Norman (section)

===Early bands===
While still in high school, Norman formed a group called The Back Country Seven, which included his sister Nancy Jo and friend Gene Mason.<ref name="behindthebooks.ivpress.com" /> After graduating, Norman continued performing locally.

In 1966 Norman opened a concert for [[People!]] at the [[Asilomar Conference Grounds]] in [[Pacific Grove, California]]. He later became the band's principal songwriter, sharing lead vocals with his Back Country Seven bandmate Gene Mason.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vital Statistics |url=http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/Pictures/PeopleBio4.jpg |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324105426/http://www.meetjesushere.com/images/Pictures/PeopleBio4.jpg |archive-date=March 24, 2016 |access-date=November 26, 2014 |website=Jim Böthel's Unofficial Larry Norman Website |format=JPG}}</ref> People! performed about 200 concerts a year,<ref name="korea">Larry Norman, "Liner Notes", ''I Love You Korea'', p.2.</ref> appearing with [[Van Morrison]] and [[Them (band)|Them]], [[the Animals]], [[the Dave Clark Five]], [[Paul Revere & the Raiders]], [[the Doors]], [[the Who]], [[Janis Joplin]], [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[Moby Grape]], and San Jose bands [[Syndicate of Sound]] and [[Count Five]].<ref>{{Cite web |year=2010 |title=Wayback Wednesday - The People! |url=http://mog.com/DashboardDJ856/blog/1928285 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305162106/http://mog.com/DashboardDJ856/blog/1928285 |archive-date=March 5, 2012 |website=[[MOG (online music)|MOG]]}}</ref> The band's cover of [[the Zombies]]' [[I Love You (The Zombies song)|"I Love You"]] became a hit single, selling over one million copies and charting strongly in several markets.<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Cash Box Top 100 Singles Week ending June 29, 1968 |url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19680629.html |url-status=dead |magazine=[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cashbox]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301230738/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19680629.html |archive-date=March 1, 2013}}</ref> Norman left People! just as [[Capitol Records|Capitol]] released the band's first album in mid 1968, but reunited with Mason for concerts in 1974 and 2006.<ref name="cummings">{{Cite web |title=People!: Drummer and songwriter Denny Fridkin recounts his life in music |url=http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/People_Drummer_and_songwriter_Denny_Fridkin_recounts_his_life_in_music/28810/p1/ |access-date=October 5, 2014 |website=Cross Rhythms}}</ref> According to rock historian Walter Rasmussen, [[Pete Townshend]] once said that The Who's 1969 album ''[[Tommy (rock opera)|Tommy]]'' was inspired by the rock opera "Epic" by People!;<ref>Powell 2002, p. 633-634.</ref><ref>Wally Rasmussen, liner notes, "About the Author", ''Larry Norman: White Blossoms From Black Roots'' (SRD-030) (1988):4.</ref> however, Townshend has since denied the connection.<ref name="NMP">{{Cite web |title=Larry Norman: Not so Long Ago the Garden |url=http://newmusicplease.com/album-reviews/larry-norman-so-long-ago-the-garden.php |access-date=October 21, 2016 |website=New Music Please}}</ref>