Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

In the early '80s a mate of mine bootlegged the occasional Larry festival performance and some of the stuff on this album reminds me of those tapes and the many Larry performances I witnessed.  Larry and an acoustic guitar had such a wide repertoire, you never knew what he'd pull out of the hat!  There are only 2500 copies of 'Gathered Moments' in existence and it resonates with rare renditions caught rough and ready in the spotlight.  Compiled from bootlegs, rare soundcheck recordings, in hotel rooms whilst composing, this is a fascinating memento of live performances and the uncharted genius of some songs that will probably never make it to full studio adulthood!  Highlights include "You Got The Blues", a humorous spontaneous piece of acoustic blues to check his sound in front of an audience!  There's the 1976 original full band demo version of "Watch What You're Doing" and a couple of songs from the mid '70s which were intended for projects long since abandoned.  Moving to the '80s, there are a couple of gems, the studio demo version of "Stop This Flight" and one song I've been wanting to get hold of for 15 years, the original, definitive and wild version of "If You Don't Love The Lord" which originally appeared on a special Greenbelt tape I lost 14 years ago!  There's also the Belfast version of "Unlucky Blues" from the '80s which I've had on a bootleg for a while complete with the crazy "Twist And Shout" intro!  This is a feast of intriguing low-fi recordings for Larry Norman anoraks (like me!) everywhere.  If you've never checked out the man's music, whatever you do, don't start here!  Buy something on the Word catalogue, he's worth investigating!  If you're a rabid Norman completeist and a "break from the Norm" is the last thing on your mind, this is a must!

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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