Larnelle Harris Biography

Louisville, Kentucky, USA. After graduating from Kentucky University with a degree in music education, Harris has gone on to become one the most prominent talents in contemporary Christian music. He has been well served by his early apprenticeship as a member of the Spurrlows, a gospel group who toured extensively during the early 70s. He has also worked with the Gaither Vocal Band and First Gear, usually as a vocalist, though he is also a competent saxophone player and percussionist. From a more conventional gospel base for his early albums in the 70s he has successively grafted elements of secular pop and MOR onto his Christian-themed songs, the best of which include ‘Friends In High Places’ and the title-track from his well-received 1989 album, I Can Begin Again. However, probably his best album of the 80s was Larnelle Live - Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual Song, where a full orchestra and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir provided the perfect backing for Harris’ supple tenor voice.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.