I was working as a cook when it went to No 1': how Norman Greenbaum made Spirit in the Sky

"Spirit in the Sky started as an old blues riff I'd been playing since my college days in Boston, but I didn't know what to do with it. After I moved to LA, a guy I knew came up with a way of putting a fuzzbox inside my Fender Telecaster, which created the distinctive sound on Spirit in the Sky. I'd come across a greeting card with a picture of some Native Americans praying to the spirit in the sky. The phrase stuck in my head."

"One night I was watching country music on TV and the singer Porter Wagoner who discovered Dolly Parton sang a gospel song, which gave me the idea to write religious lyrics. Although I came from a semi-religious Jewish family, I wasn't religious, but found myself writing Christian lyrics such as When I die and they lay me to rest, I'm going to the place that's the best and Gotta have a friend in Jesus. It came together very quickly."

"When we recorded Spirit in the Sky for my debut album, the finished mix sent shivers up my spine. Initially, Warner said a four-minute single containing lyrics about Jesus would never get played on pop radio, but eventually they relented. In 1969, it sold two million copies. But I couldn't recreate the success. In 1986, I was working as a cook when Dr and the Medics took it back to No 1 in the UK. Then Gareth Gates's 2003 version meant it was No 1 in three different decades."

An old blues riff transformed into 'Spirit in the Sky' after a fuzzbox was installed in a Fender Telecaster, producing the song's distinctive sound. A greeting card image of Native Americans praying inspired the title phrase, and hearing Porter Wagoner sing gospel prompted the writing of Christian-themed lyrics despite a semi-religious Jewish background. Erik Jacobsen offered production support and Warner Brothers initially doubted a four-minute, Jesus-referencing single, but the record sold two million copies in 1969. Covers returned the song to No. 1 in later decades, the track featured in major films, and surviving car crashes led to daily prayers of gratitude to the spirit in the sky.

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