Word: rods
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Morrison communicates with his voice better than any but the best of the blues singers. Other rock singers must resort to other means: James Taylor opposes the personalness of his statement with the Appalachian flatness of his voice; Jagger relies on his onstage phyrotechnics, as does Rod Stewart; Joan Baez and Judy Collins are interpreters; Joni Mitchell catches you with words. Only Van Morrison can get to you purely with his voice...
Most of the songs fall neatly into types. "Keep on Rollin" is pure Little Richard in tone, but moves beyond him finally. Rod Argent's piano opening and solo are both boogie-oriented, but emphasize notes, where Little Richard was content simply to pound chords. This is an Argent-Chris White composition, and as such stresses keyboards...
...Rod Argent was a Zombia. You must remember the Zombies, a third-stream-English-invasion band. They had two hits, "She's Not There," and "Tell Her No" then disappeared for four years. In 1968, they made a single, "Time of the Season," and an album for Columbia. They broke up soon after, and Argent formed Argent, named, according to the group, because "the others feel that the identity of the band stemmed from his original purpose...
Russ Ballard is not only Argent's guitarist, he also writes nearly half the band's songs. Ballard's songs emphasize guitar as much as Argent's rely on organ and piano. "Tragedy", opens with a good soul band guitar lick, that becomes the basis of the tune. Rod Argent's role on this one is to build the total sound with his full-bodied chords, and to play a smoothly-phrased duet with Ballard during the break. The transitions between chorus bridge and break are smooth--repeated listening shows this to be one of the band's strong points...
Which leaves two unclassifiable songs. "Hold Your Head Up," and "Be My Lover, Be My Friend." These two, not surprisingly, are also the best. The insistence, the steadiness of the bass and drums in "Hold Your Head Up" make it perfect for AM radio. Rod achieves an overdubbing effect early in the break by playing lines with both hands. The rest of the long break is characterized by a full sound on the organ; Argent builds by level to his climax, but does no without any (Keith) Emersonian flash or frenzy. Again, there's a smooth transition, featuring an echoed...