Biography
Keyboardist and songwriter Rod Argent played a vital role in the Zombies throughout the 1960s before stepping forward as the driving force behind the group that bore his name. Born on June 14, 1945, in St. Alban’s, England, just outside London, he received roughly two years of formal instruction yet remained largely self-taught at the piano. Rock & roll first reached him at age eleven through his cousin’s collection of Elvis Presley sides, though he simultaneously absorbed classical music and jazz; those influences would later give his songwriting a harmonic and melodic depth uncommon among most British Invasion contemporaries.
The Zombies coalesced when Argent was sixteen and secured a contract with Decca in 1963 after the label heard his composition “She’s Not There,” which climbed the charts on both sides of the Atlantic the following year. Their next American Top Ten entry, the Argent-written “Tell Her No,” followed in 1965. Even though Argent, the band’s most prolific writer, and guitarist Chris White supplied a string of remarkable singles, consistent commercial success proved elusive, and the Zombies dissolved in 1967 once they had finished the psychedelic landmark Odessey and Oracle. Argent promptly assembled a new ensemble under his own surname, recruiting Chris White as co-producer and co-writer though not as an onstage member. Even after “Time of the Season” belatedly became the Zombies’ largest hit in early 1969, Argent remained the central project.
The band’s self-titled debut appeared later that year and revealed a denser, more physical sound while preserving the keyboard intricacy familiar from Argent’s earlier work. The rising progressive-rock movement supplied fresh opportunities to merge jazz and classical elements with rock, an avenue that suited him naturally. Their 1971 follow-up, Ring of Hands, leaned heavily into progressive territory with extensive keyboard soloing, yet it failed to reach a broader listenership. That breakthrough arrived with 1972’s All Together Now, whose edited single “Hold Your Head Up” reached the American Top Five. Extensive touring ensued, additional albums appeared, and a modest hit arrived in 1973 with “God Gave Rock ’n’ Roll to You,” a song actually penned by bandmate Russ Ballard.
Argent disbanded in 1976, after which Rod turned to session work to broaden his range. In the ensuing years he contributed to the Who’s Who Are You, Roger Daltrey’s solo projects, recordings by John Dankworth, Cleo Laine, Gary Moore, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Variations, and several projects with former Zombies vocalist Colin Blunstone. His first solo album, Moving Home, surfaced in 1978. Two years later he composed the stage musical Masquerade, which opened in London in 1982. Following a collaboration with British jazz saxophonist Barbara Thompson, he scored British television programs in the mid-1980s. In 1987 he entered a production partnership with former Van Morrison drummer Peter Van Hooke; together they helmed Tanita Tikaram’s Ancient Heart (1988), Nanci Griffith’s Late Night Grande Hotel (1991), Joshua Kadison’s Painted Desert Serenade (1993), and Jules Shear’s Healing Bones (1994), among other releases. Argent also ended a decade-long solo hiatus with 1988’s Red House. A decade afterward he issued Classically Speaking, an album of solo piano performances that mixed classical repertoire with original pieces. In 2001 he reunited with Colin Blunstone for Out of the Shadows and supported the record with a tour.
The Zombies coalesced when Argent was sixteen and secured a contract with Decca in 1963 after the label heard his composition “She’s Not There,” which climbed the charts on both sides of the Atlantic the following year. Their next American Top Ten entry, the Argent-written “Tell Her No,” followed in 1965. Even though Argent, the band’s most prolific writer, and guitarist Chris White supplied a string of remarkable singles, consistent commercial success proved elusive, and the Zombies dissolved in 1967 once they had finished the psychedelic landmark Odessey and Oracle. Argent promptly assembled a new ensemble under his own surname, recruiting Chris White as co-producer and co-writer though not as an onstage member. Even after “Time of the Season” belatedly became the Zombies’ largest hit in early 1969, Argent remained the central project.
The band’s self-titled debut appeared later that year and revealed a denser, more physical sound while preserving the keyboard intricacy familiar from Argent’s earlier work. The rising progressive-rock movement supplied fresh opportunities to merge jazz and classical elements with rock, an avenue that suited him naturally. Their 1971 follow-up, Ring of Hands, leaned heavily into progressive territory with extensive keyboard soloing, yet it failed to reach a broader listenership. That breakthrough arrived with 1972’s All Together Now, whose edited single “Hold Your Head Up” reached the American Top Five. Extensive touring ensued, additional albums appeared, and a modest hit arrived in 1973 with “God Gave Rock ’n’ Roll to You,” a song actually penned by bandmate Russ Ballard.
Argent disbanded in 1976, after which Rod turned to session work to broaden his range. In the ensuing years he contributed to the Who’s Who Are You, Roger Daltrey’s solo projects, recordings by John Dankworth, Cleo Laine, Gary Moore, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Variations, and several projects with former Zombies vocalist Colin Blunstone. His first solo album, Moving Home, surfaced in 1978. Two years later he composed the stage musical Masquerade, which opened in London in 1982. Following a collaboration with British jazz saxophonist Barbara Thompson, he scored British television programs in the mid-1980s. In 1987 he entered a production partnership with former Van Morrison drummer Peter Van Hooke; together they helmed Tanita Tikaram’s Ancient Heart (1988), Nanci Griffith’s Late Night Grande Hotel (1991), Joshua Kadison’s Painted Desert Serenade (1993), and Jules Shear’s Healing Bones (1994), among other releases. Argent also ended a decade-long solo hiatus with 1988’s Red House. A decade afterward he issued Classically Speaking, an album of solo piano performances that mixed classical repertoire with original pieces. In 2001 he reunited with Colin Blunstone for Out of the Shadows and supported the record with a tour.
Albums
