Argent: God Gave Rock and Roll to You (1973)

Argent Song: God Gave Rock And Roll To You LP: In Deep Release: 1973 Band members Rod Argent – keyboards, backing/lead vocals, , producer, songwriter Bob Henrit – drums Russ Ballard – guitar, lead vocals Jim Rodford – bass guitar, backing Now a rock anthem, Argent's God Gave Rock And Roll To You was written under the storm cloud of cancer and enjoyed a superstar second wind. t was early 1973, and as Russ Ballard sat down at the piano in his parents’ Hertfordshire home, the Argent guitarist felt the stirring of an emotion he thought he’d lost. “I felt blissful when I started writing God Gave Rock And Roll To You,” he reflects, “and that was the opposite of how I’d felt the year before. My parents had both been really ill; my dad had prostate cancer, my mum had bowel cancer, at the same time. I’d felt so low. During that period, I remember writing I Don’t Believe In Miracles, and at the end of the song I just put my head down on the piano keys and cried.” Work had been Ballard’s lifeline through those hard times, with the songwriter typically getting home from Argent gigs at three in the morning, then rising at dawn to wrench out his feelings in song. His band – led by and named after former Zombies keyboard player Rod Argent – was riding high, and Ballard was already “making good money”, with 1972’s hit single Hold Your Head Up reaching No.5 in the US and UK. But it was God Gave Rock And Roll To You that represented the end of his own dark night of the soul. “It was wonderful to feel myself come out of that depression,” Ballard recalls. “I felt so ‘up’. It probably only took twenty minutes to write it. I’d always liked gospel. With the lyric, I was saying that we live on this incredible planet, and when you find a passion, this world makes sense. Whereas, if you settle for a job to pay the bills, it’s very sad. “The song was written on this heavy Eavestaff upright piano I’d been given for my twenty-first birthday,” he continues. “That might seem strange for a rock song – but I wrote Since You’ve Been Gone on a piano as well. As a kid I’d learnt classical piano. As soon as my mum and dad left the room, I was playing Jerry Lee Lewis.” Ballard presented the song to Argent at the band’s rehearsal space in St Albans, and marveled as they cooked it up to the seven-minute version that appears on their 1973 album In Deep (the song also reached UK No.18 on the singles chart). But he had misgivings about it: “Rod thought the song should be slower,” he says. “The recorded version dragged, to me. “The song didn’t do a lot for my career,” he adds, “because I decided to leave Argent around then – I was gone by 1974. We were getting very jazzy, when I was more about rock ’n roll.” For almost two decades, God Gave Rock And Roll To You lived a quiet existence as a semi-successful rock anthem, periodically exhumed by the cover versions of Christian rockers Petra, and Dennis Greaves' The Truth. Russ Ballard believes God Gave Rock And Roll To You’s message lives on, now more than ever. “I think the song will resonate for the next hundred years,” he considers, “whether people want to believe there’s a god or not. For me, music has been my savior. God gave rock ’n roll to me, basically. That’s what I was trying to say. And that line: ‘If you’re young and you’ll never be old, music can make your dreams unfold’, I still believe that. I am sharing this song to educate and spread awareness. Artists who have their copyrighted songs registered and monetized via YouTube Content ID receive money anytime anyone listens to their song, no matter who posted it. If you are the artist and have a link for people to purchase your work, want this removed, or want additional albums uploaded, please leave a comment below. Check out my other YouTube channels Jesus Rock Man: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCatXX9G5qgzYQlmy05YawKQ Muscri Man: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwyUfcVJpv5Vc3sRBfrlRgQ Good News Preacher Man: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtIGFLeAUXZyLlgArBryYiQ

Added 26 Mar 2026