Argent – Hold Your Head Up

“Hold Your Head Up” – Single by Argent from the album All Together Now. Released 1 October 1971 (UK).

The song was written by Chris White and credited to the songwriting partnership of White and Rod Argent.

The song was warmly received by music critics. Record World called it an “infectious rocker” that should “have strong impact” in the U.S. Georgiy Starostin thought that it was the best track on All Together Now, the band’s quintessential album. He called it “a solid, riffy tune whose main attractions are the gruff, almost war-march-style bassline” and praised Rod Argent’s keyboard work. The Hammond B3 solo on the track has been described by keyboard-player Rick Wakeman as the “greatest organ solo ever.”

This was the only US Top 40 hit for Argent, who were named for their keyboard player Rod Argent, previously a member of The Zombies. This song was written by Chris White, who was The Zombies’ bass player.

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Argent - Hold your head up

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Argent performed the song on the British TV show Top Of The Pops, and attracted a much wider audience as a result. In Creem magazine, July 1972, their guitarist Russ Ballard, who sang lead on this track, explained: “People are getting a shock when they realize that not all of our numbers are like ‘Hold Your Head Up.’ We’re attracting a lot of people who’ve seen us on Top Of The Pops – people who would normally dismiss us as being just another progressive band.