Only the month and year are given: August 1975
Argent - Lords of the Ring
By the time this month's Beat reaches you, Argent SHOULD have had a hit album firmly lodged in the charts with their Circus album. We say should because sales of the album have been good and the band needed just one tour to push Circus that little bit further. But the facts of life for today's rock bands are harsh and with the tour cancelled owing to drummer Bob Henrit's recent bout of hepatitis, their chances of that album placing look remote.
We met a not too down-hearted Rod Argent and new guitarist John Grimaldi in London recently to see what they plan when Henrit is fit and well again and to chat generally about the band.
Questions, first of all, were fired to new boy John Grimaldi, who, like Rod and bass player Jim Rodford, is a native of St. Albans. How had his gig with the band come about?
"I was playing with a local band from St. Albans called Flux. Things weren't too good for us and I suppose the best booking we'd ever had was second on the bill at the Marquee. It was a typical semi-pro scene with us paying out about 70 per cent more per gig than we were actually being paid. I heard about Russ Ballard having left Argent through the national press but, although I was itching to have a try, I just felt too young to ask.
"Fortunately, though, I knew Rod's sister, whom I was at Art School with, and she told me that they were having trouble finding a replacement. Rod came along to see Flux and I went along to blow with them. The whole audition was very extensive and I heard, about three weeks later that I got the job."
Predictably, John's first venture with the band involved him reacting against his semi-pro days with four 200 watt cabinets, a Sound City 200 watt amp, an HH IC SM slaved through it. Added to this, John was using a vast array of pedal effects but is now cutting back.
Both John and Rod share a keen interest in jazz, although, neither of them have studied jazz players consciously. Strangely, for a guitarist, John cites keyboard players, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock as his major influences.
As for a keyboard player, we asked Rod, how far did he feel that training had helped him?
"Well, as a kid I sang in the St. Albans Abbey Choir which introduced me to a lot of music which I wouldn't have heard otherwise. It gave me a very good grounding in instinctive harmony which I have found very useful. On top of that I had three to four years of keyboard training so, for me, it has been a help. I don't think it's absolutely necessary though."
Rod has now moved into the super league as far as equipment is concerned, currently using a Hammond C3 through two custom Leslies, a Hohner Pianet through a phase pedal, a Mellotron, two mini Moogs a stereo Fender Rhodes piano, a string synthesizer and a grand piano. It's hardly necessary to remark that it's a far cry from Rod's first venture with the Zombies when his equipment included only the Hohner!
It would be decidedly uncharitable to think that Rod is merely jumping on the bandwagon here, as right from the very start of his career, he has been very prominent in his band's music. On the first smash Zombies hit She's Not There, his piano took a then strangely prominent keyboard solo. Was this a conscious move to push forward the role of the keyboard in the then all guitar dominated scene?
Hendrix
"No, not at all, I've always wanted to play the keyboards and I've always wanted to be heard. It's funny about that She's Not There thing though because I remember I was in America just before Hendrix died at a party when he and Eric Burdon were living together. Hendrix told me he really liked that record and I was knocked out because he's one of my all time favourite guitarists."
She's Not There was, of course, a very strange song, still getting considerable airplay but, amazingly, one of the first two songs Rod ever wrote. It all shows what you can do if you put your mind to it!
Argent have yet to break really massive again following their sudden hit with Hold Your Head Up some years back. The band, however, is totaly dedicated and, with health on their side (which it isn't at the moment) and with a new tour scheduled for the Autumn, they could well break through again. Certainly, they want to (and need to) and they have a lot to offer as musicians, so let's wish Argent the best of luck for offering us some creative music rather than drip rock.
This attitude is certainly shown by John Grimaldi, who commented, "There are too many local bands around now who are back to playing old rock and roll things. It seems to me that if you let yourself go back that far and let it get out of place then you're not going to go any further." We'll drink to that John!
