[link to original on tumblr]
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Each track is posted individually, but they're all accompanied by the same article.
"It's Only Money, Pts. 2 & 1"
Paste, the site that posted this, claims that "the recording begin[s] in progress" and that this is incomplete, but it's not. It actually starts with the second movement (Prelude) of "Pure Love," and then there's "It's Only Money, Pt. 2," which transitions into "It's Only Money, Pt. 1," just like on the Encore album (which was released a year later, in November 1974).I think it's interesting that at one point Ballard sings, "I'm the taxman" where the studio version has "Pay the taxman." Changing that line gives this live version a bit of an echo of the Beatles' "Taxman."
"God Gave Rock & Roll to You"
"I Don't Believe in Miracles"
About three years ago, I found some Argent videos on YouTube, so I'd actually heard this performance before. Like the article notes though, these are stereo mixes, rather than the mono mixes that were used when this was televised.Here's the video:
"I Am the Dance of Ages"
"The Fakir"
In the set list that the article provides, "The Fakir" is the last song, but at the end of "I Am the Dance of Ages," Ballard says that the next song features Bob Henrit, the drummer, and "The Fakir" has a drum solo. I downloaded all of these tracks, and playing the audio files back-to-back, the transition between the two is seamless. Furthermore, in the metadata, "The Fakir" is listed as number 5, so I don't think the end of the article's set list is right. At the end of "Hold Your Head Up," Rod Argent says, "Good night. Thank you," which seems to indicate the end of the show.When The Zombies Fan Club Page posted this, they mentioned a "familiar riff at about 4:50" (I'd be more precise and say 4:46). When I listened to this, I'd forgotten about that, but I did recognize it; it's a variation on the melody from the "But it's too late to say you're sorry..." section of "She's Not There."
I dug out my copy of Henrit's autobiography (Bangin' On) because I remembered that he has a couple of interesting comments about "The Fakir." First: "Even though it was de rigueur at the time, the real reason we had a drum solo in Argent was because of Jim's weak bladder!" Second (but actually earlier in the book): "Halfway through [the show, a different one from this one at the Palace Theatre], at the usual spot in the show when Jim's bladder needed to be emptied, I launched into my drum solo aka The Fakir, threw my sticks away, attacked the cymbals with my belt and got stuck into the sensitive passage where I played with my hands. I had to keep my head down and really aim accurately, so I didn't inadvertently bloody my knuckles on sharp drum bits and cymbals...." Henrit's timeline - with "The Fakir" about halfway through the set - also seems to suggest that Paste's set list is wrong.
I found a video of this too (although at the time, I didn't know the song had a name). It doesn't last as long as the audio recording that Paste posted, but Henrit's playing drums with his hands instead of his sticks is visible:
"Keep on Rollin'"
"Hold Your Head Up"
Paste mentions that Argent includes "The Star Spangled Banner" in his solo, and I'm sort of glad they did because he plays it at about half its usual speed and I'm not sure I would have recognized it if I hadn't been prepared. It strikes me a bit odd though that Paste mentions his quotation of "The Star Spangled Banner" but not his quotation of "Yankee Doodle."There's video from this too. Three years ago, I downloaded two videos, and while the titles have different dates, they're the same performance; one just has the wrong date. I can't find the complete performance (apparently that video was taken down or deleted), but here's the one that's still up:
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I also have some more general comments about this.
The first sentence of the article says that "keyboardist Rod Argent and songwriter/guitarist Russ Ballard teamed up to form the progressive rock group Argent," and I think that's a bit misleading. In the accounts I've read, the band Argent started with Rod Argent and Chris White (who isn't mentioned at all in the article). Because White wanted to be just a writer and a producer (rather than a playing member of the band), Argent recruited Jim Rodford to play bass. Ballard and Henrit were the last to join.
As the article mentions, the material performed here (aside from "I Don't Believe in Miracles" and "The Fakir") are from the albums All Together Now and In Deep. I was curious about the time frame, so I lookt up the release date of In Deep and found that this is seven months afterwards. According to Russo's Collector's Guide, the U.K. release of In Deep was 23 March 1973, and the U.S. release was three days later (the 26th). There's some mellotron on In Deep, but this performance shows Argent expanding his instrumental palette, as it were, with mellotron and Moog. I think the Nexus album (released in the U.K. on 22 February 1974 and in the U.S. on 22 April) is the first Argent album to have Moog, and it's on some tracks on Circus too. Counterpoints hasn't been released on CD (hopefully it will be), so I don't know what keyboards are used there.
Paste seems to have some other period live recordings of Argent, and I'm curious about those too, but I'm going to wait a while before indulging in them.
