"Hold Your Head Up" is a song by the English rock band Argent, released as a single in 1972. The song was a Top 5 hit in both the US and UK, peaking at No. 5 in both countries. However, it was the band's only song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100.[2] Billboard ranked it as the No. 50 song for 1972. The song appeared on the third Argent album All Together Now (1972). The album version is 6:15 while the single version is 3:15. The DJ edit has a run-time of 2:53.^{[citation needed]}

"Hold Your Head Up"
One of side-A labels of UK 45-RPM single
Single by Argent
from the album All Together Now
B-side	"Closer to Heaven"
Released	February 1972 (UK)[1]
Studio	Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre	Hard rock, progressive rock
Length	6:15 (album version) 3:15 (single edit) 2:52 (radio edit)
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Rod Argent, Chris White
Producer(s)	Rod Argent, Chris White
Argent singles chronology
"Sweet Mary" (1971) "Hold Your Head Up" (1972) "Tragedy" (1972)
Audio
"Hold Your Head Up" on YouTube

Background, composition, and recording

The song was written by Chris White[3] and credited to the songwriting partnership of White and Rod Argent.[4]

Recording was done at Abbey Road Studios, and it proved difficult for Rod Argent. He'd come down with a case of food poisoning and remembers showing up to the sessions for the song feeling dreadful.

Release and reception

The song was warmly received by music critics. 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.[5] The Hammond B3 solo on the track was cited by Rick Wakeman as the greatest organ solo ever.[6] The track has remained a staple on AOR-format radio stations for decades after its release.

Chart history

Other versions

• Marc Tanner Band covered the song in 1980 on their album, Temptation.[16]
• Steppenwolf covered "Hold Your Head Up" on their 1982 album Wolftracks.[17]
• The Party Boys released a cover in 1987 on their sole self-titled studio album.
• Phish has covered "Hold Your Head Up" at least 524 times in live performances between 1987 and 2018.[18] The band has never played the song in its entirety, and instead performs a brief version of its instrumental verse melody to introduce humorous cover songs sung by drummer and band namesake Jon Fishman.[19]
• Uriah Heep also covered the song on their 1989 album Raging Silence.[20]
• Mother Love Bone also released a cover of this song in 1989 as a non-album single.
• Jellyfish covered the song in live performances during their first album tour in 1990.
• Fish performed a version of the song on his 1993 covers album Songs from the Mirror.[21]
• Caustic Resin released a version of the song on the 1998 album, The Medicine Is All Gone.
• Lana Lane released a version on the 2003 album, Covers Collection.
• Mr. Big covered the song during their 2009 reunion tour and is available on Back to Budokan live DVD and CD;[22] a studio version was also recorded as a bonus on the CD version.
• The Zombies performed the song in 2013 at Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop in Austin, Texas, introduced as "Hold Your Head Up, Woman".[23]
• Glass Hammer released a version on their 2017 compilation of studio outtakes and live recordings, Untold Tales.

References