Epic (1973)

Biography
Rodney Terence “Rod” Argent  is an English musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid 1960s as the founder and keyboardist of the English rock band The Zombies, and went on to form the band Argent after the first break-up of The Zombies. Argent is one of the main composers of The Zombies’ music and made major lyrical contributions to the band’s songs. As the band’s keyboardist he used a variety of instruments, including the Mellotron, the harpsichord, and the organ. In addition to his work with the Zombies and Argent, Argent has made music for television series, been a session musician, produced albums by other artists, and has had a solo career which has included three studio albums: “Moving Home”, “Red House”, and “Classically Speaking”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Argent

Album & Cover
In Deep, released in 1973, is the 4th studio album by Argent. It features the original full-length recording of “God Gave Rock and Roll to You”, which reached No.18 in the UK charts (U.S. #114); when released as a single in edited form later the same year. It was later remade by Kiss as “God Gave Rock ‘n’ Roll to You II” for the film Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey in 1991, when it was a massive worldwide hit. The title has several meanings as phrases such as being “in deep (water)” or being too invested in something to quit, being “in deep (shit)” or being in a lot of trouble, or to be “in deep” in general and trying to keep one’s own head above water. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Deep_(Argent_album)

Again, for this album cover, was Hipgnosis’ fascination with water but as Aubrey Powell says they used it as a visual metaphor on many covers. To take the photograph a olympic sized swimming pool was used where the band members duly jumped in and photographs were taken. One of the members couldn’t actually swim and he was under for a lot longer than necessary but it turned out OK in the end.

Cover Location:
Who Did What: Photography A. Powell/S. Thorgerson
Label: Epic KE 32195(US), Epic EPC 65475(UK)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art, The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue: Aubrey Powell
For The Love Of Vinyl – The Album Art Of Hipgnosis – Storm Thorgerson & Aubrey Powell

Tracklist

Credits
Bass, Vocals – Jim Rodford
Drums, Percussion – Robert Henrit
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocals – Russ Ballard
Organ, Electric Piano, Vocals, Mellotron, Piano – Rod Argent
Producer – Chris White , Rod Argent
Written-By – White (tracks: A4 to B3), Argent (tracks: A4 to B3), Ballard (tracks: A1 to A3, B4)