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Russ Ballard
Russ is featured in our classic rock sequences.
Russ Ballard came to wider attention in the 1960s as a member of Adam Faith’s backing band The Roulettes and subsequently Unit 4 + 2. It was his time with Argent in the late sixties/early seventies that cemented his reputation as a talented guitarist and songwriter. Amongst his compositions, ‘Liar’ was a hit for Three Dog Night and ‘God Gave Rock And Roll To You’ a hit for Kiss. Both originally appeared on Argent albums.
In the seventies he also wrote two hit singles for Rainbow (‘Since You Been Gone’ and ‘I Surrender’). As a solo artist, Ballard released the eponymous debut in 1974 whilst 1976’s ‘Winning’ included his own versions of his own hit songs.
In 2015 he released his first studio album since 1996 for the umumusic label ‘It’s Good To Be Here’. The album is scheduled for reissue in 2020.
Broadcast history
“The Songwriters”
First broadcast Sunday 26 July 2015 (Part 1), Sunday 2 August 2015 (Part 2)
An in-depth look at Russ’ career and songwriting, presented by David Randall
LINKS