God Gave Rock and Roll to You

Argent recorded the song in 1971 during the sessions for their album All Together Now, but it originally did not appear as an album track until 1973's In Deep, and was released as a successful single at that time. The 1997 CD re-release of All Together Now has the track included as a bonus. The original lyrics include a reference to British pop singer Cliff Richard, known for his Christianity.

Record World said that "'Hold Your Head Up' established British contingent as a potent singles selling act, but this Russ Ballard song will make them giants."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=March 24, 1973|accessdate=2023-03-23|title=Hits of the Week|page=1|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/73/RW-1973-03-24.pdf}}

The song reached No. 18 in the United Kingdom,{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/god-gave-rock-and-roll-to-you/ |title=Official Charts Company |website=Officialcharts.com |date=24 March 1973 |accessdate=7 February 2021}} and No. 114 in the United States.Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100 1959-2004

"God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You" was originally written and composed by Russ Ballard for his band, Argent. The band released it first in their 1973 album, In Deep. Petra released it in 1977 as part of their second album, Come and Join Us. There's also a brief reprise of the song featured as the last song in the album.

Although Ballard is credited, Petra's version features completely different verses with a more spiritual angle than the Argent version. Wes Yoder, president of Ambassador Artist Agency said about the song: "It was the boldest statement anyone in Christian music had made until that time ... This was a radical notion, especially in the minds of the leaders of conservative churches."

Petra recorded the song again in 1985 for their seventh album, Beat the System. An abridged version of the song was also part of Petra's live set featured in the album Captured in Time and Space, which was released in 1986. It features only the chorus and the closing part of the song, without any of the verses. As opposed to the full versions of the song, this one lasts barely over a minute.

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• Russ Ballard – electric and acoustic guitar, lead vocals
• Jim Rodford – bass, backing vocals
• Rod Argent – organ, backing vocals, piano, electric piano, Mellotron
• Bob Henrit – drums, percussion

"God Gave Rock and Roll to You" was covered, by American Christian rock band Petra for their 1977 album Come and Join Us and their 1984 album Beat the System.{{cite book |last=Powell |first=Mark Allan |author-link=Mark Allan Powell |title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |year=2002 |location=Peabody, Massachusetts |isbn=978-1565636798 |pages=693–695}} Bob Hartman wrote different verse lyrics to give it a spiritual dimension.{{cite web |title=the-top-fifty-petra-songs-of-all-time/ |url=https://ramblingeveron.com/2022/04/11/the-top-fifty-petra-songs-of-all-time/ |website=Rambling Veron Entry #44 |access-date=26 March 2024}} The song was also covered in 1993 by Bride featuring D.O.C.

{{Infobox song

| name = God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II

| cover = KISS ggr&rtyII single cover.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Kiss

| album = Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey: Music from the Motion Picture {{noitalic|and}} Revenge

| released = {{Start date|df=yes|1991|08|22}}

| recorded = 1991

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Rock

| length = 5:18

| label = Interscope

| writer =

• Russ Ballard
• Paul Stanley
• Gene Simmons
• Bob Ezrin

| producer = Bob Ezrin

| prev_title = Rise to It

| prev_title2 = Silver Spoon

| prev_year = 1990

| title2 = Junior's Gone Wild (performed by King's X / Shout It Out (performed by Slaughter)

| next_title = Unholy

| next_title2 = God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II

| next_year = 1992

}}

{{Listen|filename = God Gave Rock 'n Roll to You II.ogg|title = "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II" (1991)|description = Harmonizing with Paul Stanley during the bridge of "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II" would be Eric Carr's final recording with Kiss before his death in 1991.|format = Ogg}}

American hard rock band Kiss covered the song in 1991 as "God Gave Rock 'n' Roll to You II" for the soundtrack to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. The track was released as a single in 1991 and appeared on the band's 1992 album Revenge.

Though the power ballad{{cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/uk/go/44642|title=24 of the Biggest and Best Movie Power Ballads}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} covered the original Argent 1973 version "God Gave Rock and Roll to You", it had barely modified lyrics in the verses, thus the reason behind the slight change in the name of the song. It’s one of the few songs from Kiss' "non-makeup era" to be played live since the band returned to wearing their trademark makeup in 1996.

It was the last Kiss song to feature longtime drummer Eric Carr before his death three months later after it was released as a single. Although he was too ill to play drums on the track, he is featured on backing vocals during the a cappella break, singing the repeated line "...to everyone, he gave a song to be sung", as well as performing drums during the video for the song. This also marked his final video appearance with the band. He had lost all his hair from his chemotherapy treatments and wore a wig during the video shoot. The drum tracks were recorded by Eric Singer, who would become Kiss' full-time drummer following Carr's death.{{cite web |title=Argent - God Gave Rock And Roll To You: the story behind the song |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/argent-god-gave-rock-and-roll-to-you-the-story-behind-the-song |website=Louder Sound |date=3 March 2020 |access-date=5 February 2021}} Singer also makes his recording debut with the band on this song.

The single was also the first to feature Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley sharing lead vocals since "I" from 1981's Music from "The Elder".

Kiss

• Paul Stanley – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Gene Simmons – co-lead vocals, bass guitar
• Bruce Kulick – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Eric Singer – drums, percussion, backing vocals
• Eric Carr – backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Tommy Thayer, Jesse Damon, Jaime St. James – backing vocals

The song proved to be a big hit for the band in many parts of the world, including making the top 10 in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland. In the United States, it reached No. 21 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. The music video received heavy rotation on music television channels.

The version released as a single and on the soundtrack to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey differs slightly from that played in the film. In the film, a 40-second guitar solo is played by Steve Vai.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVFU4qc7nhs |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/SVFU4qc7nhs |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Kiss – God Gave Rock And Roll To You |publisher=YouTube |date=19 December 2008 |access-date=5 December 2011}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5e2ouyXjTI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/u5e2ouyXjTI |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=God Gave Rock N Roll To You |publisher=YouTube |date=29 September 2007 |access-date=5 December 2011}}{{cbignore}} It was later included on Steve Vai's album The Elusive Light and Sound, Vol. 1 under the title "Final Solo". "God Gave Rock & Roll to You II" would also be included on the Kiss albums Revenge in 1992{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/revenge-mw0000073087|title=Revenge - Kiss | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic}} and in a live version on Alive III, released in 1993.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/alive-iii-mw0000096796|title=Alive III - Kiss | Songs, Reviews, Credits|website=AllMusic}}

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Weekly charts

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Year-end charts

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{{Reflist}}

• {{YouTube|LzVpYEF_w1E|Argent - God Gave Rock and Roll to You}}
• {{YouTube|FrUw1wsG43Y|Kiss - God Gave Rock and Roll to You}}

{{Argent}}

{{Kiss}}

{{Kiss singles}}

{{Bill & Ted}}

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Category:1970s ballads

Category:1971 songs

Category:1973 singles

Category:1991 singles

Category:Argent (band) songs

Category:Interscope Records singles

Category:Kiss (band) songs

Category:Rock ballads

Category:Song recordings produced by Bob Ezrin

Category:Songs about rock music

Category:Songs written by Bob Ezrin

Category:Songs written by Gene Simmons

Category:Songs written by Paul Stanley

Category:Songs written by Russ Ballard