English musician and composer (1941?2012)
Jon Lord
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![Lord in 1976](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Jon_Lord_%281976%29.JPG/220px-Jon_Lord_%281976%29.JPG) Lord in 1976
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Birth name
| John Douglas Lord
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Born
| (
1941-06-09
)
9 June 1941
Leicester
, England
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Died
| 16 July 2012
(2012-07-16)
(aged 71)
London, England
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Genres
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Occupation(s)
| |
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Instrument(s)
| Keyboards
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Years active
| 1960?2012
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Labels
| |
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Formerly of
| |
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Musical artist
John Douglas Lord
(9 June 1941 – 16 July 2012)
[1]
was an English keyboardist and composer. In 1968, Lord co-founded the
hard rock
band
Deep Purple
, and he became regarded as its leader in the early years. Lord performed on most of the band's most popular songs; he and drummer
Ian Paice
were the only continuous members in the band between 1968 and 1976, and also from when it was re-established in 1984 until Lord's retirement in 2002. He also spent time in the bands
Whitesnake
,
Paice Ashton Lord
,
the Artwoods
,
the Flower Pot Men
and
Santa Barbara Machine Head
.
Lord became known for his pioneering work in fusing rock with classical or
baroque
forms, especially with Deep Purple. His distinctive organ playing during Deep Purple's hard rock period was essential to the band's signature heavy sound and contributed to the early development of
heavy metal
. On 11 November 2010, he was inducted as an
Honorary Fellow
of
Stevenson College
in Edinburgh, Scotland. On 15 July 2011, he was awarded an honorary
Doctor of Music
degree at
De Montfort Hall
by the
University of Leicester
. Lord was posthumously inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
on 8 April 2016 as a member of Deep Purple.
[2]
Early life
[
edit
]
Growing up in Leicester
[
edit
]
Lord was born in
Leicester
on 9 June 1941 to Miriam (1909?1995; nee Hudson) and Reginald Lord, growing up at 120 Averil Road
[3]
with a younger sibling Steven and retaining a strong bond with the city throughout his life. His father was an amateur saxophonist and encouraged Lord from an early age. He studied classical piano from the age of five, with a local teacher, Frederick Allt, and this focus on a classical grounding to his material was a recurring trademark in his work, both in composition, arranging and his instrumental solos on piano, organ and electronic keyboards. In particular his influences ranged from
Johann Sebastian Bach
(a constant reference in his music and in his keyboard improvisation) to Medieval popular music and the English tradition of
Edward Elgar
. He attended
Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys
between 1952 and 1958 where he gained
O Level
passes in French, music and mathematics, participated in amateur dramatics and the school choir alongside his organ and piano studies, and then worked as a clerk in a solicitor's office for two years.
[4]
Lord absorbed the
blues
sounds that played a key part in his rock career, principally the raw sounds of the great American jazz and blues organists, such as
Wild Bill Davis
,
Jimmy Smith
,
Jimmy McGriff
and "Brother"
Jack McDuff
("Rock Candy"), as well as the stage showmanship of
Jerry Lee Lewis
and performers like
Buddy Holly
, whom he saw perform at the De Montfort Hall in Leicester in March 1958.
[5]
The jazz-blues organ style of black R&B organ players in the 1950s and 1960s, using the trademark blues-organ sound of the
Hammond organ
(B3 and C3 models) and combining it with the
Leslie speaker
system (the well-known Hammond-Leslie speaker combination), were seminal influences on Lord. Lord also stated that he was heavily influenced by the organ-based
progressive rock
played by
Vanilla Fudge
after seeing that band perform in Great Britain in 1967, and earlier by the personal direction he received from British organ pioneer
Graham Bond
.
[6]
Move to London
[
edit
]
Lord moved to London in 1959?60, intent on an acting career and enrolling at the
Central School of Speech and Drama
, in London's
Swiss Cottage
. Sometime in this period he altered his birth name spelling from the more traditional "John" to the perhaps more contemporary and stylised "Jon". Following a celebrated student rebellion he became a founder of
Drama Centre London
, from where he graduated in 1964. Small acting parts followed, including in the British TV series,
Emergency - Ward 10
, and Lord continued playing the piano and the organ in
nightclubs
and as a session musician to earn a living. He started his band career in London in 1960 with the jazz ensemble
The Bill Ashton Combo
. Ashton became a key figure in jazz education in Britain, creating what later became the
National Youth Jazz Orchestra
. Between 1960 and 1963, Lord and Ashton both moved on to Red Bludd's Bluesicians (also known as The Don Wilson Quartet), the latter of which featured the singer
Arthur "Art" Wood
, brother of guitarist
Ronnie Wood
. Wood had previously sung with
Alexis Korner
's
Blues Incorporated
and was a junior figure in the British blues movement. In this period, Lord's session credits included playing the keyboards in the number one song "
You Really Got Me
" by
The Kinks
', released in 1964; however in a
Guitar World
interview, Kinks frontman
Ray Davies
stated it was actually Arthur Greenslade playing piano on that particular track.
[7]
Following the break-up of Redd Bludd's Bluesicians in late 1963, Wood, Lord, and the drummer Red Dunnage put together a new band, The Art Wood Combo. This also included Derek Griffiths (guitar) and Malcolm Pool (bass guitar). Dunnage left in December 1964 to be replaced by
Keef Hartley
, who had previously replaced
Ringo Starr
in
Rory Storm
and the Hurricanes. This band, later known as "
The Artwoods
", focused on the organ as the bluesy, rhythmic core of their sound, in common with the contemporary bands
The Spencer Davis Group
(
Steve Winwood
on organ) and
The Animals
(with
Alan Price
). They made appearances on the BBC's
Saturday Club
radio show and on such TV programs as
Ready Steady Go!
. It also performed abroad, and it appeared on the first
Ready Steady Goes Live
, promoting its first single the
Lead Belly
song "Sweet Mary" ? but significant commercial success eluded it. Its only charting single was "I Take What I Want", which reached number 28 on 8 May 1966.
This band regrouped in 1967 as the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre". This was an attempt to cash in on the 1930s gangster craze set off by the American film
Bonnie and Clyde
. Hartley left the band in 1967 to join
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
. Lord next founded the blues-influenced
Santa Barbara Machine Head
, featuring Art's brother,
Ronnie Wood
, writing and recording three powerful keyboard-driven instrumental tracks, giving a preview of the future style of
Deep Purple
. Soon thereafter, Lord went on to cover for the keyboard player Billy Day in
The Flower Pot Men
, where he met the bass guitarist
Nick Simper
along with drummer
Carlo Little
and guitarist
Ged Peck
. Lord and Simper then toured with this band in 1967 to promote its hit single "
Let's Go to San Francisco
", but the two men never recorded with this band.
[
citation needed
]
Formation of Deep Purple
[
edit
]
In early 1967, through his roommate
Chris Curtis
of the
Searchers
, Lord met businessman
Tony Edwards
who was looking to invest in the music business alongside partners Ron Hire and John Coletta (HEC Enterprises). Session guitarist
Ritchie Blackmore
was called in and he met Lord for the first time, but Chris Curtis's erratic behaviour led the trio nowhere. Edwards was impressed enough by Jon Lord to ask him to form a band after Curtis faded out. Said Edwards, "I couldn't really cope with [Curtis] but I had a great rapport with Jon Lord; here was somebody sensible, somebody I could communicate with on my level."
[8]
Simper was contacted, and Blackmore was recalled from
Hamburg
. Although top British player
Bobbie Clarke
was the first choice as drummer, during the auditions for a singer,
Rod Evans
of "The Maze" came in with his own drummer,
Ian Paice
. Blackmore, who had been impressed by Paice's drumming when he met him in 1967, set up an audition for Paice as well. The band was called the "Roundabout" at first and began rehearsals at Deeves Hall in Hertfordshire. In March 1968, this became the "Mark 1" line-up of "
Deep Purple
": Lord, Simper, Blackmore, Paice, and Evans.
Lord also did session work in the late 1960s with the band "Boz", along with Blackmore (guitar) and Paice (drums), given that Boz was being produced by
Derek Lawrence
who produced Deep Purple's first three albums. Boz was led by
Boz Burrell
(vocals/guitar, later bassist for
King Crimson
and
Bad Company
) and also included
Chas Hodges
(bass guitar).
[9]
Deep Purple
[
edit
]
1968?1970
[
edit
]
It was in these three years that Lord's trademark keyboard sound emerged. Ignoring the emergence of the
Moog synthesizer
, as pioneered in rock by such players as
Keith Emerson
, Lord began experimenting with a keyboard sound produced by driving the Hammond organ through
Marshall amplifiers
in an effort to match the attack and volume of Blackmore's guitar. Lord's version was heavier than a blues sound, and it often featured distortion and a far harder, industrial type sound that became the trademark Jon Lord organ sound. Both Emerson and
Rick Wakeman
publicly expressed admiration for Lord's mould-breaking work on the organ.
[
citation needed
]
This delivered a rhythmic foundation to complement Blackmore's speed and virtuosity on lead guitar. Lord also loved the sound of an
RMI 368 Electra-Piano and Harpsichord
, which he used on such songs as "Demon's Eye" and "Space Truckin'".
In 1973, Lord's original Hammond C3 gave out and he bought another from
Christine McVie
of
Fleetwood Mac
. Also around this time, Lord and his keyboard technician, Mike Phillips, combined his Hammond C3 Organ with the RMI. Lord kept this particular Hammond C3 until his retirement from the band in 2002, when he passed it to successor
Don Airey
. That instrument was retired from stage use a few years later, as it had become "pretty knackered" according to Airey.
[10]
By pushing the Hammond-Leslie sound through Marshall amplification, Lord created a growling, heavy, mechanical sound which allowed him to compete with Blackmore as a soloist, with an organ that sounded as prominent as the lead guitar. Said one reviewer, "many have tried to imitate [Lord's] style, and all failed."
[11]
Said Lord himself, "There's a way of playing a Hammond [that's] different. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that you can play a Hammond with a piano technique. Well, you can, but it
sounds
like you are playing a Hammond with a piano technique. Really, you have to learn how to play an organ. It's a
legato
technique; it's a technique to achieve legato on a non-legato instrument."
[12]
In early Deep Purple recordings, Lord had appeared to be the leader of the band.
[13]
Despite the cover songs "
Hush
" and "
Kentucky Woman
" becoming hits in North America, Deep Purple never made chart success in the UK until the
Concerto for Group and Orchestra
album dented the UK charts in early 1970. Lord's willingness later to play many of the key rhythm parts gave Blackmore the freedom to let loose both live and on record.
On Deep Purple's second and third albums, Lord began indulging his ambition to fuse rock with classical music. An early example of this is the song "Anthem" from the album
The Book of Taliesyn
(1968), but a more prominent example is the song "April" from the band's
self-titled third album
(1969). The song is recorded in three parts: (1) Lord and Blackmore only, on keyboards and acoustic guitar, respectively; (2) an orchestral arrangement complete with strings; and (3) the full rock band with vocals. Lord's ambition enhanced his reputation among fellow musicians, but caused tension within the group. Simper later said, "The reason the music lacked direction was Jon Lord fucked everything up with his classical ideas."
[14]
Blackmore agreed to go along with Lord's experimentation, provided he was given his head on the next band album.
[11]
The resulting
Concerto For Group and Orchestra
was one of rock's earliest attempts to fuse two distinct musical idioms. Performed live at the
Royal Albert Hall
on 24 September 1969 (with new band members
Ian Gillan
and
Roger Glover
, Evans and Simper having been fired), it was recorded by the
BBC
and later released as an album in December 1969.
Concerto
gave Deep Purple their first highly publicised taste of mainstream fame and gave Lord the confidence to believe that his experiment and his compositional skill had a future, as well as giving Lord the opportunity to work with established classical figures, such as conductor Sir
Malcolm Arnold
, who brought his skills to bear by helping Lord realise the work and to protect him from the inevitable disdain of the older members of the orchestra.
[
citation needed
]
1970?1976
[
edit
]
Lord with
Deep Purple
on tour at the
Niedersachsenhalle
,
Hanover
, Germany, 1970
Purple began work on
Deep Purple in Rock
,
released by their new label
Harvest
in 1970 and now recognised as one of
hard rock
's key early works. Lord and Blackmore competed to out-dazzle each other, often in classical-style, midsection 'call and answer' improvisation (on tracks like "Speed King" and "Bloodsucker"), something they employed to great effect live. Ian Gillan said that Lord provided the idea on the main organ riff for "
Child in Time
" although the riff was also based on
It's a Beautiful Day
's 1969 psychedelic hit song "Bombay Calling".
[15]
Lord's experimental solo on "Hard Lovin' Man" (complete with police-siren interpolation) from this album was his personal favourite among his Deep Purple studio performances.
Deep Purple released another six studio albums between 1971 (
Fireball
) and 1975 (
Come Taste the Band
). Gillan and Glover left in 1973 and Blackmore in 1975, and the band disintegrated in 1976. The highlights of Lord's Purple work in the period include the 1972 album
Machine Head
(featuring his rhythmic underpinnings on "
Smoke on the Water
" and "
Space Truckin'
", plus the organ solos on "
Highway Star
", "
Pictures of Home
" and "
Lazy
"), the sonic bombast of the
Made in Japan
live album (1972), an extended, effect-laden solo on "Rat Bat Blue" from the
Who Do We Think We Are
album (1973), and his overall playing on the
Burn
album from 1974.
Roger Glover
would later describe Lord as a true "Zen-archer soloist", someone whose best keyboard improvisation often came at the first attempt. Lord's strict reliance on the Hammond C3 organ sound, as opposed to the synthesizer experimentation of his contemporaries, places him firmly in the jazz-blues category as a band musician and far from the progressive-rock sound of
Keith Emerson
and
Rick Wakeman
. Lord rarely ventured into the synthesizer territory on Purple albums, often limiting his experimentation to the use of the
ring modulator
with the Hammond, to give live performances on tracks like Space Truckin' a distinctive 'spacey' sound. Instances of his Deep Purple synthesizer use (he became an endorser of the
ARP Odyssey
) include "'A' 200", the final track from
Burn
, and "Love Child" on the
Come Taste the Band
album.
In early 1973 Lord stated: "We're as valid as anything by Beethoven."
[16]
As a composer
[
edit
]
Lord continued to focus on his classical aspirations alongside his Deep Purple career. The
BBC
, buoyed by the success of the Concerto, commissioned him to write another piece and the resulting "Gemini Suite" was performed by Deep Purple and the Light Music Society under
Malcolm Arnold
at the
Royal Festival Hall
in September 1970, and then in
Munich
with the
Kammerorchester
conducted by
Eberhard Schoener
in January 1972. It then became the basis for Lord's first solo album,
Gemini Suite
, released in November 1972, with vocals by
Yvonne Elliman
and
Tony Ashton
and with the
London Symphony Orchestra
backing a band that included
Albert Lee
on guitar.
Lord's collaboration with the highly experimental and supportive Schoener resulted in a second live performance of the Suite in late 1973 and a new Lord album with Schoener, entitled
Windows
, in 1974. It proved to be Lord's most experimental work and was released to mixed reactions. However, the dalliances with
Bach
on
Windows
and the pleasure of collaborating with Schoener resulted in perhaps Lord's most confident solo work and perhaps his strongest orchestral album,
Sarabande
, recorded in Germany in September 1975 with the
Philharmonia Hungarica
conducted by Schoener. Composed of eight pieces (from the opening sweep of Fantasia to the Finale), at least five pieces form the typical construction of a baroque dance suite. The key pieces (
Sarabande
,
Gigue
,
Bouree
,
Pavane
and
Caprice
) feature rich orchestration complemented sometimes by the interpolation of rock themes, played by a session band comprising
Pete York
,
Mark Nauseef
and
Andy Summers
, with organ and synthesizers played by Lord.
In March 1974, Lord and Paice had collaborated with friend
Tony Ashton
on
First of the Big Bands
, credited to 'Tony Ashton & Jon Lord' and featuring a rich array of session talent, including
Carmine Appice
, Ian Paice,
Peter Frampton
and
Pink Floyd
saxophonist/sessioner,
Dick Parry
. They performed much of the set live at the
London Palladium
in September 1974.
This formed the basis of Lord's first post-Deep Purple project
Paice Ashton Lord
, which lasted only a year and spawned a single album,
Malice in Wonderland
in 1977, recorded at
Musicland Studios
at the Arabella Hotel in Munich. A second album was begun but subsequently abandoned. He created an informal group of friends and collaborators including Ashton, Paice,
Bernie Marsden
,
Boz Burrell
and later, Bad Company's
Mick Ralphs
,
Simon Kirke
and others. Over the same period, Lord guested on albums by
Maggie Bell
,
Nazareth
and even folk artist
Richard Digance
.
Lord also guested as one of several keyboard players on the live performance of David Bedford's
The Odyssey
. The composer and musician (
The Orchestral Tubular Bells
(1975),
Star's End
(1974),
The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
(1975)), performed a live concert of a musical version of Homer's play, at the Royal Albert Hall on 25 January 1977.
Andy Summers
, who found fame in
The Police
played guitar on The Odyssey studio recording and asked Lord to be one of the keyboard players for this concert. The set began with a cut down live version of
Sarabande
, on which Summers had played on the studio recording session in September 1975.
Eager to pay off a huge tax bill upon his return the UK in the late-1970s (Purple's excesses included their own tour jet and a home Lord rented in Malibu from actress
Ann-Margret
and where he wrote the
Sarabande
album), Lord joined former Deep Purple band member
David Coverdale
's new band,
Whitesnake
in August 1978 (Ian Paice joined them in 1980 and stayed until 1982).
Whitesnake, 1978?1984
[
edit
]
Lord's job in Whitesnake was largely limited to adding colour (or, in his own words, a 'halo') to round out a blues-rock sound that already accommodated two lead guitarists,
Bernie Marsden
and
Micky Moody
. He added a
Yamaha
CP-70 electric piano
to his set-up and finally a huge bank of synthesizers onstage courtesy of Moog (
Minimoog
, Opus,
Polymoog
) so he could play the 12-bar blues the band often required and recreate string section and other effects. Such varied work is evident on tracks like "
Here I Go Again
", "Wine, Women and Song", "She's a Woman" and "Till the Day I Die". A number of singles entered the UK chart, taking the now 30-something Lord onto
Top of the Pops
with regularity between 1980 and 1983. He later expressed frustration that he was a poorly paid hired-hand, but fans saw little of this discord and Whitesnake's commercial success kept him at the forefront of readers' polls as heavy rock's foremost keyboard maestro. His dissatisfaction (and Coverdale's eagerness to revamp the band's line-up and lower the average age to help crack the US market) smoothed the way for the reformation of Deep Purple Mk II in 1984.
Jon Lord's last
Whitesnake
concert took place in the
Swedish TV
programme
Mandagsborsen
on 16 April 1984.
During his tenure in Whitesnake, Lord had the opportunity to record two distinctly different solo albums. 1982s
Before I Forget
featured a largely conventional eight-song line-up, no orchestra and with the bulk of the songs being either mainstream rock tracks ("Hollywood Rock And Roll", "Chance on a Feeling"), or ? specifically on side two ? a series of English classical piano ballads sung by the mother and daughter duo
Vicki Brown
and
Sam Brown
(wife and daughter of entertainer
Joe Brown
) and vocalist
Elmer Gantry
as well as piano and synthesiser instrumentals such as "Burntwood", named after Lord's stately Oxfordshire home at the time. The album also boasted the cream of British rock talent, including the session drummer (and
National Youth Jazz Orchestra
alumnus)
Simon Phillips
,
Cozy Powell
,
Neil Murray
,
Simon Kirke
,
Boz Burrell
and
Mick Ralphs
.
Additionally, Lord was commissioned by producer Patrick Gamble for
Central Television
to write the soundtrack for their 1984 TV series,
Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady
, based on the book by
Edith Holden
, with an orchestra conducted by Alfred Ralston and with a distinctly gentle, pastoral series of themes composed by Lord. Lord became firmly established as a member of UK rock's "
Oxfordshire
mansion aristocracy" ? with a home, Burntwood Hall, set in 23.5 acres (9.5 ha) at
Goring-on-Thames
, complete with its own cricket pitch and a hand-painted Challen baby
grand piano
, previously owned by
Shirley Bassey
. He was asked to guest on albums by friends
George Harrison
(
Gone Troppo
from 1982) and Pink Floyd's
David Gilmour
(1984's
About Face
), Cozy Powell (
Octopuss
in 1983) and to play on an adaptation of
Kenneth Grahame
's 1908 classic,
The Wind in the Willows
. He composed and produced the score for
White Fire
(1984), which consisted largely of two songs performed by Limelight. In 1985 he made a brief appearance as a member of The Singing Rebel's band (which also featured
Eric Clapton
,
George Harrison
and
Ringo Starr
) in the
Dick Clement
and
Ian La Frenais
-scripted film
Water
(1985) (
Handmade Films
).
In the 1980s he was also a member of an all-star band called
Olympic Rock & Blues Circus
fronted by
Pete York
and featuring a rotating line-up of
Miller Anderson
,
Tony Ashton
,
Brian Auger
,
Zoot Money
,
Colin Hodgkinson
,
Chris Farlowe
and many others. Olympic Rock & Blues Circus toured primarily in Germany between 1981 and 1989. Some musicians, including Lord, took part in York's TV musical extravaganza
Superdrumming
between 1987 and 1989.
Later work, 1984?2006
[
edit
]
Lord's re-emergence with Deep Purple in 1984 resulted in huge audiences for the reformed Mk II line-up, including 1985's second largest grossing tour in the US and an appearance in front of 80,000 rain-soaked fans headlining
Knebworth
on 22 June 1985, all to support the
Perfect Strangers
album. Playing with a rejuvenated Mk. II Purple line-up (including spells at a health farm to get the band including Lord into shape) and being onstage and in the studio with Blackmore, gave Lord the chance to push himself once again. His '
rubato
' classical opening sequence to the album's opener, "
Knocking at Your Back Door
" (complete with F-Minor to G polychordal harmony sequence), gave Lord the chance to do his most powerful work for years, including the song "
Perfect Strangers
". Further Deep Purple albums followed, often of varying quality, and by the late-1990s, Lord was clearly keen to explore new avenues for his musical career.
Lord performing for
The Sunflower Jam
, London, 2007
In 1997, he created perhaps his most personal work to date,
Pictured Within
, released in 1998 with a European tour to support it. Lord's mother Miriam had died in August 1995 and the album is inflected at all stages by Lord's sense of grief. Recorded largely in Lord's home-away-from-home, the city of
Cologne
, the album's themes are
Elgarian
and alpine in equal measure. Lord signed to
Virgin Classics
to release it, and perhaps saw it as the first stage in his eventual departure from Purple to embark on a low-key and altogether more gentle solo career. One song from
Pictured Within
, entitled "Wait A While" was later covered by
Norwegian
singer
Sissel Kyrkjebø
on her 2003/2004 album
My Heart
.
Lord finally retired from Deep Purple amicably after their UK tour in February 2002, preceded by a knee injury that eventually resolved itself without surgery and which brought keyboardist
Don Airey
into the band, initially as his temporary replacement. He said subsequently, "Leaving Deep Purple was just as traumatic as I had always suspected it would be and more so ? if you see what I mean". He even dedicated a song to it on 2004's solo effort,
Beyond the Notes
, called "De Profundis". The album was recorded in
Bonn
with producer
Mario Argandona
[
es
]
between June and July 2004.
Tony Ashton
(right) with Lord at a gig at the Hotel Post, March 1990
Pictured Within
and
Beyond the Notes
provide the most personal work by Lord. He collaborated with former
ABBA
superstar and family friend Frida (
Anni-Frid Lyngstad
) on the 2004 track, "The Sun Will Shine Again" (with lyrics by
Sam Brown
), and performed with her across Europe. He subsequently also performed European concerts to premiere the 2007-scheduled orchestral piece
Boom of the Tingling Strings
.
In 2003 he also returned to his beloved R&B and blues heritage to record an album of standards in Sydney, with Australia's
Jimmy Barnes
, entitled
Live in the Basement
, by Jon Lord and the
Hoochie Coochie Men
. Lord was also happy to support the Sam Buxton Sunflower Jam Healing Trust and in September 2006, performed at a star-studded event to support the charity led by Ian Paice's wife, Jacky (twin sister of Lord's wife Vicky). Featured artists on stage with Lord included
Paul Weller
,
Robert Plant
,
Phil Manzanera
, Ian Paice and Bernie Marsden.
Final work, after 2006
[
edit
]
Two Lord compositions,
Boom of the Tingling Strings
and "Disguises (Suite for String Orchestra)", were recorded in
Denmark
in 2006 and released in April 2008 on
EMI Classics
. Both featured the
Odense
Symfoniorkester, conducted by Paul Mann. Additionally, a second
Hoochie Coochie Men
album was recorded in July 2006 in London. This album,
Danger ? White Men Dancing
, was released in October 2007. His
Durham Concerto
, commissioned by
Durham University
for its 175th anniversary celebrations, received its world premiere on 20 October 2007 in
Durham Cathedral
by the
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
, and featured soloists Lord on Hammond Organ,
Kathryn Tickell
on
Northumbrian pipes
, Matthew Barley on cello and
Ruth Palmer
on violin.
[17]
It became a hit in
Classic FM
's "Hall of Fame", alongside his piano concerto
Boom of the Tingling Strings
.
[
citation needed
]
Lord played piano on
George Harrison
's posthumously released
Brainwashed
album (2002) and became an important member of Harrison's social circle at
Friar Park
in Oxfordshire (Lord by now living first at Yewden Lodge in Hambleden and then at the time of his death at Hill House, in Fawley, Henley-On-Thames), the two having first met at Abbey Road studios in the late 1960s.
[18]
He was also a close friend of Sir
John Mortimer
, the English barrister, dramatist, screenwriter, author and creator of British television series
Rumpole of the Bailey
, whom he had accompanied on many occasions during Mortimer's performances of "Mortimer Miscellany." In 2007, Lord joined Derek Griffiths, Colin Martin and Malcolm Pool at an Artwoods reunion at the ART Tribute night, at York House in Twickenham. Ali Mackenzie took over Art Wood's role on vocals, and Chris Hunt played drums. They were joined on stage by guitarist Ronnie Wood and vocalist Geno Washington. Lord released his solo album
To Notice Such Things
on 29 March 2010.
[19]
Titled after the main work?a six movement suite for solo flute, piano and string orchestra?the album was inspired by, and was dedicated to the memory of Sir John Mortimer, who died in January 2009. On its first day of release, the album entered
Amazon
's Movers And Shakers index, reaching No. 12 at the end of the day.
[20]
Six days later it entered the UK's official classical chart at No. 4.
[21]
Lord had been commissioned to compose a concerto for Hammond organ and orchestra with special parts for tympani. The piece was to be premiered with the
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
with Tom Vissgren on
tympani
in Oslo, Norway in Spring 2012. With
Vladimir Ashkenazy
and
Josef Suk
, Lord was one of three artistic sponsors of
Toccata Classics
.
In July 2011, Lord performed his final live concert appearance, the Sunflower Jam at the Royal Albert Hall, where he premiered his joint composition, "It Ain't As Big As It Used To Be", with
Rick Wakeman
.
[22]
At that point, they had begun informal discussion on recording an album together. Up until 2011, Lord had also been working on material with recently formed rock
supergroup
WhoCares
, also featuring singer
Ian Gillan
from
Deep Purple
, guitarist
Tony Iommi
from
Black Sabbath
, second guitarist
Mikko Lindstrom
from
HIM
, bassist
Jason Newsted
formerly from
Metallica
and drummer
Nicko McBrain
from
Iron Maiden
, specifically the composition "Out of My Mind," in addition to new compositions with
Steve Balsamo
and a Hammond Organ concerto.
[23]
[24]
Lord subsequently cancelled a performance of his "
Durham Concerto
" in Hagen, Germany,
[25]
for what his website said was a continuation of his medical treatment (the concert, scheduled for 6 July 2012, would have been his return to live performance after treatment).
[26]
Lord's
Concerto for Group and Orchestra
was effectively recommissioned by him, recorded in Liverpool and at
Abbey Road Studios
across 2011 and under post-production in 2012 with the
Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
performing, conducted by long-time collaborator, conductor Paul Mann. The recording was at completion at the time of Lord's death, with Lord having been able to review the final master recordings. The album and DVD were subsequently released in 2012.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Lord has a younger brother, Steven. Lord's first marriage, from 1969 to 1975, was to Judith Feldman, with whom he had one daughter, Sara. Lord's second wife, Vickie Gibbs, was a former girlfriend of Purple bandmate
Glenn Hughes
and twin sister of Ian Paice's wife, Jacky Paice (founder of the charity Sunflower Jam). The sisters' father was Frank Gibbs, owner of the Oakley House Country Club in
Brewood
,
South Staffordshire
. Jon and Vickie also had one daughter, Amy.
[27]
Illness and death
[
edit
]
In July 2011, Lord was diagnosed with
pancreatic cancer
. After treatment in both England and in Israel,
[28]
he died on 16 July 2012 at the
London Clinic
following a
pulmonary embolism
.
[29]
[30]
[31]
[32]
His interment was at the new churchyard of Saint Mary the Virgin Church in
Hambleden
.
Influence and legacy
[
edit
]
Lars Ulrich
, founding member and drummer in
Metallica
commented, "Ever since my father took me to see them in 1973 in Copenhagen, at the impressionable age of 9, Deep Purple has been the most constant, continuous and inspiring musical presence in my life. They have meant more to me than any other band in existence, and have had an enormous part in shaping who I am. We can all be guilty of lightly throwing adjectives like 'unique,' 'one-of-a-kind' and 'pioneering' around when we want to describe our heroes and the people who've moved us, but there are no more fitting words than those right now and there simply was no musician like Jon Lord in the history of hard rock. Nobody. Period. There was nobody that played like him. There was nobody that sounded like him. There was nobody that wrote like him. There was nobody that looked like him. There was nobody more articulate, gentlemanly, warm, or fucking cooler that ever played keyboards or got anywhere near a keyboard. What he did was all his own."
[33]
Interviewed in 2012 for
Blabbermouth.net
, Motorhead frontman
Lemmy
said: "It's just a shame, because Jon Lord was, to a large extent, responsible for me being in rock and roll. He was in a band called the Artwoods years ago, with
Ronnie Wood
's brother Arthur. They were sort of a jazz-blues band, I guess. They played at the place in Wales where I was living, this dingy little boozer, and I was talking to Jon and, like an idiot, he gave me his address in London. So, of course, I went down there and he wasn't there, but he was living at Art's mother's house where Ronnie Wood who was in a band called
The Birds
was living and they let me crash on the couch.... I saw him late last year in a hotel in Germany in
Cologne
. He was over there doing some orchestral stuff, and we talked in the bar for awhile... I'm glad I saw him, since he's since departed."
[34]
Also in 2012, music critic Terence Towles Canote wrote shortly after Lord's death: "While many of his contemporaries would turn to the Moog synthesiser, Jon Lord continued to rely primarily on the Hammond organ. Of course, it must be pointed out that Jon Lord could make a Hammond organ do things that other keyboardists could only dream about. Jon Lord's playing not only stood out from the pack, it also held up over time. As a youth in the Eighties I could listen to old Deep Purple songs and they would not sound dated at all. It is an incredible achievement for any artist to create works that are essentially timeless, and that is precisely what Jon Lord did."
[35]
Former keyboard player of the rock band
Yes
,
Rick Wakeman
, who was a friend of Lord's, said he was "a great fan" and added "We were going to write and record an album before he became ill. His contribution to music and to classic rock was immeasurable and I will miss him terribly." In mid-2013, Wakeman presented a BBC One East Midlands-produced TV programme about Lord and his connection to the town of his birth.
[36]
Singer
Anni-Frid Lyngstad
(
ABBA
), who described Jon Lord as her "dearest friend", paid him tribute at the 2013 edition of Zermatt Unplugged, the annual music festival which both he and she served as patrons. "He was graceful, intelligent, polite, with a strong integrity," she said. "(He) had a strong empathy and a great deal of humour for his own and other people's weaknesses."
[37]
Keyboardist
Keith Emerson
said of Lord's death, "Jon left us now but his music and inspiration will live forever. I am deeply saddened by his departure."
[38]
In a later interview in November 2013, he added, "In the early years I remember being quite jealous of Jon Lord ? may he rest in peace. In September 1969 I heard he was debuting his "Concerto For Group & Orchestra" at the
Royal Albert Hall
, with none other than
Malcolm Arnold
conducting. Wow! I had to go along and see that. Jon and I ribbed each other, we were pretty much pals, but I walked away and thought: 'Shit, in a couple of weeks' time I'm going to be recording
The Nice
's
Five Bridges Suite
... not at the Albert Hall but at the
Fairfield Halls
,
Croydon
!' A much more prosaic venue. Later, Jon wanted me to play on his solo album,
Gemini Suite
, but that was around the time
ELP
were breaking big and we were touring. He was a lovely guy, a real gentleman."
[39]
A concert tribute to Lord took place on 4 April 2014 at the Royal Albert Hall. Performers and presenters included
Deep Purple
,
Bob Harris
,
Paul Weller
,
Bruce Dickinson
,
Alfie Boe
,
Jeremy Irons
,
Rick Wakeman
,
Joe Brown
,
Glenn Hughes
,
Kasia Laska
,
Miller Anderson
and
Steve Balsamo
, the event featuring an orchestra conducted by Paul Mann.
[40]
In December 2012 the Mayor of Leicester, Sir
Peter Soulsby
, joined the campaign to honour Lord with a
blue plaque
at his childhood home at 120 Averill Road, where he lived until he was 20 years old, saying it would be "an important reminder of the city's contribution to the world of contemporary music."
[41]
Lord was posthumously inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
as a member of Deep Purple in April 2016.
[42]
In May 2019 Lord was posthumously awarded an
Ivor Novello Award
for International Achievement along with the surviving members of the Deep Purple MK II line up, at a ceremony at the
Grosvenor House Hotel
in London.
[
citation needed
]
The Concerto For Group and Orchestra is toured regularly with Paul Mann conducting. Most recently in March and April 2023, a European and Brazilian tour took place across 11 dates in cities including Bucharest, Sofia, Zagreb and Sao Paolo featuring
Bruce Dickinson
performing the vocal parts. Members of Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo featured alongside Kaitner Z Doka on guitar, Bernhard Welz on drums, John O'Hara (
Jethro Tull
) on keyboards, Tanya O'Callaghan (
Whitesnake
) on bass and Mario Argandona on percussion.
Discography
[
edit
]
- Sessions
- 1964
Kinks
(The Kinks, "You Really Got Me", piano, claimed by Lord himself,
[43]
also organ on "Bald Headed Woman")
[44]
- 1967
Sound & Movement
(The Leading Figures)
- 1968
I Shall Be Released/Down in the Flood
(Boz Burrell, SP)
- 1968
Sun Dragon
(Sun Dragon)
- 1968
Madena/Standing Still
(Anan, SP)
- Santa Barbara Machine Head
- Solo and orchestral works with Deep Purple
- with The Hoochie Coochie Men
- 2003
Live at the Basement
(recorded live)
- 2007
Danger. White Men Dancing
- Film and TV appearances
- 1985
Water
, (as himself, member of "The Singing Rebels' Band")
- 1991
Deep Purple ? Heavy Metal Pioneers
(Warner, interviewee)
- 1995
Rock Family Trees
, ep.
Deep Purple
(BBC, interviewee)
- 2002
Classic Albums
, ep.
Deep Purple ? Machine Head'
(ITV, interviewee)
- 2004
The South Bank Show
, ep.
Malcolm Arnold ? Toward the Unknown Region
(ITV, interviewee)
- 2007
Ian Gillan: Highway Star ? A Journey in Rock
(feature documentary, interviewee)
- 2009
John Mortimer ? A Life in Words
(BBC, interviewee)
- 2009
Soul To Song
, ep.
Smoke on the Water
(Japanese TV, interviewee)
- 2010
Heavy Metal Britannia
(BBC, interviewee)
- 2010
I'm in a Rock n' Roll Band
, ep.
The Other One
(BBC, interviewee)
- 2011
Metal Evolution
(SkyArts, interviewee)
- 2011
How the Brits Rocked America
, ep.
Stairway to Heaven
(BBC, interviewee)
- 2013
Deep Purple Remastered
, ep.
Deep Purple
(VH1, interviewee)
- 2013
Jon Lord: It's All Music
(BBC, interviewee)
|
- Other credits
- 1972
What a Bloody Long Day It's Been
(Ashton, Gardner & Dyke, "The Falling Song" ? strings arr.)
- 1974
Rampant
(Nazareth, "Glad When You're Gone", "Shanghai'd in Shanghai")
- 1975
American Blues Legends 1975
("Biscuit Bakin' Mama", "Bury Me Back in the USA" ? recorded live in 1975)
- 1975
Get Off II
(NAPRA, with Ian Paice)
- 1976
Wizard's Convention
(Eddie Hardin)
- 1978
More Than Meets the Eye
(Joe Breen)
- 1979
Commercial Road
(Richard Digance)
- 1979
And About Time Too
(Bernie Marsden)
- 1980
Look at Me Now
(Bernie Marsden)
- 1981
Line-Up
(Graham Bonnet, "Don't Stand in the Open")
- 1982
Gone Troppo
(George Harrison, "Circles")
- 1983
Octopuss
(Cozy Powell)
- 1984
About Face
(David Gilmour)
- 1985
The Wind in the Willows
(Eddie Hardin)
- 1986
Detroit Diesel
(Alvin Lee, "Ordinary Man", "Let's Go")
- 1989
Super Drumming Folge 1 & 2
(Pete York)
- 1990
Rock Aid Armenia
? The Earthquake Album
("Smoke on the Water '90")
- 1990
About Love and Life
(Vicki Brown, "We Are One")
- 1990
April Moon
(Sam Brown, "Contradictions")
- 1990
Pete York Presents Super Drumming Volume 3
("I Got Rhythm", "Heavy Ravel", "Gemini ? Voice", "Windows")
- 1992
Cherkazoo & Other Stories
(Ian Gillan, archival recordings 1972?74)
- 1992
The Wind in the Willows
? A Rock Concert
(Eddie Hardin, recorded live in 1991, DVD ed. 2003)
- 1992
The Drums Are Back
(Cozy Powell, "The Rocket", "The Legend of the Glass Mountain")
- 1992
Zoom
(Alvin Lee, "Real Life Blues", "Wake Up Moma")
- 1994
Carnival of Light
(Ride, "Moonlight Medicine")
- 1994
How Does It Feel to Feel
(Ride, EP, "Journey to the End of Universe")
- 1995
Still a Few Pages Left
(Hardin & York, "Stuck on You")
- 2002
Brainwashed
(George Harrison, "Brainwashed")
- 2003
Bluesheart
(Miller Anderson, "Help Me", "Runnin' Blues")
- 2005
Legends of Rock ? 50 Jahre Rock
(CD/DVD, recorded live in 2004)
- 2005
Min Jul
(Maria Arredondo, arrangements)
- 2006
Gillan's Inn
(Ian Gillan, "When A Blind Man Cries", "Demon's Eye", "Smoke on the Water")
- 2008
Army of One
(Espen Lind, "Sweet Love", "The Music Takes You There")
- 2009
Endangered Species ? Live at Abbey Road 2000
(Tony Ashton & Friends, CD/DVD)
- 2009
Childline Rocks 2009
("Pictured Within", "Child in Time", "You Keep on Moving")
- 2010
Stay Tuned
(Bernhard Welz, "Child in Time")
- 2011
Dance
(The Smith Quartet, writer of "Zarabanda Solitaria")
- 2011
Out of My Mind
(WhoCares, charity CD single)
- 2011
The Odyssey, Live
(David Bedford, recorded live in 1977)
- 2013
The Sunflower Jam 2012
(incl. JL's performance from 2011)
- 2013
BudaBest
(Mandoki Soulmates)
- 2014
Celebrating Jon Lord
(VA)
- 2016
Music for My Love - Celebrating the Life of a Special Woman
(100+ New Works for String Orchestra, Vol. 1, writer of "Zarabanda Solitaria" - string vsn)
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"FreeBMD Entry Info"
. 2.freebmd.org.uk
. Retrieved
12 August
2017
.
- ^
"Deep Purple Rocks Hall of Fame With Hits-Filled Set"
Archived
6 May 2016 at the
Wayback Machine
.
Rolling Stone
. Retrieved 13 April 2016
- ^
"Celebrating Jon's childhood home | Jon Lord ? The Official Website"
. Jon Lord. 13 January 2013
. Retrieved
4 June
2014
.
- ^
"Jon Lord profile"
. Deep-purple.net
. Retrieved
16 July
2012
.
- ^
"Buddy Holly ? Leicester ? De Montfort Hall ? 16 March 1958"
. Songkick. 16 March 1958
. Retrieved
4 June
2014
.
- ^
Welch, Chris. "The Story of Deep Purple", in
Deep Purple: HM Photo Book
, copyright 1983, Omnibus Press.
- ^
Alan de Perna (January 1997). "You Really Got Me".
Guitar World
.
- ^
Tyler, Kieron
On The Roundabout With Deep Purple
Retrieved 31 August 2020
- ^
Eder, Bruce.
"Boz Burrell - Artist Biography by Bruce Eder"
. AllMusic
. Retrieved
30 November
2020
.
- ^
"CRR Interview ? Don Airey: It's Deep Purple & There's a Hammond"
. Classicrockrevisited.com
. Retrieved
28 July
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Van der Lee, Matthijs.
"
In Rock
review"
. Sputnikmusic.com
. Retrieved
13 September
2014
.
- ^
"Jon Lord Interview - Complete Unedited transcription"
.
Web.archive.org
. 10 April 2009
. Retrieved
9 June
2024
.
- ^
"A Highway Star: Deep Purple's Roger Glover Interviewed"
.
The Quietus
. 20 January 2011.
- ^
"Nick Simper Interview from "Darker than Blue", July 1983"
.
Thehighwaystar.com
. Retrieved
14 March
2016
.
- ^
Kusnur, Narendra (3 May 2002).
"Deep Purple. Ian Gillan interview, Mumbai 2002"
.
Mid-Day
. Retrieved
20 July
2012
.
- ^
Tobler, John (1992).
NME Rock 'N' Roll Years
(1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 248. CN 5585.
- ^
"International rock star pens classical concerto for Durham"
. Dur.ac.uk
. Retrieved
13 September
2014
.
- ^
"YouTube"
. M.youtube.com. Archived from
the original
on 24 August 2013
. Retrieved
4 June
2014
.
- ^
"Former DEEP PURPLE Keyboardist JON LORD To Release New Album in March"
.
Blabbermouth.net
. Archived from
the original
on 24 January 2010
. Retrieved
10 January
2010
.
- ^
"Jon Lord's new album attracts great sales"
. JonLord.org. 30 March 2010
. Retrieved
30 March
2010
.
- ^
"To Notice Such Things charts at no. 4"
. JonLord.org
. Retrieved
5 April
2010
.
- ^
"It's Not As Big As It Was"
on
YouTube
- ^
"New Supergroup? WhoCares"
. Ultimate-guitar.com
. Retrieved
3 January
2012
.
- ^
"Video: Paul Mann's Concerto interview | Jon Lord ? The Official Website"
. Jon Lord. 5 September 2012
. Retrieved
4 June
2014
.
- ^
"Durham Concerto takes Jon to Germany | Jon Lord ? The Official Website"
. Jon Lord. 27 May 2012
. Retrieved
4 June
2014
.
- ^
"Jon Lord Dead: Deep Purple Keyboardist Dies at Age 71"
.
Huffington Post
. Retrieved
13 September
2014
.
- ^
"Obituary"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. London.
Archived
from the original on 12 January 2022
. Retrieved
13 September
2014
.
- ^
"Lord undergoing pancreatic cancer treatment in Israel | Showbiz | News | Daily Express"
. Express.co.uk. 29 February 2012
. Retrieved
4 June
2014
.
- ^
"Jon Lord has sadly passed away"
. Jonlord.org
. Retrieved
13 September
2014
.
- ^
"Deep Purple Keyboardist Jon Lord Dead at 71"
. rollingstone.com. Archived from
the original
on 7 November 2017
. Retrieved
17 July
2012
.
- ^
"Deep Purple's Jon Lord dies at 71"
. BBC News. 16 July 2012
. Retrieved
17 July
2012
.
- ^
"Obituary: Jon Lord, composer and Deep Purple founder"
.
Gramophone
. Haymarket
. Retrieved
19 July
2012
.
- ^
"News | A Master Passes: R.I.P. Jon Lord"
. Metallica.com. Archived from
the original
on 19 July 2012
. Retrieved
4 June
2014
.
- ^
"LEMMY: 'JON LORD Was, To A Large Extent, Responsible For Me Being in Rock And Roll'
"
.
Blabbermouth.net
. 1 August 2012
. Retrieved
23 March
2019
.
- ^
"A Shroud of Thoughts: The Late Great Jon Lord"
. 16 July 2012
. Retrieved
30 November
2020
.
- ^
Video
on
YouTube
- ^
"ABBA's Anni-Frid Lyngstad's Tribute To Jon Lord ( Zermatt Unplugged 2013 )"
. Archived from
the original
on 29 July 2013
. Retrieved
13 September
2014
– via YouTube.
- ^
"Emerson, Lake & Palmer website"
. Emersonlakepalmer.com
. Retrieved
13 September
2014
.
- ^
"Keith Emerson: I was jealous of Jon Lord"
.
Web.archive.org
. 7 November 2013
. Retrieved
9 June
2024
.
- ^
"Jon Lord the rock legend celebrated"
.
Jon Lord - The Official Website
. 18 September 2018
. Retrieved
15 August
2019
.
- ^
"Jon Lord to be honoured with blue plaque? | Rock News | News"
. Planet Rock. 13 December 2012
. Retrieved
4 June
2014
.
- ^
Greene, Andy (17 December 2015).
"N.W.A, Deep Purple, Cheap Trick Chosen for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame"
.
Rolling Stone
. Archived from
the original
on 12 June 2018
. Retrieved
14 March
2016
.
- ^
Lalaina, Joe.
"Jon Lord's Purple Reign"
.
The Highway Star (archived from Modern Keyboard Magazine, January 1989)
. Retrieved
24 June
2011
.
- ^
Hinman, Doug (2004).
The Kinks: All Day and All of the Night: Day-by-Day Concerts, Recordings and Broadcasts, 1961?1996
. San Francisco, California: Backbeat Books. p. 29?30, 37.
ISBN
978-0-87930-765-3
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Deep Purple: Charlesworth, Chris (Omnibus Press, 1983)
ISBN
9780711901742
- Deep Purple, Heavy Metal Photo Book: Welch, Chris with Hasebe, Koh (Omnibus Press, 1984)
- Deep Purple: Tomasz Szmajter, Roland Bury (In Rock, 1998, 2003, 2009, 2013)
- Deep Purple: Sailor, Michael (Hannibal Verlag, 2005)
- Smoke on the Water, The Deep Purple Story: Thompson, Dave (ECW Press, 2004)
- The Complete Deep Purple: Heatley, Michael (Reynolds & Hearn, 2005)
- The Gemini Man: an Introduction to the Orchestral Works of Jon Lord, Vincent Budd (Gnosis Press, 2003)
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Jon Lord
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