Jon Lord : 1941 - 2012

  • A loss as gigantic as his influence, his legacy and his personality.
    Not many players left you could recognize blindfolded at the very first note (sound).
    And just when everyone thought he was doing better.
    There is a wonderful tribute from Steve Morse on facebook btw.
    ...
    :( Christian


    MEDUSA

        

  • While Jon's passing is sad for us, how much more for his close family, friends and bandmates.

    It was Ritchie that first brought me into the Purple world. In 1980 I was immersed in punk, new wave and two-tone. I tuned into BBC's Donington broadcast and was absolutely blown away by Rainbow and Ritchie in particular. I bought the first Rainbow album and Deepest Purple, and quickly appreciated that Jon was every bit an integral part of Purple's sound as Ritchie.

    Jon was part of my first introduction to live music (Whitesnake - Come An' Get It Tour - 1981 - Glasgow Apollo) and what an introduction! Sitting in the gods at the old Apollo listening to Jon's solo is still one of the best experiences of my life.

    I had the opportunity of meeting Jon and David on the Saints and Sinners tour, and as many have said he was a complete gentleman - a genuinely nice man.

    I've seen him live with Whitesnake and Purple many times and was also privileged to be at his last two appearances in Scotland.

    Concerto in Edinburgh - October 2009

    Lecture in Paisley - February 2011

    (my username on that forum is Big J)

    The Concerto was an unforgettable experience - so glad that Jon took the time to coach the young students and deliver such a fantastic performance.

    After checking various sites on Monday for the "massive Purple-related" news what a shock to see that instead we got even bigger but awful news. It really does put things into perspective.

    Sadness at his passing, yes, but what a wealth of fabulous music he's left behind.

    RIP Jon.

    cheers
    John

  • I was taken aback when I heard, thought about it for a while and condolences go, of course, to wife Vicky & daughters.
    However, I'd like to think that wherever he is now, it won't be long before he'll be having a party and raising merry hell (figuratively speaking) with Tony Ashton!
    G


  • However, I'd like to think that wherever he is now, it won't be long before he'll be having a party and raising merry hell (figuratively speaking) with Tony Ashton!
    G



    I'd like to share this lovely 'family photo' with you which I found some months ago:

    Jon, Pete York with wife and daughter, Colin Hodgkinson and Tony Ashton ca. 1985

    Two masters of the 'black and white teeth' - both gone now :( Lost for us but united again.

  • It is wonderful when people also remember the families as well as the music. I know this was of great comfort to Mel Galley's family. Sometimes ( and I speak for myself here) us fans are selfish in that we often remember the music over the person. And with Jon, the two of course were synonymous. His music came from the heart - from the melodic Pictured Within to the pure genius of the classical breaks in songs like Burn, Speed King and Highway Star. I have had a few days to think about this but I still can't put into words the regard I have for Jon and the gift of Deep Purple he gave me personally.

  • I wanted to write that when I was listening to Screaming that morning, I was thinking of Jon noticing how cool his background parts on the intro were. For all his soloing and technique, there's little things like those fill ins that were also special. It's strange, I usually do not listen to much music at work, (multi tasking not good) and never Purple, and I picked that song, just before the news broke.

    The first song I listened to later that day after getting off work was Fingers to the Bone...The lyrics kind of made me shake my head as they talk about " today's blue monday, I just got a bad news letter" and "This day has come
    The darkest cloud on our horizon"

    The song is one of my favorite Jon and DP moments for it's beautiful simple piano solo and the acoustic and solo chorus riffs that weave in and out of the song. I guess from now it will always take me back to July 16 2012.

  • Just saw this on the DP Runboard, Coverdale has just posted this lengthy memory of Jon: (Any chance of posting some more thoughts like this Glenn here??

    From Coverdale:

    Quote

    As I type this I'm listening to Jon's classical music from his solo albums I've downloaded since his passing... Because we were out of touch for so long & involved in our individual lives & careers, I was unaware of so much of his more recent exceptional works... It is assisting me in processing the sense of loss of such a huge character & enormous inspiration from my life... I hope you can understand I felt it inappropriate to engage in our usual conversational interaction on the BBS & step back & just allow you to use the site as a memorial, or tribute to express your own feelings & thoughts of Jon & what he means to you... I am still somewhat uncomfortable posting as I see some of you proposing a tribute concert involving our former colleagues in both Purple & Whitesnake... Personally, I feel it appropriate & respectful to wait until we hear if his family wish to have a memorial concert before I respond, so I ask you respectfully not to engage me in possibilities until then... I have no doubt that with the healing passage of time that something wonderful will take place somewhere where we can all celebrate his extraordinary life & his many musical gifts to us, but, once again, let us be patient & await his families wishes before attempting to force any event on them... I will share with you, as I shared with my family, three personal memories of my initial introduction to Jon that involved his incredible warmth, patience & generosity that came immediately to my mind & for which I will be eternally grateful... My first encounter with Jon was as an opening act for the then early chapter of DP Mark 2 at Sheffield University... Jon came up to me after our show & was very complimentary about my singing & discreetly asked for my phone number... whispering " in case it doesn't work out with the new guy "... Ha Ha!... Of course, in those days, I was living at home with my parents & we never had a phone, so, I hastily gave him my address, shook hands & went out to watch some of their show before driving back to Teesside... Of course, it worked out beautifully & successfully with 'the new guy' as we all know, but, it didn't stop me rushing down to the front door every morning for months to see if he'd written to me... As you can imagine it was an indescribable boost for my morale at that time in my life... Sweet, sweet man... he knew how to elevate your spirit... He had poetry & rhetoric in abundance... I told Pagey that he would have loved working with Jon... The next time was at my actual audition for Purple in London in 1973... I was pretty nervous, of course, but, determined... I'd discreetly brought a bottle of Bell's whiskey that my friend, Roger, who had driven me to London had hidden from me..( which I found immediately & gave me cause to frequently slip away for quick nerve numbing shots... )... No one was more engaging, welcoming & calming to me than Jon Lord... He spoke to me so very kindly & encouraged me to the point where I must credit him for helping me relax & give a solid account of myself at the audition, God bless his cotton socks... The next example of Jon's amazing character was at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire where we had gone to work on songs for the 'Burn' album... Jon was going to be late, as he had business in London, so, Ritchie, Glenn & Ian started jamming immediately in the castle crypt... Amazing music... amazing musicians... I wandered in & out, not knowing what the hell to do as this was all so new & unknown territory for me... I found out later that Jon had called Ritchie to see how things were going & how I was fitting in... Ritchie said everything was fine, but, I hadn't sang anything yet... NERVES!!!... So, when Jon eventually arrived, he & I had a several snifters of some fine alcoholic beverage & walked down to the rehearsal room... & with him at his Hammond & me at the microphone I sang non stop for God knows how long... Beatles songs... jazz songs... blues riffs... Slowly, but, surely, the guys all came in & started playing along & suddenly I was a member of the best band in the world!!!... Thank you, Jon, with all my heart... I will never forget you & what you brought to my life... The many precious memories I will treasure forevermore... Bon Vivant... Raconteur... Musician & Gentleman Extraordinaire... Jon Lord... I salute you... XX

  • Face to Face' from 2009 - Rick Wakeman in conversation with Jon Lord, nearly one hour :bow: Makes my face wet again... :(





    "I might have been born in Liverpool, but I grew up in Hamburg." John Lennon

  • You can hear a tribute by Ritchie Blackmore and Rick Wakeman on the BBC via iplayer

    starts at around 8 minutes 15 secs.

    Blackmore:

    "I'd never heard an organist play that way before. Jon had a lot of flash to his playing, which I enjoyed. And, of course, he was such an amiable person too. There was no ego there. My favourite piece of his is on Hush; his organ solo on that is just unbelievable…"

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kt7d1

    :ghcp: "It's in my blood"

  • Don't know if this was already quoted somewhere but I just found another tribute of Metallica's Lars Ulrich who calls him "...the most accomplished, original and unique hard rock keyboardist that ever walked this planet.":

    http://loudwire.com/metallicas-lars-ulrich-there-was-no-musician-like-jon-lord-in-the-history-of-hard-rock

    That's it - hopelessly addicted to the voice from Cannock... 8)

  • An update from Simon Robinson:

    Jon’s funeral service.

    Although we had a lot of enquiries, Jon’s family very clearly wanted a totally private occasion for Jon’s funeral. The service took place in Hambleden, St Mary’s Church, on Tuesday July 31st and was attended by family and close friends. They have announced that a more public memorial service is to be held in London.
    ---

    It is the same church where Jon performed 'From Darkness To Light' a few years ago.

    http://picturedwithin.com/henley_review.html

    :rose: :rose:

  • Jon Lord’s family sends this message :



    http://jonlord.org/2012/08/28/jons-family-says-thank-you

  • Merci, Stormy. I have to think of Jon's family very often, especially of his daughters. I remember very well how lost I felt when my dad died more than seven years ago.

    This time brings back sad memories :(

    "I might have been born in Liverpool, but I grew up in Hamburg." John Lennon

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