Jon Lord
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Douglas "Jon" Lord (born 9 June 1941) is an English
composer
, pianist
and Hammond organ
player.
Jon Lord, also known as 'Hammond Lord', is a classically trained piano player. He is recognised for his Hammond organ blues-rock sound and for his pioneering work in fusing rock and classical or baroque forms. He has most famously been a member of Deep Purple
, as well as of Whitesnake
, Paice, Ashton & Lord
, The Artwoods
and Flower Pot Men. He has worked with numerous other artists including Graham Bonnet
(following Bonnet's departure from Rainbow
).
In 1968, Lord co-founded Deep Purple. He and drummer Ian Paice
were the only constant band members during the band's existence from 1968 to 1976 and from when they reformed in 1984 until Lord's retirement from Deep Purple in 2002.
One of his finest works was his composition Concerto for Group and Orchestra
, which was performed at the Royal Albert Hall
in honour of Albert Higgins and William Cole in 1969 with Deep Purple (Lord and Paice with guitarist Ritchie Blackmore
, singer Ian Gillan
and bassist Roger Glover
) and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
. The concerto was revived for its 30th anniversary in 1999 with another performance at the Albert Hall, again performed by Deep Purple (Lord, Paice, Gillan, Glover and Steve Morse
in place of Blackmore) with the London Philharmonic Orchestra
.
In 2002 he retired from Deep Purple for good, to concentrate on composing and on lower-key blues/rock performances. In 2008, he achieved success as a classical composer when his Durham Concerto
entered the classical album charts. His latest album is To Notice Such Things
from 2010.
On November 11, 2010, Lord was made an Honorary Fellow of Stevenson College
, Edinburgh
. The Concerto for Group & Orchestra (described as "a contemporary masterpiece" by the college ) was performed in the Usher Hall in 2009, featuring Stevenson students.
On July 15, 2011, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Music degree by his home town's University of Leicester
.
(a constant connection in his music and his keyboard improvisation) to Medieval popular music and the English tradition of Edward Elgar
.
Simultaneously, Lord absorbed the blues sounds that played a key part in his rock career, principally the raw sounds of the great American blues organists Jimmy Smith
, Jimmy McGriff
and "Brother" Jack McDuff
("Rock Candy"), as well as the stage showmanship of Jerry Lee Lewis
. The jazz-blues organ sounds coming from those musicians 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
combo), were seminal influences. Lord has also stated that he was heavily influenced by the organ-based progressive rock played by Vanilla Fudge
after seeing that band perform in the UK in 1967. Keyboard contemporaries in the 1970s Keith Emerson
and Rick Wakeman
generally steered away from the blues or only showcased it as a novelty, but Lord embraced it fully into his style.
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
. Small parts followed and Lord continued playing piano and organ in clubs and as a session musician to make ends meet.
He started his London band career in 1960 with jazz ensemble the Bill Ashton
Combo. Ashton, now an MBE
, became a key figure in jazz education in the UK, creating what later became the National Youth Jazz Orchestra
. Between 1960 and 1963, Lord (along with Ashton) moved onto Red Bludd's Bluesicians (also known as The Don Wilson's Quartet), the latter of which featured singer Arthur "Art" 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 keyboards on You Really Got Me
(The Kinks
1964 classic).
Following the break-up of Redd Bludd's Bluesicians in late 1963, Wood, Lord and drummer Red Dunnage put together a new band. The Art Wood Combo also included Derek Griffiths (guitar) and Malcolm Pool (bass). Dunnage left in December 1964 to be replaced by Keef Hartley
, who had previously replaced Ringo Starr
in Rory Storm
and the Hurricanes.
The Artwoods, as the band came to be known, focused on the organ as the bluesy, rhythmic core of their sound, in common with contemporaries the Spencer Davis Group
(Steve Winwood
on organ) and the Animals
(with Alan Price
). They made appearances on TV shows such as Ready Steady Go!
, performed abroad and appeared on the first Ready Steady Goes Live, promoting their first single "Sweet Mary," but significant commercial success eluded them. Their only chart single was "I Take What I Want," which reached #28 on 8 May 1966.
The band regrouped in 1967 as St Valentine's Day Massacre, in an attempt to cash in on the 1930s gangster craze triggered by the film Bonnie and Clyde
. Hartley left in 1967 to join John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.
Lord then created Santa Barbara Machine Head
(featuring Art's brother, the young Ronnie Wood), writing and recording three powerful keyboard-driven instrumental tracks, giving a preview of the seminal Deep Purple
style to come in the future. Soon after, he went on to cover for keyboard player Billy Day in The Flower Pot Men, where he met bassist Nick Simper
. Lord and Simper toured with the band in 1967 to support their "Let's Go To San Francisco
" hit single, but they never recorded with them.
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. Ritchie Blackmore was called in and met Lord for the first time. But Chris Curtis' erratic behavior led the trio nowhere. Edwards was impressed enough by Jon Lord to ask him to form a band after Curtis faded out. Simper was contacted, and Blackmore recalled from Hamburg. Top English drummer Bobby Woodman was the initial choice for the drums, but during the auditions for a singer, Rod Evans
of the Maze
came in with his drummer, Ian Paice
. Blackmore, who had been impressed by Paice's drumming when he'd met him in 1967, quickly ensured an audition for Paice as well. The band was initially called Roundabout, which by March 1968 had morphed into the "Mark 1" lineup of Deep Purple: Lord, Simper, Blackmore, Paice and Evans.
Lord also helped form Boz, which did some recordings produced by Derek Lawrence
, featuring Boz Burrell
(later of Bad Company
), session guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, drummer Ian Paice, and bassist Chas Hodges
(later of 'Cockney' pop group Chas & Dave).
, he began experimenting with a keyboard sound centred on the Hammond organ but heavier than a blues sound and often featuring distortion. 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 songs like "Demon's Eye", and "Space Truckin'". In 1973, Lord's original Hammond C3 gave out, and he purchased another from Christine McVie
of Fleetwood Mac
. Around this same 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.)
Lord pushed the Hammond-Leslie sound through Marshall amplification
, creating a growling, heavy, mechanical sound that gave a rhythmic counterpoint to Blackmore's lead playing. It also allowed Lord to compete with Blackmore as a soloist, with an organ that sounded as heavy as a lead guitar. Said one reviewer, "many have tried to imitate [Lord's] style, and all failed." 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."
In early Deep Purple recordings, Lord's organ sound is often more prominent than Blackmore's guitar, which didn't truly start to take over until the In Rock album (1970). For example, the band's first hit song, a cover of Joe South
's "Hush", features an extended organ solo and no guitar solo. Later, Lord's willingness to play many of the key rhythm parts gave the guitarist 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. This enhanced Lord's reputation among fellow musicians, but caused tension within the group.
Blackmore agreed to go along with Lord's experimentation, provided he was given his head on the next band album. The resulting Concerto For Group and Orchestra (in 1969) 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), recorded by the BBC and later released as an album, the 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. The Concerto also gave Lord the chance to work with established classical figures, like conductor Malcolm Arnold
(knighted in 1993), who brought his technical skills to bear by helping Lord score the work and to protect him from the inevitable disdain of the older members of the orchestra.
Classical dalliance over, Purple began work on In Rock, released by their new label EMI
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, mid-section 'call and answer' improvisation (on tracks like "Speed King"), something they employed to great effect live. Similarly, "Child in Time
" features Lord's playing to maximum tonal effect. Lord's experimental solo on "Hard Lovin' Man" (complete with police-siren interpolation) on the album is his personal favourite among his Deep Purple studio performances.
Deep Purple released a sequence of albums between 1971's Fireball
and 1975's 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" 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 later described 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 himself would rarely venture 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. Rare instances of his Deep Purple synthesizer use (later including the MiniMoog and other Moog synthesizer
s) include "'A' 200", the final track from Burn, and "Love Child" on the Come Taste the Band album.
In early 1973 Lord stated - NME
- March 1973
, buoyed by the success of the Concerto, commissioned him to do another work 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 Eberhard 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 'Ashton & 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. 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 Richard Digance. 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 Hollywood from actress Ann-Margret
), Lord joined former Deep Purple band member David Coverdale's new band, Whitesnake
in August 1978 (Paice joined them in 1980 and stayed till 1982). Whitesnake was a continuation of the musical style introduced in Paice, Ashton & Lord
and was inspired in name and cover art from Lord's 1975 album Sarabande
.
and Micky Moody
. He added a Yamaha
Electric Grand 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 charts, taking the now 40-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. 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 in 16 April 1984.
During his tenure in Whitesnake, Lord did have a chance to do 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 very English classical piano ballads sung by mother and daughter duo, Vicki Brown
and Sam Brown (wife and daughter of entertainer Joe Brown
) and vocalist Elmer Gantry. The album also boasted the cream of British rock talent, including prolific session drummer (and National Youth Jazz Orchestra alumnus) Simon Phillips
, Cozy Powell
, Neil Murray
, Simon Kirke
, Boz Burrell and Mick Ralphs. Lord used synthesizers more than ever before, principally to retain an intimacy with the material and to create a jam atmosphere with old friends like Tony Ashton.
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, now firmly established as a member of UK rock/Oxfordshire mansion aristocracy (in Lord's case, a home called Burntwood, complete with hand-painted Challen baby grand piano, previous owner, Shirley Bassey
), was asked to guest on albums by friends George Harrison
(Gone Troppo
from 1982) and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour
(1983's About Face
), Cozy Powell (Octopus in 1983) and to play on an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame
's classic, Wind in the Willows. He composed and produced the score for White Fire
(1984), which consisted largely of two songs performed by Limelight
.
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 the likes 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.
on June 22, 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 where to take his career next.
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 a deeply affecting piece, 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 in 2002, preceded by a knee injury that eventually resolved itself without surgery. 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 Argandoña between June and July 2004.
Pictured Within and Beyond the Notes provide the most personal work by Lord, and together, have what his earlier solo work perhaps lacks, a very clear musical voice that is quintessentially his. Together, both albums are uniquely crafted, mature pieces from a man in touch with himself and his spirituality. Lord has slowly built a small, but distinct position and fan base for himself in Europe, collaborating 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 performing with her across Europe and subsequently, doing concerts also to première the 2007-scheduled Boom of the Tingling Strings orchestral piece.
In 2003, he also returned to his beloved R-n-B/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
. He remains one of British rock music's most eclectic and talented instrumentalists. Lord is 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.
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 feature 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.
Lord was (almost) next-door neighbour to former Beatle
, George Harrison
, and played piano on Harrison's posthumously released Brainwashed
album (2002). He was also a close friend of John Mortimer
, whom he had accompanied on many occasions during Mortimer's performances of "Mortimer Miscellany".
Lord released his solo album, To Notice Such Things
, on March 29, 2010. Titled after the main work — a six movement suite for solo flute, piano and string orchestra — the album was inspired by, and is dedicated to the memory of Jon's dear friend Sir John Mortimer, the English barrister, dramatist, screenwriter, author and creator of British television series "Rumpole of The Bailey", who died in January 2009. On its first day of release, the album entered Amazon’s Movers And Shakers index, nestling at no. 12 at the end of the day. Six days later it entered the UK's official classical chart at no. 4.
Among his many upcoming projects, Jon Lord has been commissioned to compose a concerto for Hammond organ and orchestra and with special parts for tympani. The piece will be premiered with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra with Tom Vissgren on tympani in Oslo, Norway in the Spring of 2012. With Vladimir Ashkenazy
and Josef Suk
, Lord is one of three artistic sponsors of Toccata Classics
.
Jon Lord is currently 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 Lindström from HIM, bassist Jason Newsted
formerly from Metallica
and drummer Nicko McBrain
from Iron Maiden
.
"I shall of course be continuing to write music - in my world it just has to be part of the therapy - and I fully expect to be back in good shape next year."
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
player.
Jon Lord, also known as 'Hammond Lord', is a classically trained piano player. He is recognised for his Hammond organ blues-rock sound and for his pioneering work in fusing rock and classical or baroque forms. He has most famously been a member of Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
, as well as of Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
, Paice, Ashton & Lord
Paice, Ashton & Lord
Paice, Ashton and Lord was a British rhythm and blues, funk-soul, rock band founded in 1977, after the break-up of the British band Deep Purple in 1976...
, The Artwoods
The Artwoods
The Artwoods were an English rock band who formed in 1963 and were professionally active between 1964 and 1967. They were a popular live attraction, rivalling groups such as the Animals, although, despite releasing a clutch of singles and an album, their record sales never reflected this...
and Flower Pot Men. He has worked with numerous other artists including Graham Bonnet
Graham Bonnet
Graham Bonnet is an English rock vocalist, and songwriter. He has recorded and performed as a solo artist, and as a member of several hard rock and heavy metal bands including Rainbow, the Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz, and Impellitteri.-Early days:Bonnet was born in Skegness in 1947...
(following Bonnet's departure from Rainbow
Rainbow (band)
Rainbow were an English rock band, controlled by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. It was originally established with American rock band Elf's members, though over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up...
).
In 1968, Lord co-founded Deep Purple. He and drummer Ian Paice
Ian Paice
Ian Anderson Paice is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the English rock band Deep Purple. As of Jon Lord's departure in 2002, he is the only founding member of the band who never stopped performing with the group, and the only member to appear on every album the band has...
were the only constant band members during the band's existence from 1968 to 1976 and from when they reformed in 1984 until Lord's retirement from Deep Purple in 2002.
One of his finest works was his composition Concerto for Group and Orchestra
Concerto for Group and Orchestra
The Concerto for Group and Orchestra is a concerto composed by Jon Lord, with lyrics written by Ian Gillan. It was first performed by Deep Purple and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold on 24 September 1969 and released on vinyl in December 1969. The release was the first...
, which was performed at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in honour of Albert Higgins and William Cole in 1969 with Deep Purple (Lord and Paice with guitarist Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
, singer Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan is an English rock music vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. During his career Gillan also fronted his own band, had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and sang the role of Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd...
and bassist Roger Glover
Roger Glover
Roger David Glover is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. Glover is best known as the bassist and lyricist for the hard rock band, Deep Purple.-Early career:...
) and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...
. The concerto was revived for its 30th anniversary in 1999 with another performance at the Albert Hall, again performed by Deep Purple (Lord, Paice, Gillan, Glover and Steve Morse
Steve Morse
Steven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...
in place of Blackmore) with the London Philharmonic Orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
.
In 2002 he retired from Deep Purple for good, to concentrate on composing and on lower-key blues/rock performances. In 2008, he achieved success as a classical composer when his Durham Concerto
Durham Concerto
The Durham Concerto is a classical work composed by Jon Lord. It was commissioned by Durham University and was first performed in Durham Cathedral on October 20, 2007, as part of the university's 175th anniversary celebrations....
entered the classical album charts. His latest album is To Notice Such Things
To Notice Such Things
To Notice Such Things is a six-movement suite for solo flute, piano and string orchestra, composed by Jon Lord in memory of his close friend the late Sir John Mortimer, CBE, QC. The music emanates from that which Lord composed for the stage show, Mortimer’s Miscellany, which he also occasionally...
from 2010.
On November 11, 2010, Lord was made an Honorary Fellow of Stevenson College
Stevenson College
Adlai E. Stevenson College is a residential college at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Currently, the college is host to the Linguistics Department, as well as many humanities faculty....
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. The Concerto for Group & Orchestra (described as "a contemporary masterpiece" by the college ) was performed in the Usher Hall in 2009, featuring Stevenson students.
On July 15, 2011, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Music degree by his home town's University of Leicester
University of Leicester
The University of Leicester is a research-led university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is a mile south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College....
.
Early life
Jon Lord was born in Leicester on 9 June 1941 to his parents Miriam (1912–1995, née Hudson) and Reg. He studied classical piano from the age of five, and those influences are a recurring trademark in his work. His influences range from BachBạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
(a constant connection in his music and his keyboard improvisation) to Medieval popular music and the English tradition of Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
.
Simultaneously, Lord absorbed the blues sounds that played a key part in his rock career, principally the raw sounds of the great American blues organists Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
, Jimmy McGriff
Jimmy McGriff
James Harrell McGriff was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who developed a distinctive style of playing the Hammond B-3 organ.-Early years and influences:...
and "Brother" Jack McDuff
Jack McDuff
"Brother" Jack McDuff was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.-Career:...
("Rock Candy"), as well as the stage showmanship of Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
. The jazz-blues organ sounds coming from those musicians in the 1950s and 1960s, using the trademark blues-organ sound of the Hammond organ
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s it became a standard keyboard...
(B3 and C3 models) and combining it with the Leslie speaker system (the well-known Hammond-Leslie speaker
Leslie speaker
The Leslie speaker is a specially constructed amplifier/loudspeaker used to create special audio effects using the Doppler effect. Named after its inventor, Donald Leslie, it is particularly associated with the Hammond organ but is used with a variety of instruments as well as vocals. The...
combo), were seminal influences. Lord has also stated that he was heavily influenced by the organ-based progressive rock played by Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band. The band's original lineup – vocalist/organist Mark Stein, bassist/vocalist Tim Bogert, lead guitarist/vocalist Vince Martell, and drummer/vocalist Carmine Appice – recorded five albums during the years 1966–69, before disbanding in 1970...
after seeing that band perform in the UK in 1967. Keyboard contemporaries in the 1970s Keith Emerson
Keith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
and Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
generally steered away from the blues or only showcased it as a novelty, but Lord embraced it fully into his style.
Lord moved to London in 1959/60, intent on an acting career and enrolling at the Central School of Speech and Drama
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Central School of Speech and Drama was founded in London in 1906 by Elsie Fogerty to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students...
, in London's Swiss Cottage
Swiss Cottage
Swiss Cottage is a district of the London Borough of Camden in London, England. Thedistrict is located north-west of Charing Cross. It is centred on the junction of Avenue Road and Finchley Road and is the location of Swiss Cottage tube station.-Etymology:...
. Small parts followed and Lord continued playing piano and organ in clubs and as a session musician to make ends meet.
He started his London band career in 1960 with jazz ensemble the Bill Ashton
Bill Ashton (jazz musician)
William Michael Allingham Ashton OBE is a British saxophonist and composer, best known for co-founding the London Schools’ Orchestra, now the National Youth Jazz Orchestra , of which he is Musical Director....
Combo. Ashton, now an MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, became a key figure in jazz education in the UK, creating what later became the National Youth Jazz Orchestra
National Youth Jazz Orchestra
The National Youth Jazz Orchestra is a British jazz orchestra founded in 1963 by Bill Ashton.Based in Westminster, London, NYJO started life as the London Schools' Jazz Orchestra and evolved into becoming the national orchestra...
. Between 1960 and 1963, Lord (along with Ashton) moved onto Red Bludd's Bluesicians (also known as The Don Wilson's Quartet), the latter of which featured singer Arthur "Art" Wood
Art Wood
Arthur "Art" Wood was a British blues, pop and rock singer, who led The Artwoods in the 1960s and subsequently became a graphic artist. He was the brother of Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones.-Life:...
. Wood had previously sung with Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner was a blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a Founding Father of British Blues"...
's Blues Incorporated
Blues Incorporated
Blues Incorporated were a British R&B band in the early 1960s, led by Alexis Korner and featuring at various times Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Terry Cox, Ginger Baker, Long John Baldry, Ronnie Jones, Danny Thompson, Graham Bond, Cyril Davies, Malcolm Cecil and Dick Heckstall-Smith.-History:Korner ...
and was a junior figure in the British blues movement. In this period, Lord's session credits included playing keyboards on You Really Got Me
You Really Got Me
"You Really Got Me" is a rock song written by Ray Davies and performed by his band, The Kinks. It was released on 4th August 1964 as the group's third single, and reached Number 1 on the UK singles chart the next month, remaining for two weeks...
(The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
1964 classic).
Following the break-up of Redd Bludd's Bluesicians in late 1963, Wood, Lord and drummer Red Dunnage put together a new band. The Art Wood Combo also included Derek Griffiths (guitar) and Malcolm Pool (bass). Dunnage left in December 1964 to be replaced by Keef Hartley
Keef Hartley
Keef Hartley was an English drummer and bandleader. He fronted the Keef Hartley Band, and played at Woodstock. Hartley was later a member of Dog Soldier, and variously worked with Rory Storm, The Artwoods and John Mayall.-Biography:Hartley was born in Preston, Lancashire, England...
, who had previously replaced Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
in Rory Storm
Rory Storm
Rory Storm was an English singer and musician. Born Alan Caldwell in Liverpool, Storm was the singer and leader of Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, a Liverpudlian band who were contemporaries of The Beatles in the late 1950s, and early 1960s...
and the Hurricanes.
The Artwoods, as the band came to be known, focused on the organ as the bluesy, rhythmic core of their sound, in common with contemporaries the Spencer Davis Group
Spencer Davis Group
The Spencer Davis Group was a mid-1960s British beat group from Birmingham, England, formed by Spencer Davis with Steve Winwood and his brother Muff Winwood...
(Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
on organ) and the Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
(with Alan Price
Alan Price
Alan Price is an English musician, best known as the original keyboardist for the English band The Animals, and for his subsequent solo work....
). They made appearances on TV shows such as Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go!
Ready Steady Go! or simply RSG! was one of the UK's first rock/pop music TV programmes. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan was assisted by record producer/talent manager Vicki Wickham, who became the producer. It was broadcast from August 1963 until December 1966...
, performed abroad and appeared on the first Ready Steady Goes Live, promoting their first single "Sweet Mary," but significant commercial success eluded them. Their only chart single was "I Take What I Want," which reached #28 on 8 May 1966.
The band regrouped in 1967 as St Valentine's Day Massacre, in an attempt to cash in on the 1930s gangster craze triggered by the film Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde (film)
The film was originally offered to François Truffaut, the best-known director of the New Wave movement, who made contributions to the script. He passed on the project to make Fahrenheit 451. The producers approached Jean-Luc Godard next...
. Hartley left in 1967 to join John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.
Lord then created Santa Barbara Machine Head
Santa Barbara Machine Head
Santa Barbara Machine Head were a short-lived British electric blues combo that formed and disbanded in 1967. They recorded three instrumental songs together for Immediate Records; "Albert", "Porcupine Juice" and "Rubber Monkey", released in 1968 on the compilation album Blues Anytime Vol. 3...
(featuring Art's brother, the young Ronnie Wood), writing and recording three powerful keyboard-driven instrumental tracks, giving a preview of the seminal Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
style to come in the future. Soon after, he went on to cover for keyboard player Billy Day in The Flower Pot Men, where he met bassist Nick Simper
Nick Simper
Nicholas John Simper is a bass guitarist, best known as a founding member of Deep Purple.-Biography:...
. Lord and Simper toured with the band in 1967 to support their "Let's Go To San Francisco
Let's Go To San Francisco
"Let's Go to San Francisco" is the only UK-charting single by the British pop group The Flower Pot Men. A light-hearted pastiche of the work of Brian Wilson, the song achieved a similar musical level and has remained popular...
" hit single, but they never recorded with them.
In early 1967, through his roommate Chris Curtis
Chris Curtis
Chris Curtis was an English drummer and singer with the 1960s pop band, The Searchers. He originated the concept behind Deep Purple and formed the band in its original incarnation of 'Roundabout'.-Early years:...
of The Searchers
The Searchers (band)
The Searchers are an English beat group, who emerged as part of the 1960s Merseybeat scene along with The Beatles, The Fourmost, The Merseybeats, The Swinging Blue Jeans, and Gerry & The Pacemakers....
, Lord met businessman Tony Edwards
Tony Edwards
Tony Edwards is an Australian comic book artist and illustrator, best known for his creation, Captain Goodvibes.-Biography:Tony Edwards was born in Strathfield in 1944 and originally trained as an architect....
who was looking to invest in the music business. Ritchie Blackmore was called in and met Lord for the first time. But Chris Curtis' erratic behavior led the trio nowhere. Edwards was impressed enough by Jon Lord to ask him to form a band after Curtis faded out. Simper was contacted, and Blackmore recalled from Hamburg. Top English drummer Bobby Woodman was the initial choice for the drums, but during the auditions for a singer, Rod Evans
Rod Evans
Rod Evans is a former English singer and was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968. He provided vocals for the group's first three albums, including the hit singles "Hush" and "Kentucky Woman". He was replaced by Ian Gillan in 1969.-Early career:Before joining Deep Purple, Evans played together...
of the Maze
Maze (band)
Maze a soul / quiet storm band, also known alternately as Maze featuring Frankie Beverly and Frankie Beverly and Maze, was established in San Francisco, California in the early 1970s.-Career:...
came in with his drummer, Ian Paice
Ian Paice
Ian Anderson Paice is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the English rock band Deep Purple. As of Jon Lord's departure in 2002, he is the only founding member of the band who never stopped performing with the group, and the only member to appear on every album the band has...
. Blackmore, who had been impressed by Paice's drumming when he'd met him in 1967, quickly ensured an audition for Paice as well. The band was initially called Roundabout, which by March 1968 had morphed into the "Mark 1" lineup of Deep Purple: Lord, Simper, Blackmore, Paice and Evans.
Lord also helped form Boz, which did some recordings produced by Derek Lawrence
Derek Lawrence
Derek Lawrence is a record producer, famous for his work for Joe Meek's Outlaws, Deep Purple, Machiavel and Wishbone Ash.Lawrence came in contact with Meek circa at the end of 1963, when he managed a group, Laurie Black and the Men of Mystery, that won a recording session at Joe Meek's studio. He...
, featuring Boz Burrell
Boz Burrell
Raymond "Boz" Burrell was an English musician. Originally a vocalist, Burrell is best known for his bass playing and work with the rock bands King Crimson and Bad Company.-Career:...
(later of Bad Company
Bad Company
Bad Company were an English rock supergroup founded in 1973, consisting of two former Free band members — singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke — as well as Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. Peter Grant, who, in years prior, was a key component of...
), session guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, drummer Ian Paice, and bassist Chas Hodges
Chas Hodges
Chas Hodges is an English musician and singer, probably best known for being one half, and lead vocalist, of the English musical duo, Chas & Dave....
(later of 'Cockney' pop group Chas & Dave).
Personal life
Jon Lord is married to Vickie Lord, the twin sister of Ian Paice's wife, Jackie. The twin girls were the daughters of Frank Gibbs, owner of the Oakley House Country Club, Brewood, Staffs. They both live in the United Kingdom. He has two daughters, Amy (with Vickie) and Sara (with his first wife Judith Feldman whom he was married to from 1969 to 1981).Deep Purple, 1968–1976
It is in this period that Lord's trademark keyboard sound emerged. Ignoring the emergence of the Moog synthesizer as pioneered in rock by players like Keith EmersonKeith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
, he began experimenting with a keyboard sound centred on the Hammond organ but heavier than a blues sound and often featuring distortion. 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 songs like "Demon's Eye", and "Space Truckin'". In 1973, Lord's original Hammond C3 gave out, and he purchased another from Christine McVie
Christine McVie
Christine McVie is an English rock singer, keyboardist, and songwriter. Her primary fame came as a member of the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac, though she has also released three solo albums...
of Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
. Around this same 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.)
Lord pushed the Hammond-Leslie sound through Marshall amplification
Marshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...
, creating a growling, heavy, mechanical sound that gave a rhythmic counterpoint to Blackmore's lead playing. It also allowed Lord to compete with Blackmore as a soloist, with an organ that sounded as heavy as a lead guitar. Said one reviewer, "many have tried to imitate [Lord's] style, and all failed." 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
Legato
In musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence...
technique; it’s a technique to achieve legato on a non-legato instrument."
In early Deep Purple recordings, Lord's organ sound is often more prominent than Blackmore's guitar, which didn't truly start to take over until the In Rock album (1970). For example, the band's first hit song, a cover of Joe South
Joe South
Joe South is a multi-talented American singer-songwriter and guitarist.-Career:...
's "Hush", features an extended organ solo and no guitar solo. Later, Lord's willingness to play many of the key rhythm parts gave the guitarist 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
The Book of Taliesyn
- Side two :- Bonus tracks on the CD re-issue :- Personnel :* Rod Evans - lead vocals* Ritchie Blackmore - guitar* Nick Simper - bass, backing vocals* Jon Lord - Hammond organ, keyboards, backing vocals, string arrangements on "Anthem"* Ian Paice - drums...
(1968), but a more prominent example is the song "April" from the band's self-titled third album
Deep Purple (album)
Deep Purple, also referred to as Deep Purple III, is the third studio album by English rock band Deep Purple, released in 1969 on Harvest Records in the UK and on Tetragrammaton in the US...
(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. This enhanced Lord's reputation among fellow musicians, but caused tension within the group.
Blackmore agreed to go along with Lord's experimentation, provided he was given his head on the next band album. The resulting Concerto For Group and Orchestra (in 1969) was one of rock's earliest attempts to fuse two distinct musical idioms. Performed live at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
on 24 September 1969 (with new band members Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan is an English rock music vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. During his career Gillan also fronted his own band, had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and sang the role of Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd...
and Roger Glover
Roger Glover
Roger David Glover is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. Glover is best known as the bassist and lyricist for the hard rock band, Deep Purple.-Early career:...
, Evans and Simper having been fired), recorded by the BBC and later released as an album, the 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. The Concerto also gave Lord the chance to work with established classical figures, like conductor Malcolm Arnold
Malcolm Arnold
Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer and symphonist.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, but by age thirty his life was devoted to composition. He was ranked with Benjamin Britten as one of the most sought-after composers in Britain...
(knighted in 1993), who brought his technical skills to bear by helping Lord score the work and to protect him from the inevitable disdain of the older members of the orchestra.
Classical dalliance over, Purple began work on In Rock, released by their new label EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
in 1970 and now recognised as one of hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
's key early works. Lord and Blackmore competed to out-dazzle each other, often in classical-style, mid-section 'call and answer' improvisation (on tracks like "Speed King"), something they employed to great effect live. Similarly, "Child in Time
Child in Time
"Child in Time" is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple. Featured on their 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock, the song is 10 minutes and 18 seconds long.-History and characteristics:...
" features Lord's playing to maximum tonal effect. Lord's experimental solo on "Hard Lovin' Man" (complete with police-siren interpolation) on the album is his personal favourite among his Deep Purple studio performances.
Deep Purple released a sequence of albums between 1971's Fireball
Fireball (album)
-Side two:-Bonus tracks on the 25th anniversary CD re-issue:-side one:-Side two:-Personnel:* Ian Gillan - vocals* Ritchie Blackmore - guitar* Roger Glover - bass* Jon Lord - keyboards, Hammond organ* Ian Paice - drums-Additional personnel:...
and 1975's Come Taste the Band
Come Taste the Band
Come Taste the Band is the tenth studio album by the English rock band Deep Purple originally released in October 1975. The album was co-produced and engineered by the band and longtime associate Martin Birch...
. 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
Machine Head (album)
Machine Head is the sixth studio album released by the English rock band Deep Purple. It was recorded through December 1971 in Montreux, Switzerland, and released in March 1972....
(featuring his rhythmic underpinnings on "Smoke on the Water
Smoke on the Water
"Smoke on the Water" is a song by the British hard rock band Deep Purple. It was first released on their 1972 album Machine Head. In 2004, the song was ranked number 426 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, and in March 2005, Q magazine placed "Smoke on the Water"...
" and "Space Truckin'
Space Truckin'
"Space Truckin" is a song by British hard rock band Deep Purple. It is the seventh and final track on the Machine Head album. Its lyrics talk of space travel and it showcases the vocal abilities of singer Ian Gillan and powerful drumming of Ian Paice...
", plus the organ solos on "Highway Star" and "Lazy"), the sonic bombast of the Made in Japan
Made in Japan (album)
Made in Japan is a double live album by English rock band Deep Purple, recorded during their first tour of Japan in August 1972. It was originally released in December 1972, with a U.S...
live album (1972), an extended, effect-laden solo on "Rat Bat Blue" from the Who Do We Think We Are
Who Do We Think We Are
-Side two:-Bonus tracks on the Remastered edition CD re-issue:-Personnel:* Ian Gillan - vocals, harmonica* Ritchie Blackmore - guitar* Roger Glover - bass* Jon Lord - keyboards* Ian Paice - drums-Additional personnel:* Produced by Deep Purple...
album (1973), and his overall playing on the Burn album from 1974.
Roger Glover later described 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
Keith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
and Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
. Lord himself would rarely venture 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. Rare instances of his Deep Purple synthesizer use (later including the MiniMoog and other Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
s) include "'A' 200", the final track from Burn, and "Love Child" on the Come Taste the Band album.
In early 1973 Lord stated - NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
- March 1973
Composing career
Lord continued to focus on his classical aspirations alongside his Deep Purple career. The BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, buoyed by the success of the Concerto, commissioned him to do another work and the resulting Gemini Suite was performed by Deep Purple and the Light Music Society under Malcolm Arnold
Malcolm Arnold
Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer and symphonist.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, but by age thirty his life was devoted to composition. He was ranked with Benjamin Britten as one of the most sought-after composers in Britain...
at the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
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
Yvonne Elliman
Yvonne Marianne Elliman is an American singer who performed for four years in the first cast of Jesus Christ Superstar...
and Tony Ashton
Tony Ashton
Tony Ashton was an English rock pianist, keyboardist, singer, composer, producer and artist.-Biography:...
and with the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
backing a band that included Albert Lee
Albert Lee
Albert William Lee, born 21 December 1943 in Leominster, Herefordshire, England, is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked both in the studio and on tour with some of the most famous musicians which stretch through a very wide of genres...
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 Eberhard Schoener
Eberhard Schoener
Eberhard Schoener is a German composer, conductor, arranger, and keyboard player."My message is the music. The goal of my life is to create an original form of contemporary music in which the opera, jazz, ethnical and electronic music melt together...
, 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
Philharmonia Hungarica
The Philharmonia Hungarica was a symphony orchestra, based in Germany, which existed from 1956 to 2001.It was first established in Baden bei Wien near Vienna by Hungarian musicians who had fled their homeland after it was invaded by Soviet troops...
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
Andy Summers
Andy Summers is an English guitarist born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. Best known as the guitarist for rock band The Police, he has also recorded twelve solo albums, collaborated with many other artists, toured extensively under his own name, published several books, and composed...
, with organ and synthesizers played by Lord.
In March 1974, Lord and Paice had collaborated with friend Tony Ashton
Tony Ashton
Tony Ashton was an English rock pianist, keyboardist, singer, composer, producer and artist.-Biography:...
on First of the Big Bands, credited to 'Ashton & Lord' and featuring a rich array of session talent, including Carmine Appice
Carmine Appice
Carmine Appice is an American rock drummer of Italian background and is the older brother of drummer Vinny Appice by 12 years. He received a classical music training and was influenced by the jazz drumming of Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa early on...
, Ian Paice, Peter Frampton
Peter Frampton
Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...
and Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
saxophonist/sessioner, Dick Parry
Dick Parry
Richard 'Dick' Parry is an English saxophonist. He has appeared as a session musician on various albums by modern bands and artists, and is probably best known for his solo parts on the Pink Floyd songs "Money", "Us and Them", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Wearing the Inside Out"...
. They performed much of the set live at the London Palladium
London Palladium
The London Palladium is a 2,286 seat West End theatre located off Oxford Street in the City of Westminster. From the roster of stars who have played there and many televised performances, it is arguably the most famous theatre in London and the United Kingdom, especially for musical variety...
in September 1974.
This formed the basis of Lord's first post-Deep Purple project Paice, Ashton & Lord
Paice, Ashton & Lord
Paice, Ashton and Lord was a British rhythm and blues, funk-soul, rock band founded in 1977, after the break-up of the British band Deep Purple in 1976...
, which lasted only a year and spawned a single album, Malice in Wonderland in 1977. He created an informal group of friends and collaborators including Ashton, Paice, Bernie Marsden
Bernie Marsden
-External links:*...
, Boz Burrell and later, Bad Company's Mick Ralphs
Mick Ralphs
Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Ralphs is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was a founding member of rock bands Mott the Hoople and Bad Company.-Career:...
, Simon Kirke and others. Over the same period, Lord guested on albums by Maggie Bell
Maggie Bell
Maggie Bell is a Scottish rock and blues-rock singer, regarded by some as Britain's answer to Janis Joplin.-Career:...
, Nazareth
Nazareth (band)
Nazareth is a Scottish hard rock band, founded in 1968, that had several hits in the UK in the early 1970s, and established an international audience with their 1975 album Hair of the Dog. Perhaps their best-known hit single was a cover of the ballad "Love Hurts", in 1975...
and even Richard Digance. 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 Hollywood from actress Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret Olsson is a Swedish-American actress, singer and dancer whose professional name is Ann-Margret. She became famous for her starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, The Cincinnati Kid, Carnal Knowledge, and Tommy...
), Lord joined former Deep Purple band member David Coverdale's new band, Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
in August 1978 (Paice joined them in 1980 and stayed till 1982). Whitesnake was a continuation of the musical style introduced in Paice, Ashton & Lord
Paice, Ashton & Lord
Paice, Ashton and Lord was a British rhythm and blues, funk-soul, rock band founded in 1977, after the break-up of the British band Deep Purple in 1976...
and was inspired in name and cover art from Lord's 1975 album Sarabande
Sarabande
In music, the sarabande is a dance in triple metre. The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation...
.
Whitesnake, 1978–1984
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 MarsdenBernie Marsden
-External links:*...
and Micky Moody
Micky Moody
Michael Joseph "Micky" Moody is an English guitarist, and a former member of the rock bands Juicy Lucy and Whitesnake. He was also a founder-member of Snafu. Together with his former Whitesnake colleague Bernie Marsden he founded the Moody Marsden Band, and later, The Snakes...
. He added a Yamaha
Yamaha
Yamaha may refer to:* Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services** Yamaha Motor Company, a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company...
Electric Grand 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
Here I Go Again
"Here I Go Again" is a #1 hit song recorded by Whitesnake. Originally released on their 1982 album, Saints & Sinners, the song was re-recorded for their eponymous 1987 album Whitesnake. The song was re-recorded yet another time that year in a new "radio-mix" version...
", "Wine, Women and Song", "She's a Woman" and "Till the Day I Die". A number of singles entered the UK charts, taking the now 40-something Lord onto Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
with regularity between 1980 and 1983. He later expressed frustration that he was a poorly-paid hired-hand. 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
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
concert took place in the Swedish TV programme Mandagsborsen in 16 April 1984.
During his tenure in Whitesnake, Lord did have a chance to do 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 very English classical piano ballads sung by mother and daughter duo, Vicki Brown
Vicki Brown (singer)
Vicki Brown was an English pop, rock and contemporary classical singer. She is best known for her membership of both The Vernons Girls and The Breakaways, and as one of the UK's most enduring backing vocalists...
and Sam Brown (wife and daughter of entertainer Joe Brown
Joe Brown (singer)
Joe Brown, MBE is an English entertainer.He has worked as a rock and roll singer and guitarist for more than five decades. He was a stage and television performer in the late 1950s and a UK recording star in the early 1960s...
) and vocalist Elmer Gantry. The album also boasted the cream of British rock talent, including prolific session drummer (and National Youth Jazz Orchestra alumnus) Simon Phillips
Simon Phillips
Simon Phillips is an English jazz, pop and rock drummer.-Career:Phillips began to play professionally at the age of twelve in his father's Dixieland band for four years. He was then offered the chance to play in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar...
, Cozy Powell
Cozy Powell
Colin Flooks , better known as Cozy Powell, was an English rock drummer who made his name with many major rock bands.-Early history:...
, Neil Murray
Neil Murray (British musician)
Philip Neil Murray is a Scottish bass player, best known for his work in Whitesnake and Black Sabbath.-Early days:Originally a drummer, Murray formed his first band with school friends in 1967 and his musical tastes were heavily influenced by the mid-1960s 'blues boom' bands and musicians,...
, Simon Kirke
Simon Kirke
Simon Kirke is an English rock drummer best known as a member of Free and Bad Company.-Biography:...
, Boz Burrell and Mick Ralphs. Lord used synthesizers more than ever before, principally to retain an intimacy with the material and to create a jam atmosphere with old friends like Tony Ashton.
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
Edith Holden
Edith Blackwell Holden was a British artist and art teacher. She became famous following the posthumous publication of her Nature Notes for 1906, in facsimile form, as the book The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady in 1977, which was an enormous publishing success, frequently given as a gift...
, with an orchestra conducted by Alfred Ralston and with a distinctly gentle, pastoral series of themes composed by Lord. Lord, now firmly established as a member of UK rock/Oxfordshire mansion aristocracy (in Lord's case, a home called Burntwood, complete with hand-painted Challen baby grand piano, previous owner, Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
), was asked to guest on albums by friends George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
(Gone Troppo
Gone Troppo
Gone Troppo is an album by George Harrison recorded and released in 1982. It would prove to be Harrison's last studio album for five years, wherein he would largely take an extended leave of absence from his recording career, with only the occasional soundtrack recording surfacing.By 1980,...
from 1982) and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
(1983's About Face
About Face (album)
About Face is the second solo album by the Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, released in March 1984. The album was co-produced by Bob Ezrin and David Gilmour. Two songs, "All Lovers Are Deranged", and the more radio-friendly "Love on the Air" were co-written by Gilmour, who composed the music,...
), Cozy Powell (Octopus in 1983) and to play on an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame was a Scottish writer, most famous for The Wind in the Willows , one of the classics of children's literature. He also wrote The Reluctant Dragon; both books were later adapted into Disney films....
's classic, Wind in the Willows. He composed and produced the score for White Fire
White Fire
White Fire is a French-American-Italian-Turkish thriller film by Jean-Marie Pallardy...
(1984), which consisted largely of two songs performed by Limelight
Limelight
Limelight is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created when an oxyhydrogen flame is directed at a cylinder of quicklime , which can be heated to 2572 °C before melting. The light is produced by a combination of incandescence and...
.
In the 1980s he was also a member of an all-star band called Olympic Rock & Blues Circus fronted by Pete York
Pete York
Pete York is a rock drummer who has been performing since the 1960s.-Early life:...
and featuring a rotating line-up of the likes of Miller Anderson
Miller Anderson
Miller Altman Anderson was a diver from the United States, who won his first national diving championship in 1942, in the 3-meter springboard. A flyer during World War II, he was forced to parachute from his plane on his 112th mission, and his left leg was severely injured...
, Tony Ashton
Tony Ashton
Tony Ashton was an English rock pianist, keyboardist, singer, composer, producer and artist.-Biography:...
, Brian Auger
Brian Auger
Brian Auger is a jazz and rock keyboardist, who has specialized in playing the Hammond organ.A jazz pianist, bandleader, session musician and Hammond B3 player, Auger has played or toured with artists such as Rod Stewart, Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Sonny Boy Williamson, Led Zeppelin, Eric Burdon...
, Zoot Money
Zoot Money
George Bruno Money, known as Zoot Money is a British vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band...
, Colin Hodgkinson
Colin Hodgkinson
Colin Hodgkinson is a British rock, jazz and blues bassist, who has been active since the 1960s.-Career:...
, Chris Farlowe
Chris Farlowe
Chris Farlowe is an English rock, blues and soul singer. He is best known for his hit single "Out of Time", which rose to #1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1966, and his association with Colosseum and the Thunderbirds.Outside his music career, Farlowe collects war memorabilia.-Career:Inspired by Lonnie...
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.
From Deep Purple to now, 1984–present
Lord's re-emergence with Deep Purple in 1984 resulted in huge audiences for the reformed Mk II line-up, including 1985s second largest grossing tour in the US and an appearance in front of 70,000 rain-soaked fans headlining KnebworthKnebworth
Knebworth is a village and civil parish in the north of Hertfordshire, England immediately south of Stevenage. The civil parish covers an area between the villages of Datchworth, Woolmer Green, Codicote, Kimpton, Whitwell, St Paul's Walden and Langley, and encompasses the village of Knebworth, the...
on June 22, 1985, all to support the Perfect Strangers
Perfect Strangers (album)
Perfect Strangers is the eleventh studio album by Deep Purple, released in October 1984. It represents the first album recorded by the reformed, the most successful and popular, 'Mark II' line-up....
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 where to take his career next.
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 a deeply affecting piece, inflected at all stages by Lord's sense of grief. Recorded largely in Lord's home away from home, the city of Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, 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
Sissel Kyrkjebø
Sissel Kyrkjebø , also simply known as Sissel, is a Norwegian soprano.Sissel is considered one of the world's top crossover sopranos. Sissel's musical style runs the gamut from pop recordings and folk songs, to classical vocals and operatic arias...
Kyrkjebø on her 2003/2004 album My Heart. Lord finally retired from Deep Purple amicably in 2002, preceded by a knee injury that eventually resolved itself without surgery. 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 Argandoña between June and July 2004.
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
superstar and family friend, Frida (Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Anni-Frid Prinzessin Reuss von Plauen , is a Norwegian-born Swedish pop singer...
), on the 2004 track, "The Sun Will Shine Again" (with lyrics by Sam Brown) and performing with her across Europe and subsequently, doing concerts also to première the 2007-scheduled Boom of the Tingling Strings orchestral piece.
In 2003, he also returned to his beloved R-n-B/blues heritage to record an album of standards in Sydney, with Australia's Jimmy Barnes
Jimmy Barnes
James Dixon Swan , better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwriter. His father Jim Swan was a prizefighter and his older brother John Swan is also a rock singer. It was actually John who had encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasn't really interested at...
, entitled Live in the Basement, by Jon Lord and the Hoochie Coochie Men
Hoochie Coochie Men
The Hoochie Coochie Men is a renowned Australian blues group composed of former Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne bass player Bob Daisley, guitarist and singer Tim Gaze and drummer Rob Grosser...
. He remains one of British rock music's most eclectic and talented instrumentalists. Lord is 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
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
, Phil Manzanera
Phil Manzanera
Phil Manzanera is a musician and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music. In 2006 Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour's album On An Island and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America...
, Ian Paice and Bernie Marsden.
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
EMI Classics
EMI Classics is a record label of EMI, formed in 1990 in order to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogs for internationally distributed classical music releases....
. Both feature 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
Durham University
The University of Durham, commonly known as Durham University, is a university in Durham, England. It was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837...
for its 175th anniversary celebrations, received its world premiere on 20 October 2007 in Durham Cathedral
Durham Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham is a cathedral in the city of Durham, England, the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. The Bishopric dates from 995, with the present cathedral being founded in AD 1093...
by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society is a society based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, that organises concerts and other events mainly in the field of classical music. The society is the second oldest of its type in the United Kingdom and its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic...
, and featured soloists Lord on Hammond Organ, Kathryn Tickell
Kathryn Tickell
Kathryn Tickell is an English player of the Northumbrian smallpipes and fiddle. She has recorded over a dozen albums, and toured widely.-Life and career:...
on Northumbrian pipes, Matthew Barley on cello and Ruth Palmer on violin.
Lord was (almost) next-door neighbour to former Beatle
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, and played piano on Harrison's posthumously released Brainwashed
Brainwashed (album)
Brainwashed is the final studio album by George Harrison, released in 2002, almost a year after his death at age 58. As a posthumous release, Brainwashed garnered much attention upon its unveiling.-History:...
album (2002). He was also a close friend of John Mortimer
John Mortimer
Sir John Clifford Mortimer, CBE, QC was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author.-Early life:...
, whom he had accompanied on many occasions during Mortimer's performances of "Mortimer Miscellany".
Lord released his solo album, To Notice Such Things
To Notice Such Things
To Notice Such Things is a six-movement suite for solo flute, piano and string orchestra, composed by Jon Lord in memory of his close friend the late Sir John Mortimer, CBE, QC. The music emanates from that which Lord composed for the stage show, Mortimer’s Miscellany, which he also occasionally...
, on March 29, 2010. Titled after the main work — a six movement suite for solo flute, piano and string orchestra — the album was inspired by, and is dedicated to the memory of Jon's dear friend Sir John Mortimer, the English barrister, dramatist, screenwriter, author and creator of British television series "Rumpole of The Bailey", who died in January 2009. On its first day of release, the album entered Amazon’s Movers And Shakers index, nestling at no. 12 at the end of the day. Six days later it entered the UK's official classical chart at no. 4.
Among his many upcoming projects, Jon Lord has been commissioned to compose a concerto for Hammond organ and orchestra and with special parts for tympani. The piece will be premiered with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra with Tom Vissgren on tympani in Oslo, Norway in the Spring of 2012. With Vladimir Ashkenazy
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is a Russian-Icelandic conductor and pianist. Since 1972 he has been a citizen of Iceland, his wife Þórunn's country of birth. Since 1978, because of his many obligations in Europe, he and his family have resided in Meggen, near Lucerne in Switzerland...
and Josef Suk
Josef Suk (violinist)
Josef Suk was a Czech violinist, violist, chamber musician and conductor, the grandson of Josef Suk, the composer and violinist, and great-grandson of Antonín Dvořák. In his home country he carried the title of National Artist....
, Lord is one of three artistic sponsors of Toccata Classics
Toccata Classics
Toccata Classics is an independent British classic music label founded in 2005.The founder of Toccata Classics is Martin Anderson, a music journalist. The label was founded primarily to promote unrecorded works by lesser-known composers, including British composers...
.
Jon Lord is currently working on material with recently formed rock supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
WhoCares, also featuring singer Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan
Ian Gillan is an English rock music vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. During his career Gillan also fronted his own band, had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and sang the role of Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd...
from Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
, guitarist Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi
Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in...
from Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, second guitarist Mikko Lindström from HIM, bassist Jason Newsted
Jason Newsted
Jason Curtis Newsted is an American bassist known for his work with Metallica, Voivod and Flotsam and Jetsam. Joining Metallica in 1986 after Cliff Burton's death, Newsted remained a member until 2001, making him the band's longest-serving bassist...
formerly from Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
and drummer Nicko McBrain
Nicko McBrain
Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain is an English musician, best known as the drummer for Iron Maiden, which he joined in 1982, prior to which he had played for Streetwalkers, Pat Travers, and the French political band, Trust.-Biography:...
from Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
.
Illness
On 9 August 2011, he announced that he was battling an unspecified form of cancer. He said via his website: "I would like all my friends, followers, fans and fellow travelers to know that I am fighting cancer and will therefore be taking a break from performing while getting the treatment and cure."I shall of course be continuing to write music - in my world it just has to be part of the therapy - and I fully expect to be back in good shape next year."
Discography
Santa Barbara Machine Head
- 1968 Blues Anytime Vol. 3 ("Porcupine Juice", "Albert", "Rubber Monkey")
- 1969 An Anthology of British Blues Vol. 2
- 2002 Pre-Purple People ("Porcupine Juice", "Albert", "Rubber Monkey")
Solo and orchestral works with Deep Purple
- 1969 Concerto for Group and OrchestraConcerto for Group and OrchestraThe Concerto for Group and Orchestra is a concerto composed by Jon Lord, with lyrics written by Ian Gillan. It was first performed by Deep Purple and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold on 24 September 1969 and released on vinyl in December 1969. The release was the first...
(with Deep Purple) - 1971 The Last Rebel (with Ashton, Gardner & Dyke) - motion picture soundtrack
- 1972 Gemini SuiteGemini SuiteAfter the 1969 classical / rock fusion Concerto For Group and Orchestra, Jon Lord was commissioned to write a follow-up. This was Gemini Suite, five long movements inspired by the members of Deep Purple, and performed live in September 1970 at the Royal Festival Hall with The Light Music Society...
- 1974 First of the Big BandsFirst of the Big BandsFirst of the Big Bands is a studio album by Tony Ashton of Ashton, Gardner & Dyke and Jon Lord of Deep Purple, released in April 1974 by Purple Records. The project was Ashton's and Lord's brainchild and continuation of their working relationship after Ashton Gardner & Dyke helped out on Jon Lord's...
(with Tony Ashton) - 1974 WindowsWindows (Jon Lord album)Windows is a live album by Jon Lord and the German conductor and composer Eberhard Schoener; the music and the record are primarily credited to Lord...
(with Eberhard Schoener) - 1976 Sarabande
- 1982 Before I ForgetBefore I Forget (album)Before I Forget is a 1982 album by Jon Lord, featuring a largely conventional eight-song line-up, no orchestra. The bulk of the songs are either mainstream rock tracks or, specifically on Side Two, a series of very English classical piano ballads sung by mother and daughter duo, Vicki Brown and...
- 1984 Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady (with Alfred Ralston) - television series soundtrack
- 1993 Gemini Suite LiveGemini Suite LiveGemini Suite Live is a recording of Jon Lord's classical/rock piece featuring the whole of Deep Purple Mk 2, recorded live during this one and only live performance in 1970...
(with Deep Purple) - 1993 First of the Big Bands - BBC Live in Concert 1974First of the Big Bands - BBC Live in Concert 1974First of the Big Bands - BBC Live in Concert 1974 is a live album recorded on September 12, 1974 at the London Palladium by Tony Ashton and Jon Lord and their all-star band featuring Ian Paice, Carmine Appice, Dick Parry and Max Middleton among others. The setlist features mainly songs off the...
(with Tony Ashton) - 1998 Pictured WithinPictured WithinPictured Within was the first studio album from Deep Purple's Jon Lord in sixteen years. It is considered Lord's most adventurous concept album, largely instrumental and contemplative. It features performances from Sam Brown, Miller Anderson, Pete York and Thijs van Leer among others. Pictured...
- 2000 In Concert with the London Symphony OrchestraLive at the Royal Albert Hall (Deep Purple album)Live at the Royal Albert Hall is a live album by British hard rock band Deep Purple, recorded on September 25 and September 26, 1999 at the Royal Albert Hall in London with the London Symphony Orchestra, and released on February 8, 2000 on Spitfire records.The album was a project started in 1999 by...
(with Deep Purple) - 2003 Jon Lord With Pictures (DVD documentary)
- 2004 Beyond The Notes
- 2004 Beyond The Notes LiveBeyond The Notes LiveBeyond The Notes Live is a live album from Jon Lord, recorded on October 5, 2004 at Vulkanhalle, Cologne, Germany. It features performances by Frida, Sam Brown, Miller Anderson and The Trondheim Soloists...
(DVD) - 2008 Boom of the Tingling StringsBoom of the Tingling StringsBoom of the Tingling Strings is a piano concerto in four movements written by Jon Lord. Its first version was finished in November 2002, soon after Lord had left Deep Purple...
- 2008 Durham ConcertoDurham ConcertoThe Durham Concerto is a classical work composed by Jon Lord. It was commissioned by Durham University and was first performed in Durham Cathedral on October 20, 2007, as part of the university's 175th anniversary celebrations....
- 2010 To Notice Such ThingsTo Notice Such ThingsTo Notice Such Things is a six-movement suite for solo flute, piano and string orchestra, composed by Jon Lord in memory of his close friend the late Sir John Mortimer, CBE, QC. The music emanates from that which Lord composed for the stage show, Mortimer’s Miscellany, which he also occasionally...
- 2011 Jon Lord Blues Project Live
- 2011 Jon Lord Live (Bucharest 2009)
With The Hoochie Coochie Men
- 2003 Live at the Basement
- 2007 Danger. White Men Dancing
Other credits
- 1964 Kinks (The Kinks, "You Really Got Me")
- 1967 Sound & Movement (The Leading Figures)
- 1968 I Shall Be Released/Down in the Flood (Boz Burrell, SP)
- 1968 Sundragon (Sundragon)
- 1968 Madena/Standing Still (Anan, SP)
- 1972 What a Bloody Long Day It's Been (Ashton, Gardner & Dyke, "The Falling Song" - strings arr.)
- 1974 RampantRampant (album)-30th Anniversary Bonus Tracks:-Salvo Records Remaster Bonus Tracks:Salvo Records released a version in 2010 with the following bonus tracks:-Band members:*Dan McCafferty - vocals, photography...
(Nazareth, "Glad When You're Gone", "Shanghai'd in Shanghai") - 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-UpLine-Up (album)Line-Up is the third album released by English singer, Graham Bonnet, formerly of Rainbow.-Side one:#"Night Games" – 4:38 #"S.O.S" – 3:12 #"I'm a Lover" – 3:46...
(Graham Bonnett) - 1982 Gone TroppoGone TroppoGone Troppo is an album by George Harrison recorded and released in 1982. It would prove to be Harrison's last studio album for five years, wherein he would largely take an extended leave of absence from his recording career, with only the occasional soundtrack recording surfacing.By 1980,...
(George Harrison, "Circles") - 1983 OctopussOctopussOctopuss is the third solo album by English drummer Cozy Powell, released in 1983.-Side one:#"Up on the Downs" – 3:55#"633 Squadron" – 4:13#"Octopuss" – 5:35...
(Cozy Powell) - 1984 About FaceAbout Face (album)About Face is the second solo album by the Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, released in March 1984. The album was co-produced by Bob Ezrin and David Gilmour. Two songs, "All Lovers Are Deranged", and the more radio-friendly "Love on the Air" were co-written by Gilmour, who composed the music,...
(David Gilmour) - 1985 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 ArmeniaRock Aid ArmeniaRock Aid Armenia was a humanitarian effort by the British music industry to raise money to help those affected by the Leninakan Earthquake of 1988 that struck Armenia....
- The Earthquake Album ("Smoke on the Water '90") - 1990 About Love and Life (Vicki Brown, "We Are One")
- 1990 April MoonApril MoonApril Moon is the second album by U.K. singer/songwriter Sam Brown. The album contained 'With A Little Love' and 'Kissing Gate' - both minor hits in the U.K, Europe and Australia. Further singles lifted from the album were 'Once In Your Life', 'Mindworks' and 'As One'...
(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 Wind in the Willows - A Rock Concert (Eddie Hardin, recorded live 1991, DVD 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 LightCarnival of Light (album)Carnival of Light is the third studio album by British alternative rock band Ride, released in June 1994 via Creation Records. "How Does It Feel to Feel?" is a cover of a song by The Creation...
(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 BrainwashedBrainwashed (album)Brainwashed is the final studio album by George Harrison, released in 2002, almost a year after his death at age 58. As a posthumous release, Brainwashed garnered much attention upon its unveiling.-History:...
(George Harrison, "Brainwashed") - 2003 Bluesheart (Miller Anderson, "Help Me", "Runnin' Blues")
- 2005 Legends of Rock - 50 Jahre Rock (CD/DVD, live for ZDF 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 (Ltd. Ed., "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, archive performance from 1977)
Film & TV appearances
- 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 (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)
Music videos (with Whitesnake and Deep Purple)
- 1969 Hallelujah
- 1971 No No No
- 1972 Highway Star
- 1980 Fool For Your Loving
- 1984 Slow & Easy
- 1984 Love Ain't No Stranger
- 1985 Perfect Strangers
- 1985 Knocking at Your Back Door
- 1985 Nobody's Home
- 1987 Bad Attitude
- 1987 Call of the Wild
- 1988 Hush '88
- 1991 King of Dreams
- 1991 Love Conquers All
- 1996 Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming
Further reading
- Deep Purple: Charlesworth, Chris (Omnibus Press, 1983)
- 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)
- 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)
Primary sources
- "Beyond the Notes": Lord, Jon sleeve-notes by subject (Capitol Music, 2004)
- "Pictured Within": Lord, Jon sleeve-notes by subject (Virgin Classics, 1997)
- "Before I Forget": Jon Lord interviews by Mike Beecher and Phil Easton (1982)
- "Sarabande": Notes by Vince Budd, South Uist, research by Simon Robinson, July 1998
- "Burn": 30th Anniversary Edition, notes by Nigel Young, May 2004
- "Made in Japan": sleeve notes to official remastered recording by Simon Robinson (1998)
- "Purple Reign": Interview with Jon Lord by Lee Marlow, 26 July 2000
- "Kindred Spirit' magazine: Interview with Jon Lord, Summer 2000
- "Daily Mail": Weekend Magazine, Interview with Jon Lord 'On the Mauve', 1997
- "Keyboard Review": Interview with Jon Lord by Cliff Douse, Issue 139, July 1997
- "Classic Albums: Machine Head' (DVD): Interviews with Jon Lord, Gillan, Glover, Paice, Blackmore, Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited, 2002
- "The Kids Are Alright": Interview with Bill Ashton, MBE, by Vinyl Vulture.
- "Jon Lord - With Pictures": 90-minute Australian DVD documentary on Jon Lord with extensive interviews, 2003