deeppurple legend

John Douglas "Jon" Lord (9 June 1941 – 16 July 2012) was an English composer, pianist, and Hammond organ player known for his pioneering work in fusing rock with classical or baroque forms, especially with Deep Purple, as well as Whitesnake, Paice, Ashton & Lord, The Artwoods, and The Flower Pot Men. In 1968 Lord co-founded Deep Purple, a hard rock band of which he was regarded as the leader until 1970. Together with the other members, he collaborated on most of his band's most popular songs. He and drummer Ian Paice were the only continual band members during the period from 1968 to 1976, and also from when it was reestablished in 1984 until Lord's retirement from Deep Purple in 2002. On 11 November 2010, he was inducted as an Honorary Fellow of Stevenson College in Edinburgh, Scotland. On 15 July 2011, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree by the University of Leicester.

Early life
Growing up in Leicester

Lord was born in Leicester on 9 June 1941 to Miriam (1912–1995; née Hudson) and Reginald Lord. He studied classical piano from the age of five, and this was a recurring trademark influence in his work. In particular his influences ranged from J. S. Bach (a constant connection in his music and his keyboard improvisation) to Medieval popular music and the English tradition of Edward Elgar. He attended Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys where he gained an A-level in music and then worked as a clerk in a solicitor's office for two years.

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 style of these 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 combination), were seminal influences. Lord also stated that he was heavily influenced by the organ-based progressive rock played by Vanilla Fudge after seeing that band perform in Great Britain in 1967.

His move to London

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 acting parts followed, and Lord continued playing the piano and the organ in nightclubs and as a session musician to earn a living. He started his band career in London in 1960 with the jazz ensemble The Bill Ashton Combo. Ashton became a key figure in jazz education in Britain, creating what later became the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Between 1960 and 1963, Lord and Ashton both moved on to Red Bludd's Bluesicians (also known as The Don Wilson Quartet), the latter of which featured the singer Arthur "Art" Wood. Wood had previously sung with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated and was a junior figure in the British blues movement. In this period, Lord's session credits included playing the keyboards in "You Really Got Me", The Kinks classic number one hit of 1964.

Following the break-up of Redd Bludd's Bluesicians in late 1963, Wood, Lord, and the drummer Red Dunnage put together a new band, The Art Wood Combo. This also included Derek Griffiths (guitar) and Malcolm Pool (bass guitar). Dunnage left in December 1964 to be replaced by Keef Hartley, who had previously replaced Ringo Starr in Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. This band, later known as "The Artwoods", focused on the organ as the bluesy, rhythmic core of their sound, in common with the contemporary bands The Spencer Davis Group (Steve Winwood on organ) and The Animals (with Alan Price). They made appearances on the BBC's Saturday Club radio show and on such TV programs as Ready Steady Go!. It also performed abroad, and it appeared on the first Ready Steady Goes Live, promoting its first single the Lead Belly song "Sweet Mary" -- but significant commercial success eluded it. Its only charting single was "I Take What I Want", which reached number 28 on 8 May 1966.

This band regrouped in 1967 as the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre". This was an attempt to cash in on the 1930s gangster craze set off by the American film Bonnie and Clyde. Hartley left the band in 1967 to join John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Lord next founded the "Santa Barbara Machine Head", featuring Art's brother, Ronnie Wood, writing and recording three powerful keyboard-driven instrumental tracks, giving a preview of the future style of Deep Purple. Soon thereafter, Lord went on to cover for the keyboard player Billy Day in "The Flower Pot Men", where he met the bass guitarist Nick Simper along with drummer Carlo Little and guitarist Ged Peck. Lord and Simper then toured with this band in 1967 to promote its hit single "Let's Go To San Francisco", but the two men never recorded with this band.

Deep Purple

It was in these three years that Lord's trademark keyboard sound emerged. Ignoring the emergence of the Moog synthesizer, as pioneered in rock by such players as Keith Emerson, Lord began experimenting with a keyboard sound produced by the Hammond organ. Lord's version was heavier than a blues sound, and it often featured 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 such songs as "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. Also around this time, Lord and his keyboard technician, Mike Phillips, combined his Hammond C3 Organ with the RMI. (Lord kept this particular Hammond C3 until his retirement from the band in 2002.)

Lord pushed the Hammond-Leslie sound through Marshall amplification, creating a growling, heavy, mechanical sound which allowed Lord to compete with Blackmore as a soloist, with an organ that sounded as prominent as the lead guitar. Said one reviewer, "many have tried to imitate [Lord's] style, and all failed." 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 had appeared to be the leader of the band, though it never made chart success in the UK until the Concerto for Group and Orchestra album (1970). Lord's willingness later 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. Lord's ambition enhanced his 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), it was recorded by the BBC and later released as an album. The Concerto gave Deep Purple its first highly publicised taste of mainstream fame and gave Lord the confidence to believe that his experiment and his compositional skill had a future, as well as giving Lord the opportunity to work with established classical figures, such as conductor Sir Malcolm Arnold (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.

Personal life

Lord was married first to Judith Feldman from 1969 through their divorce in 1981. Jon and Judith had one daughter. Next, Lord married Vickie Gibbs Lord, the twin sister of Ian Paice's wife, Jackie. These two women were the daughters of Frank Gibbs, the owner of the Oakley House Country Club, in Brewood, South Staffordshire. Jon and Vickie also had one daughter.

Death

In 2011, Lord was found to be suffering from pancreatic cancer. He died on 16 July 2012 at the London Clinic after suffering from a pulmonary embolism.

Tributes

Hearing of Lord's death, Richard Jones of Welsh band Stereophonics, commented, "Deep Purple in Rock was the 1st album I bought. RIP Jon Lord." Geezer Butler of the band Black Sabbath wrote, "One of the great musicians of my generation", while jazz musician Jamie Cullum said, "RIP Jon Lord – a hero of the keys." American rock guitarist Tom Morello commented, "Deep Purple's cornerstone/keyboardist. So many great great songs and that incredible SOUND of his!" Former keyboard player of rock band Yes, Rick Wakeman, who was a friend of Lord's, said he was "a great fan" and added "We were going to write and record an album before he became ill. His contribution to music and to classic rock was immeasurable and I will miss him terribly." The Kinks posted at their website: "RIP Jon Lord. A fantastic pianist and composer. With The Kinks, he played keyboards on You Really Got Me. Legend." Dee Snider of heavy metal band Twisted Sister tweeted: "What an amazing musician and a true gentleman. We lost a great one", while Slash, former guitarist with Guns n' Roses commented, "One of the biggest, baddest, heaviest sounds in heavy metal. One of a kind."

Singer Bryan Adams wrote online, "RIP Jon Lord – incredible organist for Deep Purple, one of my fave bands growing up" while veteran DJ Bob Harris said Lord was "a gentleman." Actor Ewan McGregor tweeted, "Jon played with my great friend Tony Ashton. They'll be jamming upstairs now!"

National Turk commented, "Every kid who gets a guitar quickly learns to bat out the guitar riffs of "Smoke on the Water". But listeners should be just as aware of the fat, satisfying chords of Jon Lord’s organ, a force which gave Blackmore’s iconic chords their ideal answer."

from various sources