Another extraordinary musician has joined the All-Star line-up in the sky. Jon Lord who lent his signature amplified Hammond B3 Organ sound to Deep Purple, and later to Whitesnake, died earlier today in London from complications arising from pancreatic cancer. Lord was one of the first rock musicians to incorporate classical music into his compositions. Deep Purple's album, Concerto for Group and Orchestra was their first release to make it onto the charts. Wikipedia has an extensive biography on him.
I listened to a lot of Deep Purple in my formative years. Their album Machine Head was a favorite, but I particularly enjoyed the extended live jams from Made In Japan. Songs such as Highway Star, Space Truckin, Lazy, and of course the venerable classic, Smoke on the Water stayed at the top of my playlist for some time.
Lord shows his amazing versatility in this video. Bon voyage ...
Oh, man. I am out of it. I just learned of Jon Lord''s death. He was a big inspiration to me, too: I loved the classical stuff infused into metal. And I loved how he and Blackmore complemented each other.
In an old interview Blackmore said he didn't understand why guitarists would listen to other guitarists for inspiration when the keyboards could do so much more, presumably by the inherent ten-fingeredness of the physicality of the thing. And no doubt, Blackmore was heavily infl by Lord. How could he not be?
Oh, man. I am out of it. I just learned of Jon Lord''s death. He was a big inspiration to me, too: I loved the classical stuff infused into metal. And I loved how he and Blackmore complemented each other.
ReplyDeleteIn an old interview Blackmore said he didn't understand why guitarists would listen to other guitarists for inspiration when the keyboards could do so much more, presumably by the inherent ten-fingeredness of the physicality of the thing. And no doubt, Blackmore was heavily infl by Lord. How could he not be?