Jon Lord died July 16, 2012 at the age of 71. If the name is not familiar to you, he was one of the true giants of contemporary and progressive rock. Long time keyboard player with Deep Purple, Jon was also a prolific composer of classical music.
After the recording but before the release of the The Third Album, the band recorded Concerto For Group And Orchestra, September 4, 1969, Jon’s first major classical work. He continued as keyboard player for Purple until the 1990s although not continuously – the band split in 1976 reforming in 1984. In the meantime and after, among other things, Jon played keyboards for Whitesnake – which was formed by Deep Purple Mark III vocalist David Coverdale.
Although the group line-up over the years saw some extremely talented personnel – including Roger Glover – the backbone of Deep Purple was the even tempered Lord and the mercurial Ritchie Blackmore. It is perhaps sad then that of the big names attending the Concert to celebrate Jon, he will not be attending, but he has his reasons.
Jon may be dead, but both his spirit and his work live on. Full details of the April 4 event at London’s Royal Albert Hall can be found on the official Jon Lord website wherein can also be found the official biography, and (only for really dedicated fans) details of a photo book All Those Years Ago (limited 500 copy edition) which is currently priced at £250.
If you are not familiar with Jon’s work – or even if you are – check out April, which at a shade over 12 minutes is entirely unchallenging even for the total neophyte. Co-written with Ritchie Blackmore, this 1969 track combines progressive rock with a classical orchestration, and remains one of his finest compositions.
[The above article was first published February 28, 2014 [UK time], not February 27 as shown by the archived version. The photograph and caption were not uploaded by me.]
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