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Jon Lord (1941–2012)

John Douglas "Jon" Lord (9 June 1941, Leicester – 16 July 2012, London), English keyboardist and composer, co-founder (1968) of Deep Purple. His Hammond playing during the band's hard-rock period was essential to their signature heavy sound and contributed to the early development of heavy metal; he pioneered fusing rock with classical/baroque forms.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jon-lord.md]

Background

  • Classical piano from age five; Bach and Edward Elgar were constant reference points in his improvisation and arranging.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jon-lord.md]
  • Equally shaped by American jazz-blues organists — Wild Bill Davis, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff ("All About My Girl"), and Jack McDuff ("Rock Candy") — and by the classic B-3/C-3 + Leslie combination of 1950s–60s R&B organists. Also mentored early on by British organ pioneer Graham Bond, and impressed by Vanilla Fudge in 1967.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jon-lord.md]

Career milestones

  • Early 1960s: London sessions (keyboard credit — disputed — on the Kinks' "You Really Got Me"), the Artwoods (organ-led blues-R&B), Santa Barbara Machine Head.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jon-lord.md]
  • 1968: co-founded Deep Purple; with drummer Ian Paice, the only continuous member 1968–1976 and 1984 until his retirement in February 2002.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jon-lord.md]
  • Concerto for Group and Orchestra (1969) — the classical/rock fusion that first dented the UK charts for the band; key rhythm parts freed Ritchie Blackmore live and on record. Organ solos on "Highway Star", "Pictures of Home", "Lazy"; rhythmic underpinning on "Smoke on the Water" and "Space Truckin'".^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jon-lord.md]
  • Discography highlights: Deep Purple in Rock (1970), Fireball (1971), Machine Head (1972), Burn (1974) — see landmark Hammond albums query.
  • Gear: his 1973 replacement Hammond C-3 (bought from Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac) was combined with an RMI Electra-Piano by technician Mike Phillips; he kept that C-3 until 2002, then passed it to successor Don Airey.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jon-lord.md]
  • After Deep Purple: Whitesnake, Paice Ashton Lord; later a composer of orchestral works (Durham Concerto, a reworked Concerto for Group and Orchestra, a Hammond organ concerto).^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jon-lord.md]

Honors

  • Honorary Fellow, Stevenson College Edinburgh (2010); honorary Doctor of Music, University of Leicester (2011); posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Deep Purple (8 April 2016).^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jon-lord.md]