Posted on by Nathan Beaudry

Episode #65 – The Jon Lord Tribute Special

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Our Introductions to Jon Lord

Favorite Jon Lord Moments/Tracks

Jon Lord’s Final public performance: July 8, 2011 at the Sunflower Jam

A little over a year later, on July 16, 2012 Jon passed away at the age of 71.

Official Announcement

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/16/deep-purple-jon-lord-dies

A statement on his website said he had passed “from Darkness to Light”, and that he was “surrounded by his loving family” when he died. Last year, Lord told fans he was “fighting cancer and will therefore be taking a break from performing while getting the treatment and cure”.Jul 16, 2012

  • JonLord.org Official Statement
    • https://jonlord.org/2012/07/16/jon-lord-has-sadly-passed-away/
    • It is with deep sadness we announce the passing of Jon Lord, who suffered a fatal pulmonary embolism today, Monday 16th July at the London Clinic, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Jon was surrounded by his loving family.
    • Jon Lord, the legendary keyboard player with Deep Purple co-wrote many of the bands legendary songs including Smoke On The Water and played with many bands and musicians throughout his career.
    • Best known for his Orchestral work Concerto for Group & Orchestra first performed at Royal Albert Hall with Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1969 and conducted by the renowned Malcolm Arnold, a feat repeated in 1999 when it was again performed at the Royal Albert Hall by the London Symphony Orchestra and Deep Purple.
    • Jon’s solo work was universally acclaimed when he eventually retired from Deep Purple in 2002.
    • Jon passes from Darkness to Light.
    • Jon Lord 9 June 1941 – 16 July 2012.
  • Official Band Statement
    • Our beloved Jon passed away on this day Monday 16th July 2012.
    • We have lost a dear friend, a brother and a wonderful musician.
    • His dignity and graciousness touched us all. His music was an inspiration and took us to places beyond our imagination…A truly great man.
    • We humbly express our eternal love and great respect.
    • Deep Purple
    • Uncommon Man
  • Roger Glover
    • https://www.rogerglover.com/writings/messages-from-roger-glover/jon/
      • It’s unthinkable that Jon is gone.  My thoughts are for his wife Vicky and all his children and family at this sad moment in their lives.  I wish them all strength.
      • A great sadness and sense of loss hangs over me.  Not only has the music world lost a fantastic musician but a gentleman of the finest order.  He was a giant in my life, a great friend, a fellow traveler, a teacher, not only of music, but of life.  I am devastated at his passing.
      • RG
      • July 17, 2012
  • Ian Gillan
    • https://soundcloud.com/jonlord-org/stars-pay-tribute-to-jon-lord
    • “We’ve lose a brother really, a dear friend, and someone we all looked up to.  Jon was our hero really.”
    • Tells a story of a fan who was so exasperated upon meeting Jon and ran up to him at an airport and said, “Jon, I’m your hero.”  Jon responded: “Oh, so you’re King Arthur!”
    • “The Godfather of Deep Purple.”
    • “I don’t think we’ll ever be separated from Jon because he’s touched us all and we shall carry his memory forward, and his music of course.”
  • David Coverdale’s Eulogy for Jon Lord
  • Glenn Hughes sings “This Time Around” 
  • Ritchie Blackmore
  • Steve Morse
    • Jon just died. I’m shocked and don’t know what to do, so I’m going to try to tell you a little about Jon.
    • Jon was the powerhouse keyboard player that brought rock and classical directly together many times. The first was his timeless organ solo on “Highway Star”. The next was his “Concerto for Band and Orchestra”. I was able to perform with the whole band as it was played at Albert Hall before we toured extensively with it. Just weeks ago, I was able to play on a studio recording of Jon’s concerto and share some heartfelt thoughts and words with him.
    • Jon was the guy that would stop us from giving up on an idea in songwriting because it wasn’t immediately obvious. I remember him encouraging me in the studio to keep doing what I was doing as I played around with an idea that I was intrigued with. After writing something as amazing as his concerto, he still had the imagination to hear ideas on top of anything I suggested. He always had a regal, gentlemanly manner. Like any of us, he could get annoyed, but he would only show it with his wry and dry wit.
    • Mostly, he was upbeat and a pleasure for anybody to be around. His humor was right up my alley, with us exchanging ridiculous thoughts like,”If Brenda Lee married Tommy Lee, her new name would be Brenda Lee……” Or having him finish the tune when an announcement at an airport would start with several musical notes to get your attention. It’s hard to give anecdotes that convey an ease that somebody could give you, but he sure had that ability. We all love people that will pay attention to our kids, and years ago he charmed my (then) 5 year old son, Kevin with a Donald Duck imitation even while he was being hurried to get out of the dressing room and go to the green room for after show greetings.
    • Jon retired from the endless DP tour schedule, but continued to do appearances with original material and performances of his concerto. I knew he missed the band he helped start, but at the same time couldn’t stand the relentless travel. From time to time, we would see him on tour, and he would sit in with us. The last time we played, less than a year ago, at the Sunflower Jam at Royal Albert Hall, he had just come offstage from performing with Rick Wakeman. Later I talked with him and his wife about how strange it felt to look around at the keyboards and not see him there at Albert Hall. We promised to do something together. Soon thereafter, we all learned of his battle with Pancreatic cancer. I kept hearing hopeful, positive reports that they might be making progress, but this sudden death caught me totally unaware. I thought we would meet and do a recording project in the future when he recovered from the chemotherapy. Well, we sort of did, but I had to record it and send it to him, as we were in different countries.
    • If you have friends, family, especially kids, don’t ever miss a chance to do or say something special….or simply appreciate the fact that they are there. One day, they won’t be.
    • Steve Morse on Jon Lord
  • Joe Lynn Turner
    • I am deeply saddened about the passing of Jon Lord…I am proud and humbled to have known him both personally and professionally …and blessed to share a special time with him. He was a true and gifted original…a Gentleman of the industry …and he shall be greatly missed!
    • My sincerest sympathies to his family and relations…and to all of us who have lost one of the great musicians of our time!…R.I.P. Jon…may God hold you in his hands.
  • Don Airey & Ray Fenwick
  • Bernie Marsden
    • http://bravewords.com/news/original-whitesnake-guitarist-bernie-marsden-jon-lord-great-musician-raconteur-writer-funny-intelligent-gifted-family-man-friend-for-life
    • “June and July have been very busy, but all has been brought back to base with the loss of my great friend and colleague Jon Lord on Monday 16th July. Jon Lord was to many millions of people THE keyboard player in the great days of Deep Purple, and so he was. But he was so much more than a musician.
    • I first met the great man in 1976; I was auditioning for a gig with his new band PAICE, ASHTON AND LORD. I had seen the demise of Purple, attending gigs with both Ritchie and Tommy Bolin, and so when I received a call from Cozy Powell regarding the new band I went for it. I went to an old cinema in West London, owned by ELP, Manticore. There I was ushered into a waiting room with about a dozen other guitar players, that story is not for this time, but is of interest.
    • I entered the heady world of DPO, Jon was waiting in the room, smiling, strong handshake and a grin when he said, ‘You do exist then,’ I had been rather slow in following Cozy’s instructions, ouch! Ian Paice was a few feet away, raised his hand to say hello, Tony Ashton was opposite Jon, two keyboards set up, and one was Jon Lord, now I knew this was going to be different.
    • I had been listening to the guitar players going in before me, all pretty much trying to be Ritchie Blackmore, and failing! I thought I was on the right track when we played “How Long” by Ace, Ian knew the groove, I sang it and Jon said to begin, after a couple of verses Jon stopped the proceedings. He came over to me and asked me to show him the changes in the bridge of the song, the great Jon Lord asking me to show him. I state this to show what a man he was, he could have worked out, probably had already, knew the changes backwards, but by asking me he instilled huge confidence in me.
    • I played a lot of rhythm guitar, waiting for a nod from Jon to solo, took my time and tried to be as cool as I could. Bear in mind I am playing with Jon, and Ian Paice, this was quite a definitive moment for me. We played another couple of grooves, Ian came over and introduced himself, and Ashton kissed me on the forehead!
    • Jon just smiled, said thank you for coming down and that I would be hearing from them. He asked me if I knew any DP songs, I thought I was about to lose the gig, I said, ‘Not really, I know a bit of ‘Dance On The Water’.’ He looked me in the eye, ”Smoke On The Water’,’ he said, ‘Sorry’ I said. They did call the next day.
    • Jon Lord, great musician, raconteur, writer, funny, intelligent, gifted, family man, friend for life.
    • Love to Vicky, Amy and Sara Lord
    • Rest in Peace my friend.”
    • Bernie Marsden & Jon Lord – Here I Go Again
  • Jacky Paice
    • Sorry its taken us so long to put this up but all my time has been spent with family following the sad passing of Jon Lord.
    • Jon was the husband of my twin sister Vicky. He was a father, Husband, Uncle, Brother, Brother in Law and Friend to many.
    • We are astounded with the incredible worldwide support and love, honouring Jon’s life and music, Thank you all so much.
    • In 2011, Jon’s last live performance took place at The Sunflower Jam; he was also a trustee of the charity and held this event very close to his heart.
    • As a tribute to Jon, we would like to share some footage of him performing with Rick Wakeman at The 2011 Sunflower Jam, the piece written by both of them, for The Sunflower Jam, titled, its not as big as it was!
    • We have been asked if the 2012 Sunflower Jam Event will be taking place due to our loss, to which we would like to confirm, not only will it go ahead; we are working on a tribute to Jon, in true Sunflower Style.
    • We love you Jonny.

Deep Purple band member dies at 71 on ABC – Australia

Last word – Jon Lord.

https://www.thehighwaystar.com/news/2012/07/19/purple-family-remembers-jon/

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