Well when I think of Jon Lord the first thing that comes to my mind is the numerous bluesy and jazz based solos that u can find through out the Deep Purple discography.But his real greatness lies in the way he converted keyboards and organs from backup rock instruments to mainstream rock instruments on which u could solo, shread, or even orchestrate the bgm..(the others who did the same were probably Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Rick Wakeman of Yes an Keith Emerson of ELP.. gosh I've failed to gauge the similarity between them that all of them are from Classical to Jazz background)..Neways he through his work has inspired almost the generations of keyboard players who have followed him... And his blues and jazz style and almost mortally impossible fast solos are still a treat to ne keyboard lover..
Jon Lord employed the "hard rock" style on the Hammond, and he often used tube distortion and overdrive through regular speakers, as opposed to the Leslie. He was also known for playing heavy and fast keyboard riffs, in the same way that Blackmore would on his guitar. The best example of this is the song "Fireball," where he used thrash metal-like riffs, and he used a Maestro RM-1A ring modulator in the solo. He was also the first to play a Hammond through a (Marshall) guitar amp.
Some of his techniques are soloing in F blues (F - A flat - B flat - B natural - C - E flat - E natural - F) with repeated licks. Oftentimes he would play a lick three times, expound in the fourth, and then move on to something else. He also played extremely fast triplets (Hush, for instance), and strived to make his organ sound as dirty as a guitar.
As a classically trained musician (his father was a church organist) Jon Lord's style is a mixture of baroque, rock, blues and funk. A good example of this blend is the "Sarabande" album.
He is known for being the keyboardist of "Deep Purple" , but he played for many other great artists as well; The Kinks, Ian Gillan, Artwoods, Whitesnake, Sam Brown, and Tom Waits, among others.
He really trashed a C3 in one concert (Scandinavian Night); a key jumped out of its place and Jon put it back in. You can just imagine how hard and fast he played.
Equally important is his solo career which began after he left Deep Purple in 2002 ( before which he left all his audiences with pieces like perfect strangers during the MK 2 phase)..in which he has performed many of his classical compositions with various artists and orchestras...
At the of 69 his impact on music world is so profound that his albums are still raking chart.. His latest album "To Notice Such Things"( released at 29th March 2010) entered the UK charts at no 4... He s also among the top 10 living composers...
He is unarguably one of the greatest rock keyboardist of all time.. and its a divine experience every time that u play ne song of his, unaffected by the synth and electronic revolution that has caught up among keyboard players since the late 90s this wizard continues to weave his magic with the most traditional from of playin the keys.. on an analog organ or the piano... and proudly does he claim every piece he has created to be work of his mind and fingers and not a petty software runnin inside ur keyboard or on ur mac....
Jon Lord's Modified C-3
The following information comes from a March, 1983 Keyboard Magazine interview between Jon Lord and Bob Doerschuk. The interview is reprinted in the book Rock Keyboard. (Thanks to KonZissis for the reference.)
Jon had (the guts of) an RMI Electra Piano wired into the key contacts of his C-3 so that on the upper manual he can play organ, RMI piano, or both at the same time. Also, the bottom two octaves of the lower manual can be hooked up to trigger a synthesizer (Minimoog).
Well on his 69 bday all i would like to wish him many many many more years of glory a nd well being...
Truly life wouldn't have been the same for many a aspirant rock keyboardists if there was no JON LORD
Here my pick of Top Ten Jon Lord Must Haves:
1) Highway Star *
2) Burn*
3) Fireball*
4) Perfect Strangers*
5) The Evening song
6) Pictured within
7) Sarabande
8) Sunrise
9) Circles of stones
10) Sunrise
*- Deep Purple songs
Well check the videos of his solo on youtube listen to songs on :Last.fm and if u r an aspiring keyboardist google search his style, download his gp files, check out his videos..........
Once again happy birthday lord of keyboard.... :-) :-)
ad btw his official site is : http://jonlord.org/
Cheerz and see ya guys with the next post.... and till en CHAO... :-)
