Known affectionately as "Hammond Lord", Jonathan Douglas "Jon" Lord was perhaps the sole reason why Deep Purple sounded unique amid a wave of similar heavy rock bands during the 1970's. He discovered quite early that running his organ through the distortion circuit of a guitar amplifier sounded as meaty and encompassing as the guitars themselves. A prime example can be heard during the quintessential "Smoke on the Water" riff, which is made true by this tone.
While he is perhaps best known for his Hammond organ playing in Deep P ...read more
Known affectionately as "Hammond Lord", Jonathan Douglas "Jon" Lord was perhaps the sole reason why Deep Purple sounded unique amid a wave of similar heavy rock bands during the 1970's. He discovered quite early that running his organ through the distortion circuit of a guitar amplifier sounded as meaty and encompassing as the guitars themselves. A prime example can be heard during the quintessential "Smoke on the Water" riff, which is made true by this tone.
While he is perhaps best known for his Hammond organ playing in Deep Purple from 1968 to 2002, Lord is also an accomplished pianist and classical composer having been commissioned on several occasions to compose works for many of England's renowned philharmonic orchestras. As a solo artist, these commissions and other classical ventures comprise the bulk of his musical output. Much of them show influences extending from technically driven counterpoint of Johannes Sebastian Bach, to the highly English-driven melodies of Edward Elgar. More often they call for the usage of unconventional instruments such as the Hammond itself, to the drum kit and Northumbrian pipes.
More recently Lord expressed his skills through various blues cover bands such as the Jon Lord Blues Project as well as receiving honorary Doctor of Music degree from the University of Leicester.
Jon Lord sadly passed away on the July 16th, 2012 as a result of his ongoing battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 71 years old. « hide
