In this tribute, Rasmus Heide remembers Jon
Jon Lord made emotional music that connected with our feelings. His music has a mood for every one of ours – whether it is his blistering work on the Hammond organ during Deep Purple‘s most explosive moments, or the introvert and heartbreaking beauty of his solo pieces.
His stunning stage performances would make me smile till my cheeks hurt. His inimitable presence would transfix, and make time and place disappear. Sometimes, after a particularly moving performance, I’d have to shake my head to realize where I was, as if coming out of a dream.
We’re left with a legacy of stunning music and memories. The world has lost a compelling musician, a visionary artist and a charmingly lovable gentleman.
Jon’s music always evokes images in the minds of its listener. One For The Meadow is a gorgeous example. Even without Sam Brown’s wonderful lyrics, it sets me on a walk in green hills on a pleasant summer afternoon.
Indeed, Jon was a man who used to notice such things. On my first visit to Jon’s house, he drove me through such hills near his Henley home. At a country lane pub we had a tasty lunch of Bubble and Squeak, my first taste of this solid English dish, while we talked about his music, his life work and his plans for the future.
Jon was always excellent company. He combined his deep fountain of knowledge, sharp wit, and never less than exemplary conduct to make everyone around him feel at ease. Never far from the next smile or that infectious chuckle, his outlook was positive and lived up to the proverb of ‘if you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.’ And he was always full of ideas and projects.
When BBC 4 featured him on Last Word after his death, Ritchie Blackmore and Rick Wakeman made admiring comments about their old friend and fellow musician – and then, surprise, Jon came on air to explain that he’d like to be remembered 50/50 as Deep Purple’s keyboard player and as a composer who has a small but interesting body of work to his name. The interview was recorded just a week before is death, and while he did sound frail, Jon’s words still carried across his indestructible determination; with the grace of God he intended to continue to build on his body of work.
Reader comment on JonLord.org 16 July 2012:
You’ll now meet J.S. Bach – you’ll know him, everyone does. The thing is Jon; he’ll know you too…
Over the past 30 years, Jon grew from being my teenage idol to become someone who would call me his friend. I was too honoured.
Like so many others, I was first caught out by the exciting sounds of his Hammond. My childhood neighbour’s old copy of Deep Purple’s Made In Europe roped me in. My pre-teen imagination was captivated from Coverdale‘s cool announcement of ‘Rock’n’Roll!’. This was real music. Jon’s Hava Nagila intro to You Fool No One on side 2 was so full of musical excellence – and only the first of a lifetime of highlights.
Many years later, I was intrigued to spot this album on the shelf of recently played CDs in Jon’s own kitchen.
Jon’s work with Deep Purple secured him a position at rock’s highest level of creative and commercial achievements. Uncaging The Beast was one of Jon’s visionary inventions – plugging the Hammond organ into a Marshall amplifier to create a sound that could match Ritchie Blackmore’ distorted electric guitar. With this came the ability to tame and control that ferocious creature; at his expert touch it would snarl or purr, then howl and scream.
My favourite moment shall always be that show in New Haven, CT in 1985. I’ve never before or since seen a Hammond organ let drop forward to crash into the stage floor like that.
(Gary Smith, JonLord.org July 17 2012)
Onstage Jon was always exciting, not in the least with Deep Purple. I watched in awe as he and Blackmore would expand the boundaries of hard rock. Ritchie acknowledged that Jon’s solos would always get the biggest cheer from his astounded audiences.
At the pair’s final concert together in Helsinki 1993, I saw Ritchie make several delightful attempts at catching Jon out during their chase in Speed King. This went on far longer than usual until the guitarist suddenly gave up; putting his hands on his hips in a mock ‘who do you think you are?’ attitude he glared at Jon – then cracked a big smile and reached out to shake Jon’s hand. The mutual respect between the two remained unscathed by the crisis in the band, and to his death, Jon continued to praise Ritchie’s technique on the acoustic guitar, and remark how he’d love to record and play with him again.
Child In Time was Jon’s signature tune in Deep Purple, and he took pride in never playing it the same way twice. During his last years with Purple, the song seemed to have been pensioned off for good, but much later, he rearranged it for orchestra, and I saw it grow to even greater majestic heights, as he lead his band and symphony orchestras to its climactic, breathtaking ending.
Jon was a dignified performer, every night earning everybody’s respect and attention. Standing tall behind the Hammond organ, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses and his grey hair tied back in a ponytail, he would hand signal his fellow musicians from one section of a song into the next; his left hand raised into the air counting down to the end of his solos.
As he played, his shoulder would bob up and down, raised almost to his ear during intense moments. He would lean over on one leg, operating the volume pedal with the other and then throw his head back at the dramatic climax of the solo.
His percussive organ style would see his hands dance arbitrarily across the keys as if playing bongos. And then switch to his other trademark, the blistering solos where his right hand would lead, with the left adding supportive touches or working the Leslie control.
In earlier years, his Hammond would be stacked with other keyboards and effect boxes. Putting his knee on the keys of the Hammond, he would fiddle with the effects to elicit dramatic screams, howls and winding noises that threatened the threshold of our hearing. Then he’d tilt the Hammond up at an angle and let it crash into the stage floor for that explosion-like sound from the built-in reverb. Magic, excitement.
Jon’s musical career stood on two legs. Alongside a life of hard rock, his heart never stopped beating for the lure of a broader musical canvas. His work with orchestras from 1969 right up to the end started as painstakingly hard creative work at home in his music room – surrounded by his books and his music collection (and with a sunglassed bust of Beethoven overseeing proceedings!) – and concluded in pleasurable gratification, as he would lift his thumb in approval of yet another successful orchestral concert performance.
My first experience of Jon’s ‘other side’ was a rare 1990s solo show at a lakeside festival in Thun, Switzerland. With a band that included Pete York and Miller Anderson and a small string ensemble, Jon performed mainly pieces from his Before I Forget album. Bach Onto This was the concert’s tour-de-force highlight – which put him out of breath for a few minutes – but also the title track and excerpts from Gemini Suite, where the strings came to the fore, showed his incredible range.
In latter years, Jon’s distinguished appearance felt even more at home in front of a symphony orchestra. As the host, he would speak with English wit about his music and the inspiration behind it before sitting down at the piano and – with a watchful eye to the conductor – dive into music of breathtaking beauty and drama.
For 20 years, the wonderfully catchy Sarabande album was Jon’s most endearing solo work. A couple of tracks were played at most of his solo shows in the 2000s, and the entire suite was finally revived at a delightful premiere performance with full orchestra in Budapest in 2010. Hearing Sarabande from start to finish had been my dream for years, and the new and fully orchestrated version provided joy, exaltation and even disbelief at what Jon made the musicians deliver. He moved between piano and Hammond, and the thundering climax sent shivers running hot and cold down my spine.
But Sarabande was eclipsed by Pictured Within. The immensely beautiful and introspective celebration of the lives of Jon’s then recently deceased parents set against the picturesque backdrop of Swiss Alp retreat Zermatt. An astonishing masterpiece. Its title track – all about coming to terms with the loss of loved ones – always touches me. In every performance I’ve seen, regardless of its instrumentation – big orchestra, small string ensemble or just Jon and his piano – its melody and words choke me up.
Here be friends…
Here be heroes…
Here be sunshine…
Here be grey…
Here be life…
Here love lies bleeding…
(Pictured Within lyrics)
As Jon’s solo activity increased in the mid 2000s, I suggested he get an officially sanctioned and professionally run website to help him spread his news and connect with fans. He had been a keen purveyor of the truth online, diving into discussions when Deep Purple fans would lose themselves in hearsay or speculation. In his immaculate writing style, he would set them straight with a carefully measured set of words.
Jon liked how JonLord.org sounded like .organ, and we launched the website to coincide with the premiere performance of his Durham Concerto in October 2007. Jon was immersed in several concert projects and album recordings, and the website was off to a busy start.
Happy times ensued as I travelled to his concerts all over Europe. From Darkness To Light was immensely moving at Trondheim’s Nidaros Cathedral, as were the double attraction of both To Notice Such Things and Concerto for Group and Orchestra performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonics in their hometown.
I knew Jon wasn’t spending a lot of time online, but I soon learned that he did read all that was published here. If something weren’t up to par, he would immediately email me with polite but firm corrections.
Jon’s two final concert performances across a weekend in July 2011 illustrate his vast musical skills and diversity. On the Friday, the annual Sunflower Jam at the Royal Albert Hall became something of an unofficial crowning glory for Jon. Glorious performances with Joe Bonamassa and a world premiere with fellow keyboard virtuoso Rick Wakeman – along with some of his own solo pieces – sent the crowd to their feet.
Two nights later, on the Sunday at a small parish church in Nuthurst in rural Sussex, he played piano for a moving performance of To Notice Such Things with string ensemble and flute. The difference in style and setting was palpable, but both performances captivated his audience. In painful hindsight these two concerts allowed Jon to go out in a manner that was representative of and true to his astounding career of musical explorations and adventures.
with Bruce Martin, Paul Mann, Jerry Bloom and Rasmus Heide.
Afterwards, back at his countryside hotel with Paul Mann and a friend of mine, we shared a glass of red to cap off the Sussex evening. It was still early and the summer atmosphere was soothing and relaxed. Suddenly the fire alarm went off and the waiter asked us to leave the premises. Everybody casually strolled outside. As I reached the front door, I looked outside and I saw an image that will stay in my mind forever.
Jon had already made it outside, and in the park that sloped upwards away from the hotel; he stood on a small hill all by himself with his hands in his jacket pockets. Quietly observing the emptying hotel, he was strength personified, self-confident and content with life.
Exactly one month later, Jon’s manager called to arrange the announcement of his illness. The unbelievable shock was only surpassed – as the news broke – by the virtual ocean of love that flowed onto this website. A reaffirmation of Jon’s incredible standing amongst friends, fans and colleagues alike.
A totara has fallen in the forest of Tane.
(The totara is a huge native tree from New Zealand that grows for hundreds of years. For one of them to fall is a great tragedy. This Maori proverb is said when someone of importance passes away.)
(Michael Ross, JonLord.org July 17 2012)
Jon’s passing attracted more than half a million visitors to this website in just two days. From all over the world. This isn’t just a mind numbing number. It represents the immense love and respect everybody has for Jon and his music. Thousands and thousands of friends, fans and admirers have sent their love and affection in his direction. And more than commenting on the hard rock hits, people also reflect on how Jon’s music has helped them through difficult times and markedly changed their outlook on life.
Jon was a uniquely gifted man. He put music to our emotions. Long may it continue to resonate. Thank you, Jon, for everything.
My condolences to Vicky, Sara and Amy.
– Rasmus Heide, July 2012
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If you wish to donate in Jon’s memory, Vicky, Sara and Amy would prefer that a charitable donation, in Jon’s name, is made to ‘The Sunflower Jam‘. Registered charity number: 1138401.
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Jon Lord - The Official Website 
Well stated~
Great reading Rasmus
What a fabulous string of words, Rasmus. Emotional reading, and you nailed how Jon Lord will and shall be remembered. He will be proud.
Eloquent as ever, my friend. True words, well written. A sad loss, a gentleman without peer.
Well done, indeed.
beautifully written, with great expression of love, respect and admiration. Thanks
good good god lord
En chile conocimos la música de Deep Purple a través de Made in Japan….cuando escuchamos el concierto con la Filarmónica de Londres quedamos impresionados….luego vinieron otros artistas como Metallica que intentaron hacer algo parecido pero nada fué igual o mejor a las composiciones de Lord para este trabajo.
Lovely comment. Thank you Rasmus!
Un cordial saludo y creo se ha dicho todo. John LORD paz en su tumba y gracias por sus mensajes y enseñanzas a travez de la mùsica.
Thank you for the good words, we (the fans) always knew Jon Lord was all this and more. He had that goodness to him that shone throughout his music, live performances and imagery in his time in the spotlight, which for me was from the age of 11 in 73´when I drew his portrait on my schoolbag. “Rock and Roll”….
Very nice piece, Rasmus.
thank you for expressing what so many of us feel …and for reaffirming what we as fans always thought of Jon Lord. A giant among musicians….
Ladies and Gentlemen do not forget JON LORD the only and best keyboard player ever seen. Please remember this July 16-2012. Day Monday in London. The next year will remember him. Always i wanted to be a keyboard player like JON LORD and like RITCHIE BLACKMORE and his style unic and amazing.
Jon Lord was an Icon in the music world. He impressed me from the day I heard him in the Sixties and on top of that, he did what I love, combined classical music with Rock and Roll. I remember the days that classical musicians would laugh at us. I think, and I’m pretty sure it was Jon who stopped them laughing and realizing that not all of us were three chord heroes. I’m still in shock by his passing but what makes me happy is the tremendously full life he has lived, the enormous legacy he leaves behind. When I watch Concert for Band and Orchestra and see Jon, I can’t help it but feeling tears welling up knowing that we will not get any new work from this fantastic man. Jon, if anybody earned full glory in the here after, you are the one to receive it. But like Vera Lynn sang so long ago: We will meet again don’t know when don”t know when, but we will meet again some sunny day.
RIP Maestro
Child in time ! My first ever concert, KB-hallen, Copenhagen 1972, age 15. Jon and Co. became my number one band and has been that ever since that night ! Love and respect. RIP you great man of music.
Tengo 58 años. Lo admiré desde los 18 más o menos. Nunca lo ví en persona, pues cuando Deep Purple vino por única vez a Montevideo, Uruguay, ya no estaba…
No obstante, formó y formará parte de mi vida.
Gracias, querido Jon.
Carlos Desalvo
A fantastic personal tribute to our mutual musical hero. Bravo Ras!
From Canada- wonderful article Rasmus, thank you. Jon was and always will be a true hero and major talent.
I saw Jon perform at the Sunflower Jam last year, and did not know it was his last major concert. Looking back it is even more haunting and bittersweet now……with Jon’s passing an era in rock and roll passes too and the world is a sadder, colder place for it.
un giorno ci ritroveremo per sempre nella luce e nell’amore delle tue note con gioia CIP2112 italia
thankyou Rasmus, a wonderful tribute to a marvelous musician, I was fortunate to meet him once in 1973, His kindness and warmth touched me deeply, changed my life musically, he will be sorely missed, but his legacy will live on thru his music, having lost my mother only 10 days before him, his music has helped me endure her loss. I’m sure it will help me overcome his.
Thank you Rasmus. I am so sad it hurts, like loosing a good friend or a family member.Only God knows how many hours I have practiced, trying to copy Jon’s solo’s thinking that I could do what he did. Now I know that Jon can not be copied. I saw Deep Purple twice and still remember the fantastic sound that Jon produced. His music will last for centuries. RIP Jon.
Jon Lord – In Hebrew we say. TENATSEBA That mean we pray is soul will remain in the boundle of the living – and that means while there will be life he will be remembered.
I can not explain what Jon Means to me. it is the reason for me loving keyboards … he was the reason for me to understand any conection between Rock and classic musuc and how beutiful that can be.
He is the reasin i respect any music – and why i search for all kind of it to enjoy and to share.
Thank you Jon
RIP
THE BEST MUSICIAN IS GONE!!!!god bless you
Dear Rasmus, you write in a way that it feels like I was there with you to witness all these things. Thanks for sharing this with us.
What a loss, what a loss….
Pictured within our hearts forever….dear friend jon lord and thank you rasmus for this post.
I keep coming back to the website, as I wan`t to learn and know more of one of my greatest heroes. When I got the news of Jon`s passing, I sat down on my hotel bed and cried. I cried more than I have done over family members, and I had to tell my wife that this was something she possibly could not understand. Well, maybe she does, and a lot of my friends too, because in the days after Jon`s passing I got condolences for my loss… That leaves me confident that I have spoken highly of him, and I will always have him with me!
Dear Rasmus,
Your tribute to the great man is deeply moving and a delightful read. We thank and applaud you for your wonderful eloquence. The world of music has indeed lost someone special.
Thank you Rasmus for a wonderful tribute befitting of a great man and superb human being.
I sincerely hope that Jon’s website will continue for many years to come and also that he managed to do enough work on a couple of other pieces to enable them to sometime see the light of day.
thanks rasmus a lovely tribute to a lovely man who inspired so many up and coming musicians and musical talent around the world for so many years. jon lord will never be forgotten, a true legend!
thanks for this wunderful and great words – if i would be able to write lyrics the words inside would be the same. thank you rasmus and thanks to god, that he gave us jon and let me joined his music for the last 40 years and for the rest of my years. christian
I bring you flowers and crying on her grave …
Ha muerto el hombre y nacido la leyenda de Jon Lord….Saludos desde México.
jon maestro de lo maestros genio y excelente persona nunca te olvidaremos.-
Terrible noticia, lamento profundamente la muerte de Jon, tengo 52 años y desde que tengo uso de razón su música y la de su grupo (Deep Purple) me han acompañado, entre otros, los vi 2 veces en España y aunque ya mayores, joder fue un autentico lujo, de verdad que lamento esta muerte. Un abrazo a la familia y a ti Jon descansa en paz
Very nice words about a truely gifted musician. For me, the pleasure of seeing him play several times over the years (and the memory of his enthusiasm for his music and the need he felt to share it with all of us in the audience), will stay with me always. I have the Durham Suite playing as I write this.
Ci ha lasciato un grande artista, Ci ha lasciato la sua grande musica
Ciao Jon.
The smoke will never rise from the water, but ledger just above it. Humanity will never see the likes of you again. Thank you can not fill what you have done, and given us,God bless
IN MEMORIAM JON LORD
By Roberto Prandin
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To Jon’ Family and Friends,
We were very saddened to hear of Jon’s passing. He was a great talent and by all accounts a very good man.
We are the members of the Deep Purple Tribute band ‘Highway Star’ from Vancouver, B.C., Canada. We have been together more than 8 years already and we never get tired of playing Jon’s great music.
We have always considered Jon to be the best Organ and Keyboard player in all of Rock Music, hands down. Our Keyboard player Doug’s passion is to capture Jon’s sound, feel and technique down to the last detail, but of course there can only be one Jon Lord and he will be greatly, greatly missed.
Thank you Jon, for being such an inspiration.
From: Hark, Casey, Doug, Ross and Nando (HIGHWAY STAR)
Beautifully put, Rasmus. You were so lucky to have known him personally. I never got closer than 15 rows from him but he influenced me profoundly. Mostly it was because of the accounts of his grace and good humor. I’ve never read before that he followed the point of view that ‘if you don’t have something nice to say, then don’t say anything’, but I could feel it from where I sat.
He was a Renaissance Man. God Bless You Jon.
I would like to meet you someday Rasmus, buy you a pint, and hear your stories.
My best.
Very nicely put, Rasmus. Personal but not too personal, emotional but also factual, not too short and not too long. Really well-balanced writing. And how hard it must have been to write it both technically and of course emotionally. Thank you!
Enjoyed reading this. Thankyou for sharing. What a thoroughly lovely image you create. What a privilege to know him..he will live forever via his music! RIP rock in paradise..
Much love to all who miss him..
Buongiorno Mister Lord
oggi ho risentito Gemini Suite
l’inizio di tutto……………………….
grazie
Thanks for sharing Rasmus, it is deeply moving to read and I can absolutely share the feeling of hearing Jon’s music with Deep Purple for the first time when I was very young.
Great tribute! thanks for sharing it. R.I.P. Jon Lord
Ciao jon, abbiamo perso prima di tutto un grande uomo, un grande musicista,un maestro ed un mito per tutti noi.ora riposa in pace ed insegna agli angeli a suonare.
Well said Rasmus. It’s a great loss for his family, friends and fans.
I came familiar with Jon in the very early seventies. Child in time it was. A huge hit here in Holland. I grew up with Deep Purple and became a huge fan of Ritchie Blackmore. And I still am to this very day. But I always knew that Ritchie could not have been that good if he hadn’t played a longside with Jon for almost 17 years.
Que puedo escribir ? si ya lo he escrito todo. Hoy 16 de Agosto se cumple 1 mes de la sentida partida de JON LORD. Se nos fuè el mejor tecladista de rock del mundo. Ahora que serà de la banda DEEP PURPLE sin JON LORD quien diò catedra de como hay que tocar los teclados. SMOKE ON THE WATER and HIGHWAY STAR.
Right now, JON LORD is the Haven with Ritchie Valens, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Tommy Bolin, Eric Carr, Freddy Mercury, John Paul Jones, George Harrison, Luciano Pavarotti and other musicians.
Thank you for writing in such a caring way Rasmus. I enjoyed reading your memories of a man who grew from being a hero to being a friend. Strangely enough, though I never met him (although he did sign a tour book in 1984) when I heard he had died I felt like I had lost a friend. Thanks for letting us share your memories.
Quien soy yo para escribir a tan increible genio..siempre en mi alma llevo aquel órgano rabioso de rock en tanta y tanta música de Purple….Sencillamente…genial….descansa en paz maestro, tu aporte será eterno..
Thank for your moving tribute to Jon. You wrote great about his impact on your life and I think many of the readers (like me) sense it in a similar way. I’m really happy for you that you came so close to him – as a friend, working with him, accompanying him from the distance, spending time with him, being in his kitchen … . It is a gift for you and your life.
Jon, hombre, genio, maestro, pero sobretodo un maravilloso ser humano por lo que he leído. Me dejo estupefacto cuando por primera vez oí su musica a los 14 años. Owed to G y This time around en Come taste the band, fue ahí que descubrí a DP, me convertí en un fanatico. Que decir de su trabajo inmortal Concert for Group and Orchestra.Tuve la suerte y el privilegio de verlo 2 veces en vivo en conciertos en Chile. Descansa en paz My sweet Lord. Te extrañaremos siempre
Alejandro Thomson-Chile
Great tribute, Rasmus!