Sir, last year I had an honour to see you live performance and listen to your music in the Concert Hall in Krasnodar. It was one of the most perfect and fantastic concerts I’ve ever seen. I’m happy and proud that I had that unique opportunity. Thank you for that, sir! My only wish is that you have strength and health to give such an opportunity to many other people.
Get well, and may the Force be with you always!

Sincerely yours,
Pavel Kondrashov!

yours sincerely,

Kevin Elvins

On ya Jon…

vik…

When I was an 18 year old keyboard player in a Dutch Coverband our singer came up with Hush by DP. I was amazed to hear your technique of playing this percussive rhythm on the Hammond. It was a totally new approach of playing an organ. And maybe the very beginning of your famous “Rhythm Organ Playing” which you have perfected to the limit over the later years with DP MkII. I tried to copy you on my Hohner Symphonic31 (!) cheesy organ, but it didn’t work out very well as this bloody thing did not have percussion on it(…..). Anyway, this was back in 1968. Later I learned that you started on a Lowrey Home Organ as well which isn’t exactly the sexiest organ. One of my first LP’s was Deep Purple in Rock and Fireball. Of course I picked up Machine Head and WDWTWA later. I never imagined to play DP’s music with my own band(s) not only because of the organ, but also because of the singing. Mr. Gill(i)an was not easy to cover at all….. Anyway, many years and bands later I found myself in Switzerland and what the heck… in a DP cover Band called Lies. We started playing your music and eventually became a DP Tribute Band just when you decided to leave DP. That was 2002. I played in this band for over 4 years and my successor was Urs Unternährer, a man who had the pleasure to meet you personally in Zermatt. Two bands later I’m playing in a nice little blues formation called Blues West. All I ever tought myself on the organ was in a way influenced by you. I dig Keith and Rick and of course the honorable Mr. Brian Auger a lot. Don Airey is a fantastic organ player and he does well in Purple, but for me you are simply the best and most interesting rock organ player of all times and I’m still trying to follow your footsteps as far as possible. I was very shocked to hear that you put all your concerts on hold because of your serious desease. I heard it from my former Lies Deep Purple Tribute band mate, the singer/guitar player, who told me that on a gig I played in December 2011.
Although we have never met, I am thinking of you a lot and I am hoping and praying that you will win the battle against cancer and give us the pleasure of many musical highlights in future
God bless you Jon. I wish you and your family all the strength in the world.
Best regards from Pianopete Puister from Holland, now in Lucerne Switzerland.