Tonight Jon Lord will play his first UK solo show covering his solo career. In conversation with Lichfield Festival Director Richard Hawley at Garrick Theatre this morning, Jon Lord talked about different aspects of his music and his career.
Here are a few excerpts:
– All I’m trying to do is combine the two things that thrill me the most; the sound of an orchestra in full flight and the sound of a rock band in full flight.
– I love playing at places like the Lichfield Cathedral – buildings where people for centuries have come to worship and cry and celebrate.
Jon Lord had considered doing Bach’s Toccata on the Lichfield Cathedral’s organ, but decided not to.
– I can’t get up the stairs, he joked, and explained that the organ is tuned in a way that wouldn’t work.
Asked about a Deep Purple Mark 3 reunion, Jon Lord said:
– Snow balls in hell. I mean, why? It would be good to play, it would, but Deep Purple already exists, and Ian Paice is playing with them, so that negates it. I think it’s time to put the Deep Purple reunion stories to rest.
– I’d love to write something for Ritchie Blackmore to play. It’s been discussed by us, and we both keep saying it. His acoustic style is astonishingly good.
Jon Lord - The Official Website 
It would be absolutely fantastic to have Jon and Ritchie doing something together! Maybe Jon’s next album will feature Ritchie on the guitar and Frida on vocals (please!), and that’ll be another dream fulfilled…
It would be beautiful seeing Mk3 live after so many years. I saw them in Belgrade, Serbia on March 16, 1975. Awesome.
Maybe they could make just one gig (like Led Zeppelin did), under whatever name, and release a DVD, for all the fans from the past, and for younger generations not having a chance to see the guys together live on stage.
Moreover, Serbian fans would really appreciate having Mr. Lord in Belgrade accompanied with whom he actually plays after all these years.
Thanks a lot
Lets forget any MKIII reunion. if we can have some music from Jon and Ritchie together that is all that matters in my view. imagine a whole album of music mixing the styles they both can do, then a tour and a DVD. lets hope they can pull something together because they must know how many fans would just love to see these `old friends` play music together. come on guys how about making this dream happen.
I love the Jon and Frida idea. Has anyone ever noticed they’ve both been involved on songs called Super Trouper? They could re-record them both!
It’d be awesome if Jon and Ritchie do something together! And imagine if they even did a couple of gigs together – WOW! Or is that too much in fantasy land?
It’s also nice to hear Jon praising Ritchie’s acoustic playing, it’s about time Ritchie got some credit for that. Having seen Blackmore’s Night on several occasions it’s clear to me me that Ritchie not only still has ‘it’ but has actually developed as an overall musician.
As for a Deep Purple MKIII reunion, it’d be fantastic to see, but Jon’s right, it’ll never happen. Shame though.
jon & ritchie….it would be great once again together after about 40 years later…in fact, you can hear them playing greatly acoustic in the III Purple album….they are strongly connected as musicians like few others…long live jon, who wasn’t a simple fellow like ritchie once said, but a driving force in the band….
Seeing and hearing Ritchie and Jon together again would be fantastic. These guys were the creative force and sound of Purple and have gone on to newer & rewarding fields of music. To bring them together again would be absolutely brilliant
I don’t hear Jon saying they’d play on stage together, more that he’d write something that Ritchie could record. I also would like to see them play together, particularly for a Mk3 show (why not, it needn’t intrude on the current DP line up unless lawyers got in the way). Personally, I’d prefer Ritchie to actually record something decent on guitar – the current stuff is becoming very Benny-Hill-esque to my ears.
ahah…benny hill…i understand ritchie was tired to play heavy but i think he’s nowadays exaggerating on this acoustic side of his musician soul..lord is a classic genius and he plays rock like few others…rb would need his services more than candice night who could be providing with her beautiful voice in a rock/classic context supported by jon…ritchie needs to get back to his musical roots in order to gain again his old fans who didn’t appreciate at all his medieval music change
I’d love to hear them both playing again. It was my favourite the compositions Anthem, Shield and April (all from ‘the earliest’ Purple days). And as I know every new works of Blackmore’s Night it will be great. Cheers! And Happy New year to all! Mitko