Ask your average dude or dudette on the street – the following question; who is Jon Lord?

Unless they are Jon Lord, Deep Purple , Whitesnake or educated music fans – the average response would be ‘ I don’t know?’

The keyboardist from Deep Purple and Whitesnake along with various other musical endeavors; was anything but ordinary …

Mr. Lord passed away on the 16th July, 2012 following a fatal pulmonary embolism. Lord was seventy -one years of age.

In 1971, Deep Purple released an album entitled ‘ Fireball ‘. The band could have been speaking of its founder Lord as the classical – turned – Jazz – turned rock keyboard player was just that; a fireball!

No other musician in modern – day rock with the exception of Elton John, did so much to popularize the piano / organ in rock n’ roll. Lord had a leg up on Elton , he not only played piano, electric piano and harpsichord – he was a master of the Hammond organ and an innovator.

Constantly tweeking his sound to incorporate classical – sounding grooves into a heavy metal environment. Lord -along with guitarist Richie Blackmore, were the duo who created a guitar / organ sound previously unheard of in popular music. So unheard of – it took a while for Deep Purple to hit big!

Their first hit single was a covered version of the Joe South song; ‘Hush’.

What Lord did in this song and many others, is next to impossible to narrow down. Aside from giving Blackmore freedom for guitar solos by using his organ as a rhythm guitar – Lord ‘s training and ingenuity allowed him the nerve to experiment on different sounds.

Lord also accomplished a new thing. He was a pioneer as a keyboard soloist in a genre which was walking some of its first steps in the rock landscape …

‘Space Trucking’ – one of the group’s more popular songs, provides an ‘ other world’ sound in Lord’s playing. Experimenting primarily with the ring modulator – Lord discovered a ‘ heavenly sound’ to make the listener feel as if outer space was around the corner.

Lord was prominent on the band’ s greatest hits. ‘Lazy’, ‘Smoke on the Water’, ‘Child in Time’ and ‘Highway Star’ would have quickly faded from memory if not for Lord’s distinctive and revolutionary sounds.

Following the end of Deep Purple in 1976, the Leicester, England native joined the band Whitesnake. Adding electric piano to his Moog – synthesizer. This added much life to the ‘ twelve -bar bluesband which were responsible for moderate successes such as ‘ Here I go Again’, ‘Wine, Women and Song’ and ‘She’s a Woman’.

Lord re- formed Deep Purple in 1984 and the band had the second highest grossing tour in 1985. The fans were happy to have Lord and the band back.

Jon, over the years, played with several talented musicians on different projects including George Harrison, David Gilmour and Robert Plant.

He continued working on solo albums as he had done his entire life following Purple’s final curtain in 2002. His final project which was rudely interrupted by his death – was a supergroup including Deep Purple singer Gilian, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi and ex – Iron Maiden drummer; Nicko McBrain.

Now. Who is Jon Lord?

Rest in Peace …