![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/gillan3.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/gillan2.jpg)
Airey: “Nothing in the world quite like Deep Purple”
An interesting chat with rather rarely interviewed Don Airey have appeared on Hungarian ekultura.hu before the start of current Don’s solo tour.
On his solo career:
ekultura.hu: What happened after your second album with Deep Purple? What prompted you to launch a new solo career?
Don Airey: Ed van Zijl from Mascot Records offered me a record deal – I think he was fed up with just signing guitar players to his label. There was a gap in Purple’s schedule so I wrote some songs around the theme of astronomy, (a hobby of mine), booked studio time and musicians and went and made a record (Light in the Sky).
On Jon Lord and Deep Purple:
ekultura.hu: On a totally different note, how did the death of Jon Lord affect you personally?
Don Airey: I lost someone whose playing and quintessential Englishness I admired immensely, and who over the last ten years had been kindness itself to my tech son Mike, and myself. We were in the middle of recording the new DP album in Nashville when the awful news about Jon came through. It was difficult to get anything done for the next couple of days.
ekultura.hu: How does your solo project relate to what Deep Purple is doing now? Will it in any way have an impact on the music of the new album of the band?
Don Airey: It is separate – a whole different vibe! There is nothing in the world quite like Deep Purple I have to say.
Read more on ekultura.hu.
Thanks to Yvonne Osthausen for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Thank god we have don, a wonderful person to replace the late great jon lord.
September 27th, 2012 at 21:53Last DA cd is just great- progresive 70’s stuff.
Still waiting for gig in Israe l!!
oleg
September 28th, 2012 at 09:40Nice interviews….but calling Purple the “Purps”? Ouch!
September 28th, 2012 at 11:45Nice interview. Don has had a hard job in replacing Jon, but he’s done a great job!
September 28th, 2012 at 12:56Nobody can replace Jon Lord, but I like Don Airey, a nice humble guy and a very good organ player… I just wanted to say that…
September 28th, 2012 at 19:56-there is lot of Jon in Don, and my that playing and quintessential Englishness be taken to greater heights. 🙂
September 29th, 2012 at 06:59Don Airey is one of the most “under rated” musicians in rock. Colosseum 2 back in the mid 70’s with Gary Moore, Jon Hiseman & Neil Murray. They were a great band, classic fusion type of progressive rock. Then Airey went to record on Sabbath’s album ‘Never Say Die’ then of course he ended up in Rainbow for a couple of albums & tours. A brilliant player & he also toured in the late 80’s with Jethro Tull.
September 29th, 2012 at 08:39How good is he? He has appeared on many albums with so many wonderful players over the decades. I always thought back in the late 90’s when Jon Lord was saying he won’t go on forever in Purple, that Airey would be the man to replace him. I will have to have a listen to some of his more recent material.
Just from a fans standpoint,I totally agree with Don, “There is nothing in the world quite like Deep Purple I have to say”. Thanks to Don’s great talents and experience DP continues, there is only 1 Jon Lord we all know that, but DA is the best man for the job now.
September 30th, 2012 at 02:05We met him in Louisville KY and he too was a true gentleman. 🙂
cheers
Nothin like Purple ! That’s why we love them sooooo!
September 30th, 2012 at 10:231.)
… There is nothing in the world quite like Deep Purple I have to say. …
What a true statement ——– BUT: What do you EXACTLY mean with this words ??
We – the fans are see it eye to eye with you, but for us, we mean mainly the music …
What do Y O U mean Don ?
2.)
In an another way, it is very very still in the Purple house…
There came with no voice,
no statement,
no (Roger Glover-) studio report,
no recording infos from
no webisode about the making of … like from BCC
they bring us from Nashville in our home…
>> dadaaa, baba babaaaa – – – What is going on here – – – dadaaa, baba babaaaa <<
It a little bit of misterious or not ???
Come on guys… We need a little bit to eat (to hear or to see or to hear and see) 🙂
-LLRnR-
*kraatzy*
October 1st, 2012 at 15:10We’re in good hands with Don!! LLDP.
October 1st, 2012 at 16:32Cozy Powell’s “Over the top” was written and recorded with Don (and Gary Moore,Bernie marsden,Jack Bruce,Clem Clemson ..)
October 1st, 2012 at 20:01Great album,fantastic players
Nice interview with don. I have to say on a personal note that he is a true gentleman in his own right. (I’ve met him on several different occasions). He has done a terrific job with Purple.
by the way, what’s kraatzy on about??????
October 3rd, 2012 at 19:25“There is nothing in the world quite like Deep Purple” this is true and for this reason I hope they will refuse the R’n’R Hall of Fame nomination…
October 4th, 2012 at 12:57byron @ 12- Yes, I regret not owning those 3 Cozy Powell records from all those years ago, Over The Top, Octupuss & Tilt. I thought of them after sending my comment. That is the small problem with getting rid of records & not replacing them. Over The Top was the strongest of the 3 if my memory serves me well. I might do some searching for them.
October 4th, 2012 at 22:15@ Jim Irons
Hey JIM, I am only astonished about the zero-informations from our heros in PURPLE.
The latest albums, they (or nearly only Roger Glover) gave us little nibbles of informations … but now … nearly NOTHING !!!
It would be very nice, to get some informations or sampling demonstration about the new work of Deep Purple following like BCC and their WEBISODES !
That was my intention.
LLRnR
-kraatzy-
October 9th, 2012 at 09:45