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Jon Lord – A Visual Biography
A new book by Jerry Bloom is slated to be published by Wymer this September. It is called Jon Lord – A Visual Biography and will come in “regular” (ISBN 978-1-915246-12-7, MSRP £59.99) and “collector’s” (ISBN 978-1-915246-16-5, MSRP £79.99) editions. Both are advertised as hardback A4 (210 x 297 mm) at 224 pages.
The collector’s edition also promises that the 250 limited edition copies will include 16 pages of A4 format transcript of an interview conducted by the author with Jon in in November 2007. Plus — presumably if you pre-order in timely manner — you will also get your name in the book on a dedicated fan page.
The publisher blurb as follows:
Jon Lord will forever be immortalised as a musical pioneer. His attitude towards his art form, “It’s all music” ensured that he embraced his joint passions for rock ‘n’ roll and orchestral music, along with other genres, throughout his career.
Having initially found his feet in sixties r‘n’b group The Artwoods, the formation of Deep Purple with co-conspirator Ritchie Blackmore escalated Jon to huge success with one of the biggest bands of the seventies, and again in the mid-eighties when the band reformed. In between, several years spent in Whitesnake added to his portfolio.
Outside of his commitment in both these rock bands, Lord produced many albums under his own name, fusing his various musical interests, producing some sublime work in the process.
Eventually deciding that his desire as a composer required more time and commitment than his day job with Deep Purple would afford, he eventually left the band he had helped to create, in 2002.
For the next decade, Jon engrossed himself in his composing, producing monumental works such as Durham Concerto that became a firm favourite on Classic FM radio, and Boom Of The Tingling Strings, a four movement piano concerto.
All aspects of Jon’s long and illustrious career are plotted throughout this book, accompanied by numerous photos, many previously unpublished that help to emphasise the incredibly colourful career of this extraordinarily talented musician.
Both editions are expected to be published on September 23, 2022.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
If the past is any indication, in a couple of years, this book will be released in paperback , glossy format at a cheaper price.
June 20th, 2022 at 23:12I could argue Jon Lord made keyboards unique in the world of heavy refined rock. I have never seen Deep Purple as ‘heavy metal’. The quality of the music across keyboards, vocals and guitars to me was also unique.
June 21st, 2022 at 07:23The first album I bought was Shades if Deep Purple.
I consider myself lucky to have seen them live more than once and can’t wait to see this book
A lot of heavy metal isn’t really improvisational at all, flashy guitar and drum solos aside. These days, most metal bands are intent on replicating their album sound and sticking to the script. Jon never really stuck to the script, he got quickly bored with note-perfect re-renditions. That improvisational drive is something he developed with The Artwoods and it was already all over Shades of Deep Purple, it’s part of Hush’s charm and success. And it constitutes what always set Purple apart from bands that might sound similar at first listen, but really aren’t, i.e. Uriah Heep.
As regards the improvisational aspect, the band I find most akin to DP in a live setting is, no joke, The Allman Brothers Band! I noticed that a few years ago when I started to get into the Allmans more deeply and discovered the parallels to DP in their improvisational communication among the different instruments. They (and their offspring, i.e. Tedeschi Trucks Band and Govt. Mule) got/get into that same “improvisational trance” DP was and is so good at.
It’s the same thing that appealed to Bob Ezrin when he saw DP live prior to deciding on whether he would produce them.
And it’s a dying art. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are the only ‘younger’ band of substantial global commercial stature I can think of where their heavy improvisation is an integral part of their live performance.
June 22nd, 2022 at 13:37And Steve would not have stayed in the band if they were not a band of improvisation. See the Perihelion interview….
Peace,
June 24th, 2022 at 16:20Ted :>
A great talent
June 26th, 2022 at 23:42Amen, Ted. Steve never wanted to be a hard rock guitar hero, but he appreciates Purple’s musicality and the room it gives him.
June 27th, 2022 at 13:46