Jon Lord 70th Birthday Special

Today, June 9th is Jon Lord´s 70th birthday - congratulations! The master of hammond organ has been recording classics and classic music since the mid 60´s. And he´s still touring after his retirement from Deep Purple in 2002. The "Concerto for Group and Orchestra" is a concerto composed by Jon Lord, with lyrics written by Ian Gillan. It was first performed by Deep Purple and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold on September 24th 1969 and released on vinyl in December the same year. The release was the first Deep Purple album to feature Ian Gillan on vocals and Roger Glover on bass. After the score was lost in 1970, it was performed again in 1999 with a recreated score. Watch the full show in three parts below. Lord has recorded with Kinks back in 1964 and of course with Deep Purple over the years. He also played a few years with Whitesnake. His blues project with The Hoochie Coochie Men have also done some recordings. Bur first and foremost he´s given the signature sound to Deep Purple. The distorted organ together with Blackmore´s riffing was unique in its time and still remains as some of the greatest things ever done in hard rock. Ok, I could have have made the list longer and posted more videos. But - you can spend the evening with Jon Lord, Deep Purple and Whitesnake anyway. And you should. Jon Lord is a giant!