A very interesting interview with Jon Lord conducted back in 1999 comes from Australia. A lot of topics were touched that day, from the then new album Abandon, to the famous “Jon Lord sound”, to computers, and to the still budding Internet.

C: If you were the same age you were when you started right now, confronted with all this stuff at that age, what do you think you would be doing with your music now.

J.L.: Interesting question. If I were a young keyboard player now I would be I think confused by the amount of things available to me. I am really thankful that when I started the only two options were the piano and the organ. But music is… the music business by definition is kind of incestuous. It grows, it feeds on itself. It comes out of what’s around you. And what takes it forward each time is a band that has the courage to take what they hear and then to reinvent themselves based on what they’ve heard.

C: Which is what you did back then, so I guess you would do the same sort of thing now.

J.L: I’d like to think I’d have the courage to do the same thing now.

C: You think it would be harder now?

J.L.: I think it would, because as a cynic said, “it’s all been done”. The trick now – if it is down to being a trick, which is sad – is to make it sound like it’s not been done before, and that really is hard. I think we had the best of it, I don’t mean we Deep Purple, I mean we my generation. We had a clean canvas on which to paint – pretty clean anyway, a few smudges here and there – and the ability to be able to say “can we do this?.. yes we can.” that was wonderful. And don’t forget we also came out of the 60’s where we had record companies that would give you a five year contract, I mean that would be like gold now. What you get now is a one album contract with an option. And that’s a big deal to get the option. But record companies had the courage then to allow you to grow.

With the benefit of a hindsight, it is interesting to see how Jon both laments the decline of the live music scene in the 90s and warns against discarding record companies in the wake of the Internet revolution. As it turned out, demise of the recording industry led to a boom in live music we experience now.

Read the whole thing at the Cyrus Media Group‘s website. And just for the kicks, there’s also a complete unedited transcript of the interview (where THS gets a name check).

The latter has an interesting passage where Jon talks about his future not necessarily being in rock music (remember, this was good 3 years before his retirement from the band):

[…] and then being in a band that got famous, I was allowed to indulge myself two or three times over the years, so when it gets to this time of my life when I realise, I have realised for some time, that I cant be a rock and roll musician forever, I just can’t. There’s a physical limitation that’s going to start happening eventually. Touch wood it does… I’m a fit healthy middle age man but at some point there’s going to be a physical limitation but there may even be a mental thing where I say I just don’t want to do this anymore. Again touch wood that hasn’t arrived yet. But there’s a whole side of me that needs to be expressed which I cant express in Deep Purple — thus this solo album […]

Also, on the Australian note, ABC’s Radio National has an excellent tribute to Jon aired on July 16, which includes Jon’s interview from 2001.

Thanks to Yvonne Osthausen for the info.

Messrs Coverdale and Aldrich continue talking and singing some blues (if you like Starkers in Tokyo, you gonna love this):
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Glenn Hughes continues to promote the new Black Country Communion album and gave an interview to the French site TV Rock Live. He talks about BCC, David Coverdale saving him from his cocaine addiction, the late Jon Lord, and other things:
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In this new interview with his drum stick company ProMark, Ian Paice talks about working on the new album, peculiars of working in the studio in general, and not seeing the wood for the trees in the first place:

Thanks to Andrey Gusenkov for the info.

In this interview conducted for the 30th anniversary of Deepest Purple, Jon Lord talks about tensions within the band that led to demise of Mark 2 in 1973:
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And just to make whatever is left of the weekend a bit more interesting, let us present you Minister for Science and Technology of Republika Srpska (not to be confused with Serbia proper), Professor Dr. Jasmin Komić:
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Classic Rock Magazine has the story of the short lived supergroup Babyface comprised of Blackmore, Paice and Phil Lynott. It is based on Colin Hart’s memoirs with additional input from Paicey.

Colin Hart:

Ritchie used to love his singing. Kind of like a young rod Stewart or Paul Rodgers.

They did a couple of covers. It was only a short session, two or three songs, then it was out with the equipment and off home. I don’t think they did anything original. It did sound great together, the three of them.

Ian Paice:

It was meant to be a free-flowing kind of thing. It never got off the ground mainly because Phil wasn’t really a good enough bassist yet.

He had the voice, but learning to play bass well takes time. And for a thing like that to work, all three players need to be at a certain level. [In 1972] Phil just wasn’t there yet.

The story is published in Classic Rock issue 176, on sale now.

Deep Purple official YouTube channel has posted 4 vintage promo clips of classic Purple tracks, complete with the bizarre visual effects and contemporary commentary by the late Jon Lord.

Speed King:

Strange Kind of Woman:

Woman from Tokyo:

Fireball:

The legend of British music scene guitarist “Big” Jim Sullivan has passed away on October 2. Ritchie Blackmore had some of his early guitar lessons from him and admired Big Jim for the rest of his life:

I first met Jim Sullivan in 1958. He was introduced to me by my sister in laws brother. We both lived in the same area: in Middlesex, Cranford. He was playing with Marty Wilde and the Wildcats. He showed me another level of playing. He was probably the most advanced guitarist in the London area. I would listen to the radio every week there was a Marty Wilde show. Jim was often featured on the show so I was glued to the radio. He also made some great instrumentals. One being Trambone and one being Peak Hour. He was the 1st guitarist to play through a wah wah pedal. It was a Deamond foot volume and tone control. I remember an instrumental called the bat, where he used the pedal. That would’ve been around 1959. Last time I saw Jim was in LA where he was playing with Tom Jones. He was one of England’s finest players, a mentor and a good friend for me. His playing will always be in my heart and live on. God bless you Jim.

Thanks to Kevin Dixon for the info.

It seems the annual “Why aren’t Deep Purple Inducted yet?” story may be closer to an end with the announcement of this years nominee’s for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, which finally includes Deep Purple, some 20 years after they became eligible.

This year you can also be a part of the voting, use the link below to show your support, let’s get Deep Purple in!

From Rolling Stone:

This year’s nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are one of the most diverse lots yet. In addition to classic rock acts such as Rush, Deep Purple and Procol Harum, the list also includes two seminal rap groups (Public Enemy and N.W.A.), two definitive disco hitmakers (Chic and Donna Summer) and two great blues acts (Albert King, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band). The nominees are rounded out by Motown’s Marvelettes, the sister act Heart, tough-as-nails crew Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, the masterful L.A. songwriter Randy Newman, New Orleans funk architects the Meters and the pioneering German electronic group Kraftwerk. Read on for more on each of this year’s nominees.

Nominees for the 2013 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame

• Albert King
• Chic
• Deep Purple
• Donna Summer
• Heart
• Joan Jett & the Balckhearts
• Kraftwerk
• The Marvelettes
• The Meters
• N.W.A.
• Paul Butterfield Blues Band
• Procol Harum
• Public Enemy
• Randy Newman
• Rush

Vote here. Top 5 bands on list will comprise a “fan’s ballot” that will count as one of the more than 600 ballots that determine the 2013 inductees.