R.I.P JON LORD - One of the most influential of keyboardists

As an eleven year old kid, my main exposure to music had been via my parents relatively small music collection and Top of the Pops. The sheer exhilaration I felt on arriving at Comprehensive School, making new musically influenced friends and being introduced to Deep Purple, impossible to describe. "Never Before", had I experienced such an incredible sound, Blackmore's guitar, Gillans screaming vocals, the thunderous drunmming of Ian Paice, Roger Glover's strong bass lines and of course, Jon Lord's Hammond Organ adding an extra dimension to their blues based rock. Circa 1975 / 1976, never a day seemed to go by, someone wasn't walking around Saddleworth School with a copy of "Made in Japan," in a Golden Disc bag.   

Deep Purple became,my band, the major rock influence of my formative years, they took me to places I could never have imagined without even leaving my room. I could have luck on Venus, always have a ball on Mars, be a Highway Star and Speed King in one fell swoop, even better if I felt Lazy, just stay in bed. I was literally a Child lost in Time, sonically surrounded by a quintet who became a major part of my life. 

Bizarrely, since the start of the year, after the death of many legendary music figures, I'd thought on  numerous occasions, before long one of my absolute heroes will be next to part company with this earth and tonight I read that Jon Lord has passed away. It had to happen at some stage, but I still feel genuinely gutted, a strange feeling for someone I've never met.

RI.P Jon, you were and always will be a hero to me and many others, and wherever you are now, just remember one thing, "YOU WANT EVERYTHING LOUDER THAN EVERYTHING ELSE."