Jon Lord, of Deep Purple (for most of its history), is the apotheosis of a hard-rock organist. And he's probably the greatest influence on my own Hammond style.

Sure, Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman each had a better classical technique. But Emerson was much more of a Jazzer, and Wakeman was just, well, kind of effete, what with his flourishes and ornamentation. Both fantastically talented, but neither really representative of rock and roll.

Lord, on the other hand, manhandled the Hammond organ. Made it a coequal to Blackmore's overdriven guitar and Ian Gillan's wailing vocals.

Check out this classic video of a riff-based jam, entitled "No, No, No." Lord's solo kicks in at around 3:45 and the song just builds from there:

Enjoy.

Posted by: JohnL at 11:27 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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