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Showing posts with label Jon Lord. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jon Lord. Show all posts
September 27, 2026
September 24, 2026
1969 - Deep Purple at London's Royal Albert Hall
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Fifty-seven years ago, on Wednesday, September 24, 1969, Deep Purple performed their Concerto for Group and Orchestra with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at London's Royal Albert Hall.
The work was composed by Jon Lord, with lyrics by Ian Gillan and conducted by Malcolm Arnold. Roger Glover played bass. The original score for the concerto was lost in 1970.
The performance is considered "groundbreaking" because it was the first time that a major rock band recorded a live album with a full orchestra.
I had a reel to reel tape of the concert (link below) and was able to listen to the concert which was wonderful. It can be heard on YouTube (link below), although, the video quality is not the best, there is a drum solo by Ian Paice in the third section that is a knockout!
May 21, 2021
January 30, 2018
June 11, 2014
101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 68: Jon Lord - Gemini Suite
Reel-to-Reel Tape box detail .
detail photo by Styrous® .
In
addition to my vinyl LP record collection I'm selling, I have hundreds of reel-to-reel, pre-recorded tapes as well. This is an entry about one of them that is for sale on eBay (see link below for others). I have the vinyl LP version as well. Interested? Contact me by email, please, not by a comment.
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reel-to-reel tape
cover design by John Van Hamersveld
cover painting by Cliff McReynolds
cover painting by Cliff McReynolds
photo by Styrous®
Jonathan Douglas Lord was born 73 years ago this month on June 9, 1941. He was better known as Jon Lord of the hard rock group, Deep Purple.
The Gemini Suite was performed by Deep Purple and the Light Music Society under Malcolm Arnold at the Royal Festival Hall in September of 1970.
The Gemini Suite was performed by Deep Purple and the Light Music Society under Malcolm Arnold at the Royal Festival Hall in September of 1970.
reel-to-reel tape
cover design by John Van Hamersveld
photo by Styrous®
photo by Styrous®
After the 1969 classical / rock fusion Concerto For Group and Orchestra, (also see link below), Jon Lord was commissioned to write a follow-up. This was Gemini Suite,
five long movements inspired by the members of Deep Purple, and
performed live in September 1970 at the Royal Festival Hall with The
Light Music Society Orchestra and broadcast life on British and Danish radio (the album of the concert was issued in
1993 as Gemini Suite Live). Jon Lord then recorded it in the studio as his first solo project in 1971, with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold and soloists drawn from the rock world. Gemini Suite was an important step for Lord and led to albums such as Windows (1974) and Sarabande (1976).
reel-to-reel tape back cover details
cover design by John Van Hamersveld
detail photos by Styrous®
detail photos by Styrous®
The album was originally released in Europe and America in 1971 with different cover artwork. The 1973 US reissue (this copy) featured a third version of the cover artwork.
reel-to-reel tape back cover detail
cover design by John Van Hamersveld
detail photo by Styrous®
detail photo by Styrous®
The first movement starts out very dramatic with the full orchestra and an extremely dynamic tympani beat "fit to beat the band". There is some fine guitar work by Albert Lee in it.
The second part of the first side is jazzy and upbeat with Lord on piano. The orchestra follows and play along with the game. Lord does a fancy keyboard solo on this piece. Pretty nice stuff here.
The third section opens with some dramatic tympani which is a nice introduction to the fine drum work á la Gene Krupa by Ian Paice. Paice, the orchestra and the timpani finish out the piece in grand style.
reel-to-reel tape
photo by Styrous®
Capricorn opens side two. It is very slow, quiet and mysterious. It features vocals by Yvonne Elliman and Tony Ashton.
The second section of part two is jerky and dissonant and features some really cool bass guitar work by Roger Glover. It quiets down some at the end.
The third section is all Lord's. He does some amazing organ work and rocks out with the orchestra. It gets a bit eerie for a while before it goes back to a rock motif that then builds to the finale.
reel-to-reel tape label detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Studio album track listing:
Side 1:
1 "Guitar" - Soloist: Albert Lee - 8:52
2 "Piano" - Soloist: Jon Lord -
3 "Drums" - Soloist: Ian Paice
Side 2:
4 "Vocals" - Soloist: Yvonne Elliman and Tony Ashton
5 "Bass guitar" - Soloist: Roger Glover
6 "Organ" - Soloist: Jon Lord
Production notes
Composed and scored by Jon Lord
Lyrics by Jon Lord
Recorded at Abbey Road and De Lane Lea studios, London, March 1971
Studio engineers: Mike Gray, Philip McDonald, Dave Stock
Mixed by Martin Birch
Warner Brothers WST 2717-C
1973 reissue
Side 1:
1 "Guitar" - Soloist: Albert Lee - 8:52
2 "Piano" - Soloist: Jon Lord -
3 "Drums" - Soloist: Ian Paice
Side 2:
4 "Vocals" - Soloist: Yvonne Elliman and Tony Ashton
5 "Bass guitar" - Soloist: Roger Glover
6 "Organ" - Soloist: Jon Lord
Production notes
Composed and scored by Jon Lord
Lyrics by Jon Lord
Recorded at Abbey Road and De Lane Lea studios, London, March 1971
Studio engineers: Mike Gray, Philip McDonald, Dave Stock
Mixed by Martin Birch
Warner Brothers WST 2717-C
1973 reissue
Credits
- Bass – Arthur Griffiths, Gordon Neal, John Cooper (4), John Duffy (4), Keith Marjoram, Pashanko Dimitroff, Robert Norris, Stuart Knussen
- Bass Guitar – Roger Glover
- Bassoon – Patrick Milne (2), Robert Bourton
- Cello – David Brown*, Douglas Cummings, Douglas Powrie, Graham Elliott, Jack Long, Kenneth Law, Maurice Meulien, Peter Muscant, Raymond Adams*, Thomas Storer
- Clarinet – Ronald Moore, Roy Jowitt
- Composed By, Score [Scored By], Lyrics By – Jon Lord
- Conductor – Malcolm Arnold
- Design [Front Cover] – Jim Willis, Westfore Design
- Drums – Ian Paice
- Engineer – Dave Stock, Martin Birch, Mike Gray, Philip McDonald
- Featuring – Albert Lee, Ian Paice, Jon Lord, Roger Glover, Tony Ashton, Yvonne Elliman
- Flute – Edward Beckett, Lowry Sanders
- Guitar – Albert Lee
- Harp – Osian Ellis, Renata Scheffelstein*
- Horn – Anthony Chidell, David Cripps, David Gray (6), Peter Civil, Robert Noble
- Management [Orchestral Manager] – Terence Palmer (2)
- Music Librarian [Librarian] – Henry Greenwood (3)
- Oboe – Anthony Camden, David Woolley (2), Harold Lythell
- Orchestra – London Symphony Orchestra*
- Other [Orchestral Attendant] – Donald Liddington
- Percussion – James Holland, John Lees (2), Kevin Nutty, Raymond Northcott*
- Photography By – Jane Jackson (2)
- Piano – Martin Reeves (2), Robert Nunn
- Piano, Organ – Jon Lord
- Timpani – Kurt Goedicke*
- Trombone – Frank Mathison, Peter Gane, Peter Goodwin
- Trumpet – Howard Snell, Norman Archibald, William Lang
- Tuba – John Fletcher (2)
- Viola – Alexander Taylor, Andrew Williams (10), William Jones*, Clarence Atkinson, David Chappell*, Eric Cuthbertson, George Robertson, Max Burwood, Michael Mitchell (3), Norris Bosworth, Paul Katz (3), William Krasnik, William Sumpton
- Violin [1st] – Basil Smart, Brian Thomas (4), Cyril Reuben (2), Dennis Gaines, Hans Geiger, Howard Ball, John Brown (2), John Georgiadis, Max Weber (2), Michael de Saulles*, Oliver Butterworth, Robert Retallick, Stanley Castle, Sydney Colter, Timothy Good*, Warwick Hill, William Martin (2)
- Violin [2nd] – Benedict Cruft*, David Measham, David Williams (8), Donald Stewart, Frederick Dyson, Ian McDonough, Julian Cummings, Martin Loveday, Reginald Larner, Samuel Artis, Simon Standage, Terence Morton, Thomas Cook, Thomas Swift
- Vocals – Tony Ashton, Yvonne Elliman
reel-to-reel tapes on eBay
Jon Lord died on July 16, 2012. The Guardian wrote an obituary on him on July 19 and quoted him as saying, 'We're as valid as anything by Beethoven."
Right on, Jon!
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