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IAN GILLAN: WHOLE SONG WAS ABOUT DEPARTING AND JON SPEAKING TO US FROM WHEREVER
September 27, 2013 | 01:22
YEREVAN. - Above and Beyond will be the third single from Deep Purple's
brand new LP Now What?!, with the release of the single due on October
25. The song pays tribute to the band's late keyboardist Jon Lord.
A month ahead, he has been honored in the Armenian city of Gyumri,
where he arrived to attend the opening ceremony of a completely rebuilt
music school. Schoolchildren will now take their piano classes in
Jon Lord room.
Lord was always there to help his bandmate Gillan with charity actions
for Armenia, including the 1989 rendition of Smoke on the Water as a
single. Later he contributed to the super group WhoCares, along with
Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, lead guitarist of HIM Mikko Lindstrom,
ex-Metallica's bassist Jason Newsted, and Iron Maiden's drummer
Nicko McBrain (Iommi and McBrain are both old-timers with projects
for Armenia: Iommi contributed to the 1989 single, and McBrain played
at the final Rock Aid Armenia project, remake of Led Zeppelin's Rock
and Roll in 1991).
In 2011, WhoCares recorded a single, Out of My Mind/Holy Water, for
Armenian relief. The proceeds were used to rebuild the music school
in Gyumri, the second-largest city in Armenia and one of the most
severely affected by the 1988 earthquake.
>From 1989 onwards, for a whole generation of Armenian rock fans,
Gillan has been the face of the charity efforts of rock musicians
for Armenia, including Rock Aid Armenia in 1989-91. But Gillan never
showcased his role with the project. At the opening ceremony in
Gyumri he once again told that he was "only a face of the project"
and acknowledged others for their input, including fellow musicians.
Seeing Jon Lord's piano room was very special for Gillan. Jon's
presence, he told, was "very tangible" at Now What?! sessions.
"Actually there's no particular song that's dedicated to him,
although one particular song, Above and Beyond, became pretty much
Jon's property, because the lyrics are about parting," he told the
Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent.
"I did some notes about love going away or somebody going on a long
journey, but Jon died during the process of making a song, so I wrote
the lines: 'Souls having touched are forever entwined.' I mean somehow
that was Jon, and the whole song was about departing and Jon speaking
to us from wherever up above. His presence became very tangible at
that time," Gillan said.
Speaking of the piano room at the school, he added: "Jon's spirit is
here as well."
http://news.am/eng/news/173101.html
September 27, 2013 | 01:22
YEREVAN. - Above and Beyond will be the third single from Deep Purple's
brand new LP Now What?!, with the release of the single due on October
25. The song pays tribute to the band's late keyboardist Jon Lord.
A month ahead, he has been honored in the Armenian city of Gyumri,
where he arrived to attend the opening ceremony of a completely rebuilt
music school. Schoolchildren will now take their piano classes in
Jon Lord room.
Lord was always there to help his bandmate Gillan with charity actions
for Armenia, including the 1989 rendition of Smoke on the Water as a
single. Later he contributed to the super group WhoCares, along with
Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, lead guitarist of HIM Mikko Lindstrom,
ex-Metallica's bassist Jason Newsted, and Iron Maiden's drummer
Nicko McBrain (Iommi and McBrain are both old-timers with projects
for Armenia: Iommi contributed to the 1989 single, and McBrain played
at the final Rock Aid Armenia project, remake of Led Zeppelin's Rock
and Roll in 1991).
In 2011, WhoCares recorded a single, Out of My Mind/Holy Water, for
Armenian relief. The proceeds were used to rebuild the music school
in Gyumri, the second-largest city in Armenia and one of the most
severely affected by the 1988 earthquake.
>From 1989 onwards, for a whole generation of Armenian rock fans,
Gillan has been the face of the charity efforts of rock musicians
for Armenia, including Rock Aid Armenia in 1989-91. But Gillan never
showcased his role with the project. At the opening ceremony in
Gyumri he once again told that he was "only a face of the project"
and acknowledged others for their input, including fellow musicians.
Seeing Jon Lord's piano room was very special for Gillan. Jon's
presence, he told, was "very tangible" at Now What?! sessions.
"Actually there's no particular song that's dedicated to him,
although one particular song, Above and Beyond, became pretty much
Jon's property, because the lyrics are about parting," he told the
Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent.
"I did some notes about love going away or somebody going on a long
journey, but Jon died during the process of making a song, so I wrote
the lines: 'Souls having touched are forever entwined.' I mean somehow
that was Jon, and the whole song was about departing and Jon speaking
to us from wherever up above. His presence became very tangible at
that time," Gillan said.
Speaking of the piano room at the school, he added: "Jon's spirit is
here as well."
http://news.am/eng/news/173101.html