Keyboardist Don Airey shared his amazing life journey through the world of metal in an interview with Rolling Stone
asked him to sub for Jon Lord for a handful of European gigs. That stint led to a permanent position in the band that has included six studio albums and countless journeys around the globe. Their newest album is the covers collection where they put a Deep Purple spin on songs like Bob Dylan’s “Watching the River Flow” and Bob Seger’s “Lucifer.
I saw the Spencer Davis Group with Stevie Winwood. I remember thinking, “God, he’s not much older than me.” Well, he wasn’t. He was a month older than me. But I’ll never forget his singing or his organ playing. It was just fantastic. When I was in music college in Manchester, I sort of supported myself by playing in the nightclubs. I’d do three or four nights every week. I’d back the singers. I’d back comedians. I’d write parts for the horn players. It was a great experience.
He was a fantastic musician, much better than anybody really credited him for. He caught onto things very quick. He had great ideas about everything, and he was a lovely bloke. That year I spent with him on the road playing British dancehalls on the back of the pop hits, it was just a wonderful experience. We were a really good band.
It was kind of overwhelming sometimes. We never really got it down on record, but the live shows … I still have people coming to see me at Purple gigs telling me they were at a Colosseum II gig somewhere and they still hadn’t gotten over it. We used to just get onstage and explode, especially Gary. He was unbelievably talented. He had this wild side to him, and he just used to let go on these musical adventures. It was very thrilling, if you could keep up with him.
It was a weird time for the band. They were about to part ways with Ozzy. Did you sense any of that tension? This is the punk era where a lot of bands were modernizing their sounds to survive. Do you think that’s what Ritchie was trying to do? Out they went and Ozzy came back after half an hour. We played him what we’d done and he was like, “It was like you plugged into my head.” That was that. I then added a few bits and pieces to the actual track. But there wasn’t a lot you could do with that track. The guitar just said everything. I didn’t want to spoil it.I only played on four or five tracks. I played on “Goodbye to Romance.” I put that trumpet thing on at the end. I also played on “Revelation ” and “Suicide Solution.
We were all in terrible shock, but we eventually started to try and find a replacement guitarist. What do you do? You have to carry on. We ended up in L.A. and we auditioned various people, none of which were very suitable.came in for a few gigs, but he just got overwhelmed by everyone being so upset. It just affected him. He said he couldn’t work like that.
If Randy liked something when I played it on the tape, he’d let out this laugh. I knew I was doing alright. He was a lovely guy to work with, but he was also a very imposing figure. He knew what he wanted, and he was a force to be reckoned with. We get there and it was like a scene from the Bible. I think there were 400,000 people there, maybe more, and it was very dry. There was this red dust in the air from where people were walking. It looked like something from a biblical epic. It was very hot and they had hoses at the front of the stage that they sprayed over the audience all the time to cool everyone down.
But it was all going on with them, I have to say. They kidnapped me and took me on their tour bus one night. I went overnight on it. [I don’t know how they did it. It just seemed to give them more energy the more they did. Of course, their record was flying up the charts. It was exciting being around them.
I remember we went to Japan. We did this amazing gig with Jake. It was just a fantastic occasion. The fans were glad to see us, and we were glad to see them, and Ozzy was in top form. That night I got the most dreadful phone call that my mother had died. I went down and told Ozzy. He was at breakfast. He said, “We better have a drink for the old girl.” He ordered a couple brandies and calmed me down. Then he said, “You’re going home. That’s what you’re doing. You’re not staying.
It was a funny old job. They keyboard was pretty limited to two or three tracks. I had to put a bit of a Moog bass on a few tracks because Ian Hill was quite ill. I think he wasn’t available. I did a little bit of bass playing on it, which I think made the album. I’m not so sure. I was never supposed to reveal it, I don’t think.
A miracle happened and he got cured. My son Michael is now my keyboard tech in Purple. They just promoted him to production manager. Let’s hope he doesn’t want to fire the keyboard player as his first act. [I was working on some orchestral things for a festival. I had four arrangements to do with a very tight deadline, and Roger Glover phoned me up. He said, “What are you doing this weekend?” I said, “I’m just home.” He said, “Jon [Lord] has had to go into hospital.
They were very encouraging. It was one of the greatest tours I’ve ever done in my life, standing in for Jon Lord. It went from three gigs to 24 gigs. Jon never came back to the band.Yeah. I finished the tour. It was two days before 9/11. It was Sept. 9. I enjoyed the tour, but never for a minute did I think that Jon would leave. I don’t know how anybody could leave a band like that. It was beyond me. That’s as good as things get. It’s great music, great players. The management was very together.
Yeah. I joined in 2002. They didn’t make me a full member until 2006. The thing is, I think I was making too much money. I feel like I was making more than some of them. I was doing it for a fixed fee, which I was very happy about it. But sometimes the tours were losing money, and I wasn’t. [But in 2006, I had a couple of other offers. Judas Priest wanted me to go on thetour since I’d done the album with them. Gary Moore was making overtures to me. He wanted me back in his band.
Lars Ulrich couldn’t have been nicer to us. He gave us a nice intro. We went on and played “Hush.” When I came off, Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers Some fans were upset the Hall of Fame didn’t bring you in. There are other bands with members who joined very, very recently, and they got in. I’m thinking of Josh Klinghoffer with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Reeves Gabrels with the Cure, but there are many others. You’ve been there 20 years.