Por que Jon Lord se aposentou

Jon Lord, o mestre dos teclados, deu uma entrevista de quatro páginas à revista inglesa Classic Rock, falando sobre os motivos de ter saído do Purple. Fala pouco sobre o que vai fazer agora, mas fala com muito carinho da forma como saiu do Purple. Não vou traduzir agora por falta de tempo, mas abaixo vão alguns trechos:

Why did you decide to retire?
"I'd seriously been considering the idea of leaving for a couple of years. In fact, I started to think about it since the 'Concerto' anniversary tour. I began thinking that I'd be 60 soon, and that might be a good time to finish. The main reason was the travelling. Nothing will ever come close to the joy that I've had playing on stage with that band. I've always enjoyed it and I'll take away some truly great memories"

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Did you indicate to the rest of the members of Deep Purple how you were feeling
"I'd actually gone to the band three years ago and suggested that we all took a little more time for personal projects; I told them that I wasn't comfortable with the amount of touring that was being discussed. And the response I got back was a very friendly one, but it was : "Jon, that's not how we see it". So I soldiered on for a bit longer.
But then I injured my knee. And in a way it almost turned out providentially, because it gave me some time at home while the rest of the guys were out on the road. It was like a little snapshot of what things would be like [if I quit]. And it wasn't all that bad. But it was quite weird. At about nine o'clock each night my fingers started twitching and I ran around the house looking for a Hammond [organ] to play"

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What about the claim that you'd looked "bored and disinterested" during Purple's last UK tour?
That was absolutely untrue. And I saw some responses to it on the internet from people wanting to know where that description had appeared. I wasn't bored and disinterested, I was actually having a whale of a time. The only problem was that I also had the virus that eventually brought the tour to an end, so for about five or six of the concerts that eventually ended at Hammersmith I was going on stage with a temperature of 102 degrees and feeling like complete crap. So I'd plead that in my defence. The knowledge that it was to be my Purple swansong made it a little bit sad, but it also brought a certain poignancy that I found myself enjoying it in a rather odd way.

Did the rest of the band know by then?
Oh yes. At the beginning of the last tour, in Dublin in February, we had a stunning first night, one of our best ever. I was sitting in the bar afterwards with some Irish friends, and Ian Gillan came over and gave me a big hug. He said 'Listen, I know this is gonna be your last tour, but if you ever change your mind you can [come back].' I told him 'No Ian, I think this is it.' And he said: 'Well, do what you feel you have to do and we'll always love you.' So that was a nice emotional moment.