HPR All Things Considered host Dave Lawrence welcomes back Deep Purple's talented keyboardist, Don Airey, who has a new solo album, "Pushed to the Edge." Don has a wild history, with experience in Ozzy Osbourne's band, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Jethro Tull and many other projects over the years. He's been with Deep Purple for over two decades now.
The chat takes us back to Don's classical inspirations, organ heroes like Booker T and Jimmy Smith, heartwarming encounters between his parents and Ozzy Osbourne, and lots more!
It is a revealing chat, including among music history-related revelations, that Ozzy Osbourne guitarist, the late Randy Rhodes, was such a fan of a then-current Pat Metheny album that he and Ozzy's band even tried playing some of it at soundchecks! It's stories like that which help us understand these artists! Among the most diverse array of musical references in any interview of memory!
MORE DON:
Hear the complete new half-hour interview:
Hear Don's 2021 chat with Dave:
Hear Dave speaking with Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan in 2006 and 2007, bassist Roger Glover in 2001, and guitarist Steve Morse in 1994 and 2020.
