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Geoff Honoured In Armenia |
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Wednesday, 07 October 2009 |
Armenia has honoured the 20th anniversary of the Rock Aid Armenia project. On October 1, Ian Gillan together with Tony Iommi, Geoff Downes and the project organiser Jon Dee arrived in Yerevan, Armenia to take part in the Armenia Grateful 2 Rock celebrations for their involvement in the 1989 remake of Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" and subsequent "Earthquake" compilation album.
The project raised substantial aid for the victims of the devastating Spitak earthquake of winter 1988 in which over 30,000 Armenians were killed and many more tens of thousands injured.
On October 2 they were received by the Prime Minister of the country who awarded them with the republic's Orders of Honour medals, the highest Armenian State Award that can be bestowed on foreign citizens. In addition to Gillan, Iommi, Downes and Dee, Dave Gilmour and Brian May were also decorated with the Order of Honour.
Ritchie Blackmore who also took part in Rock Aid Armenia (and as co-writer of the song with Gillan, Roger Glover, Ian Paice & Jon Lord) was awarded 'Honorary Medal of the Prime Minister of Armenia', along with other participants including Bryan Adams, Bruce Dickinson, Roger Taylor, Alex Lifeson, Paul Rodgers, Keith Emerson & Chris Squire.
Tennis stars and former Wimbledon champions Pat Cash & John McEnroe were also awarded with honorary medals for their 1990 remake of Led Zeppelin's classic 'Rock And Roll', together with Brian Eno & Roger Daltrey.
A letter from Geoff about the experience follows.
4th October, 2009
Hi All,
I’ve just returned to the UK from this very emotional visit to Armenia on the 20th Anniversary of Rock Aid Armenia.
The devastation caused by the 1988 Spitak Earthquake is still clearly evident for all to see, as many people are still housed in the temporary shelters which were built in the wake of the disaster over twenty years ago. Along with myself, Ian Gillan, Tony Iommi, Jon Dee (organiser of the Rock Aid Armenia project) and tennis champion Pat Cash we visited the northern parts of Armenia mostly affected by the earthquake.
A small music school in the town of Gyumri had been erected out of small shacks near the epicentre, and it proved to be a most humbling experience to see a group of students creating music under extremely adverse conditions. They badly need heating, instruments, electricity and facilities to continue with their work. It is something that we all take for granted, and it has now become a long-term project we intend to continue to help with, so these kids have the opportunity to create music in a proper environment. The original Rock Aid recordings and DVD are to be re-released next month with all the money generated being funnelled back into the fund. Tony Iommi also announced he will be re-recording a classic Black Sabbath song early next year, again with all the proceeds going to the music school. A tremendous gesture from the ‘godfather of heavy metal’.
In addition to the trip to site of the earthquake, we also visited the Genocide Museum in the capital, Yerevan. Again, this was a most moving experience as a part of history that was scarcely known to us became gruesomely documented. Over 1.5 million Armenians were brutally murdered by their Turkish neighbours in between the years of 1915-1917. A holocaust of great proportions, and another dreadful chapter in a country that has historically been torn by strife. The forboding image of Mount Ararat towers on the horizon, as if a constant reminder of historical oppression on the adjoining Turkish border.
But not to make light of all these sobering events, so it was onto other happier places for us to experience. We were all honoured by their government in the President’s Office with medals for our contributions to the Rock Aid Armenia project. That is a truly amazing honour and I will treasure the Order Of Honour medal presented to me by the Prime Minister of Armenia for the rest of my days. A visit to the local brandy factory, a trip to the oldest monastery in Armenia, dinner with the British Ambassador and a famous victory at the Yerevan Tennis Academy for yours truly over former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash - not seriously, but I did squeeze a point or two past him!
The hospitality of the Armenian people was unbelievable throughout, and I was privileged to be in great company with Ian, Tony, Jon & Pat. All great guys, living legends and true gentlemen.
The trip finished off with a presentation of the new DVD of ‘The Making Of Smoke On The Water’ in a city centre cinema watched by 500 rowdy Armenian rock fans. A country starved of rock music for so many years under Russian rule suddenly alive and appreciative of the universal language of music.
All round it was probably one of the greatest experiences I have ever been involved in, and I’m very much looking forward to returning there, hopefully to see further progress being achieved by Rock Aid Armenia and all our ongoing efforts in the future.
More information on where to download the ‘Smoke On The Water’ remix and make contributions will be shortly available once the website has finished construction. So please give generously when the time comes, as it is for an extremely worthwhile cause.
Best to you all,
Geoff |
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