THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
982) Episode Six — “Jak D’Or”
This ’69 B-side is an ultra-hip and “[g]roovy” (Sids60sSounds, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY_VhAMaZBs) near-instrumental from Episode Six’s (see #811) last single before Ian Gillan and Roger Glover left to join Deep Purple. Why they didn’t score hits is a mystery. As Bruce Eder says:
[T]his reviewer is at a loss to explain how Episode Six never managed to chart a record, even in England . . . . [The band recorded] solidly commercial and eminently listenable British pop/rock of its era, and very nicely done . . . . [T]his is the one precursor unit to Deep Purple that should have charted records in the middle/late ’60s.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/love-hate-revenge-mw0000700513
As to the Six, Richie Unterberger tells us that:
Most famous for including bassist Roger Glover and singer Ian Gillan before they joined Deep Purple, Episode Six managed to release no less than nine British singles between 1966 and 1969 without coming close to a hit record or establishing a solid identity. Also prominently featuring organist/singer Sheila Carter-Dimmock, the group’s 1966-1967 singles were rather light pop/rock harmony numbers, with an occasional ballad and a bit of a soul influence. Light years removed from Deep Purple, Episode Six was nothing if not eclectic in their choice of material, trying their hands at numbers by the Hollies, the Beatles, the Tokens, and Charles Aznavour, as well as a British hot-rod tune (written by Glover). While their repertoire lacked focus, their singles were actually pleasant and their fine cover of Tim Rose’s “Morning Dew” would have been a deserving hit. In 1967, they began to fuse pop and psychedelia with reasonably impressive results, especially the single “I Can See Through You” (written by Glover), one of the finest British psychedelic obscurities. Their final two singles showed the band going in a much more progressive direction and anticipating some of the most indulgent art rock of the ’70s with “Mozart Versus the Rest [the A-side to today’s song],” which assaulted one of the composer’s most famous riffs with manic electric guitars. Episode Six folded in 1969, after Gillan and Glover had joined Deep Purple.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/episode-six-mn0000662154/biography
And Vernon Joynson adds:
In April 1969 the band entered the studio to begin recording tracks for a long-delayed album . . . but it wasn’t to be. Ian Gillan was lured away to replace Deep Purple’s departing vocalist Rod Evans and Roger Glover joined . . . a few days later.
The Tapestry of Delights Revisited
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