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Biography
other usesRefimprove|date=September 2010Infobox musical artist| name = Episode Six| image =| alt =| caption = (L-R) Graham Carter, Mick Underwood, Ian Gillan, Sheila Carter, Tony Lander, Roger Glover| image_size =| background =group_or_band| alias = Sheila Carter & Episode Six The Sheila Carter Band (early 1970s)| origin = Harrow, Greater London|Harrow , London , England | genre = Pop music|Pop , Pop rock | years_active =Start date|1964 –1969 1969 - 1974 (unofficially)| label = Pye Records , Decca Records|Decca | associated_acts = Deep Purple | past_members = Sheila Carter-Dimmock Tony Lander Graham Carter-Dimmock Roger Glover Harvey Shield Andy Ross Ian Gillan John Kerrison Mick Underwood John Gustafson (musician)|John Gustafson Tony Dangerfield Dave Lawson Episode Six was a British people|British vocal rock and roll|pop-rock group during the mid 1960s. The band was not well known, but foreshadowed the arrival of Deep Purple in late 1960s. Episode Six was formed in July 1964 by former members of The Lightnings; Sheila Carter-Dimmock, Graham Carter-Dimmock and Andy Ross, and former members of The Madisons; Roger Glover , Tony Lander and Harvey Shield.
Career
In early 1964 they got an agency and more work came in, though they could only play shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as Harvey Shield was still at school (Lawry Geller would sometimes stand in for him), and the others had college and work. Prompted by their agency, they decided to choose a new name and rechristened themselves Episode Six, inspired by a novel called Danish Episode (though they sometimes used both names where people knew the old one).
They rehearsed at the Carter family home twice a week - without amplifiers - and Sheila's father drove them to gigs. The band all (except Sheila) wore smart white shirts and The Beatles|Beatles -style leather waistcoats, and via their booking agents there was soon plenty of work further afield. They could have done more, but because Harvey wanted to finish at school they held off. Nevertheless, they soon started doing demos for a record deal, and then did a season in Germany in early 1965, after which Andy Ross left.
The band had already checked out Ian Gillan in a group called Wainwright's Gentlemen and now asked him to join. Prior to this he'd been with The Javelins, a popular local group, from 1961. Ian Gillan's arrival coincided with the band getting a record deal with Pye Records and in July they turned professional, giving up college and jobs. They were doing an average of twenty shows a month from July '65 onwards and cut their first single, The Hollies ' " Put Yourself in My Place (The Hollies song)|Put Yourself In My Place " before the end of the year. It was released in early 1966.
The band were booked by Wonderful Radio London|Radio London to appear at one of their big open-air summer shows in May 1966 alongside David Bowie and issued more singles during the year, all of which failed to chart. In September 1966 the group played on the Dusty Springfield package tour and did a weekly residency at the Marquee Club during October. There was also the first solo single from Sheila; "I Will Warm Your Heart" in November 1966. The year climaxed with a long Christmas season in Beirut (where they topped the local chart) through December and January.
The group had by now built up an impressive repertoire of covers and originals and would vary their sets according to the audiences. They were also beginning to do sessions for the BBC . They did a mini tour of London parks (organised by the Greater London Council ) in mid-June 1967, performing two 45 minute sets, and played for four weeks in Germany. On their return Harvey left the group as the touring was telling on his health.
New drummer John Kerrison had previously been in Johnny Kidd & The Pirates|The Pirates (with Nick Simper ). With him onboard Episode Six were soon back in Germany doing clubs, and returned there early in the new year.
The group got a new record deal with MGM Records and shortened their name to The Episode, releasing "Little One" in May 1968 (their only single under the new name). They did three UK TV shows to promote this and recorded dozens of tracks for radio sessions over the year, including the new Radio 1 Club. However they were not getting along with their new drummer, who was eventually fired. A replacement had already been chosen: ex- The Outlaws (UK band)|Outlaws drummer Mick Underwood .
Their September 1968 single 'Lucky Sunday' became their eighth chart miss, despite some good reviews. "Mozart Vs The Rest" followed in February 1969. This was issued in response to hundreds of calls to BBC Radio 1 after the band performed it on air. Sadly this happened too late for it to chart.
The band made a start on a début album but it was never finished. In June 1969 Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord came to see Episode Six play live in London, and then offered Ian Gillan a job in Deep Purple. Roger Glover helped Deep Purple out on a studio session and was also asked to join them. The pair helped Episode Six fulfil existing bookings while rehearsing with Deep Purple.
Episode Six carried on for a time with John Gustafson (musician)|John Gustafson on bass and vocals. Sheila rehearsed with Pete Robinson, John Gustafson and Mick Underwood as a quartet, before they formed the trio Quatermass. Episode Six then played for a while with Sheila, Tony Lander, Dave Lawson (later of Greenslade ) and Tony Dangerfield on bass. By the end of the year they were billed as Episode Six with Sheila Carter and then The Sheila Carter Band, and this continued off and on (mostly with gigs abroad) until 1974 with Sheila as the constant, before she went into session work.
A couple of singles recorded by Episode Six for Pye Records have been produced by Tony Reeves , a renowned bassist and one of founder members of Colosseum (band)|Colosseum .
The Complete Episode Six: The Roots of Deep Purple (1991)
BBC Radio 1 Live 1998/1969 (1997)
Cornflakes and Crazyfoam (2002)
Love, Hate, Revenge (2005)
: Compilation albums of songs recorded between 1965 and 1969
References
External links
discogs artist
http://www.deep-purple.net/tree/episode-six/episode-six-1.html deep-purple.net Episode Six members 1964-1969
http://deep-purple.net/pre-purple/episode6.htm deep-purple.net Episode Six discography
Category:British pop music groups Category:Musical groups established in 1964 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1969 Category:Pye Records artists
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Copyright Citations
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