Ian Gillan Purple. By 1969, after having released nine singles, none of which charted in the UK, and finding their style of music too restrictive for him, he decided to leave Episode Six. By spring 1969, Deep Purple had had a top 5 US hit with "Hush", but the band, particularly Ritchie Blackmore, Jon Lord and Ian Paice, decided their future lay in hard rock, rather than the psychedelic pop sound of the early band. In June 1969, Blackmore, Lord and Paice went to see Episode Six perform at a pub gig and subsequently offered Gillan the job as new lead singer,
Elysia (band) Studios for the recording. Thus, they never re-released the album, although they are on a Tribunal Records sampler. They found drummer Jacob Durrett (now playing drums in Fate) to fill in for a 10 Day tour with Impending Doom and Moria. After returning home they found Steven Sessler to play drums, who is still in the band today. Alex Porte left the band in the summer of 2007, less than a month before their first full US tour. With Zak Vargas now the sole original member, the band almost breaks up, but continues due to contractual obligations to perform. They