RIP John Banks

[JSngry]

John Banks passed away early this morning. Very few, if any, of you here will know the name, the man, or the music, but he was one of those guys that once you gig with him, you want to always gig with him. A true eccentric in every regard (he's still the only Old School Brother I know who had a Beatle Wig, from 1964, no less, and who wore it well, especially on Halloween gigs), he a was also a natural talent, and could (and often enough, did), hold down a rhythm section role all by himself, just with his own two hands. Give him a good drummer, and hell, you had a decent gig right there. Give a him a GOOD drummer, and you had a FUN gig.

John was one of those guys who didn't know the"correct" changes to every song, but he pretty much knew every song, and the changes he played always worked, and he played with such a deep groove that singers and instrumentalists alike, people who did know the "correct" changes would call him for gigs just to get that feel. Some of the deepest grooving music I've evr played was with a tiro with me, John, and Chick Ramirez, a old-school cat who was playing R&B before it turned into Rock & Roll, just Chick shuffling all night on the drums and singing, John playing some off-brand keyboards walking an acoustic bass with his left hand and comping B-3 sounds in his right hand, and me just riding that groove all nigt playing solos and fills, and watching the dancers. There were nights when everybody was fully engaged (including the dancers) and it became a spiritual experience, watching and feeling it as it happened. For real.

Anyway...I first played with John in 1983, and last played with him this past summer. His health had been bad, and was really bad that last gig and...news of his death today was not a surprise. Then again, John was one of those guys who never really took care of himself (his eccentricities extended to things like what time the gig started, or even what day the gig was, or how he was going to get to or home from the gig...that last time, I gave him a ride home, and when we passed a Jack In The Box, he got hungry, and when we pulled up to the window, he was like, hey, can you get this? And I was all, you mean you're extending me the courtesy of an option? ). But he had been living like that for so long, it became easy to assume that it was never going to become a factor.

John is survived by at least two children (maybe more, seems like he mentioned at least one more? but I've met two of them, fine peoples both), lord knows how many ex-wives, and literally hundreds, if not thousands, of musicians who will never forget the character or the groove, as they in fact might well have been one and the same, and it is impossible to forget anything that strong.

You'll be missed, Dean.

Love,

Jerry

[Chuck Nessa]

Nice post. I "get" your loss.

[Joe]

Sad news. Saw him several times with Jim and Chick, the results never less than lively (and frequently more than that). And, IIRC. a few times with Pete Gallio on a Sunday afternoon grocery store gig (seriously).

[JSngry]

Yeah, the Mockingbird Kroger, right?

[Joe]

Yeah, the Mockingbird Kroger, right?

Yes indeed!