During a recent performance by Rockin’ Johnny Burgin here in my hometown area, in setting up a song about to be presented, Burgin talked a bit about L.V. Banks and his influence and blues style.  It got me to thinking about Banks and his music, and a couple of days later I pulled Banks’ two CDs from my collection and gave them a listen.  I’m glad that I did, because I was again made aware of the man’s high level of blues artistry.

Banks was born in late October, 1932 in Stringtown, Mississippi, a locale in Bolivar County in the state’s mid-northwestern area.  Not a lot of detail of Banks’ early years is available (as with so many of those blues practitioners who operated on the fringes of the music), but research generally affirms that he was a self-taught guitarist.  Further, it appears that his first working group was one he assembled in the Greenville, Mississippi area which was also located in the state’s mid-northwestern area near where he was born.

Many feel that Banks’ primary blues influence was B.B. King, but additional inspirations are said to also be artists from somewhat opposite ends of the blues spectrum; the more soulful and smoother Little Milton, and the rougher and more brash Howlin’ Wolf. 

At some point, Banks made the move northward to St. Louis, Missouri, and it was from there that he was drafted into the military with the U.S. Army.  Upon his discharge for the military, Banks made a decision to again move northward, this time to Chicago to immerse himself in the city’s vibrant and vast blues scene.  This would have been a time when Banks was in his very late 20s or early 30s. 

Once in Chicago, Banks went the route of both playing on the still lively Maxwell Street blues scene, while also simultaneously making inroads into the city’s pulsating blues club circuit.

Like any pursuit, but especially that found within Chicago’s highly competitive and tough blues scene, Banks worked extremely hard at his craft to eventually earn the approval of his peers and his ultimate faithful club crowds and supporters.  It was this initial drive and determination that forged the decades of loyal championing Banks enjoyed with his core audience.

It was in the late 1990s that a world beyond Chicago unfurled for the talented Banks, as he was able to record a collection entitled Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear for the Wolf Records label (an Austian-based imprint).  The 11-song collection included two covers (one each by Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters), along with nine originals.  The outing was quality through-and-through, highlighting Bank’s melodic and inventive guitar forays and assured vocals.  Sound production was clear, crisp, and punchy in a club-feel sort of way.  The overall effort was accentuated by additional guitar work by John Primer, Allen Batts on organ and piano, complementary horn work including that by Big James Montgomery on trombone, among that of other contributors.

It must be stressed that Banks always was glad to lend his mentorship to those seeking a helping hand with their own careers in the blues.

As Banks continued to play the Chicago club scene, yet another opportunity to record for Wolf Records led to the 2000 release of Ruby.  This 12-song collection was also a rollicking stroll through Banks’ considerable talents, and found him again teamed with Batts on piano, along with Michael Thomas on guitar, Dave Kay on bass, and Jerry Price on drums.  This was to be the last collection recorded by Banks, leaving his final legacy at two outings.

Banks continued to live in Chicago for 11 more years until he passed away from heart related issues at a southside hospital in May, 2011. 

Besides Banks’ all-too-brief but quality-laden recording career, the aforementioned Rockin’ Johnny Burgin paid his respects to Banks on his 2017 release entitled Neoprene Fedora, a West Tone Records label collection, where he offers Banks’ “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear.”

Tre’ Banks, a Chicago-based singer and guitarist who goes by the stage name “Tre’”, is the son of L.V. Banks, and is continuing his father’s blues stylings, though he originally found R&B and rock more to his liking.  That changed when he backed his father from 1981-1987.  He has released three collections to-date, one from JSP Records dating to 1996, and two for Wolf Records from 2008 and 2010.

L.V. Banks was once again one of those amazingly gifted journeyman Chicago bluesmen who shaped the city’s long heritage as a vast repository of blues wealth.  You will want to seek out his recordings and become fully informed about his wide-ranging blues skill set.

It is heartening that young blues lions such as Rockin’ Johnny Burgin count Banks as a blues and career inspiration.