Homer Banks
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Homer Banks (August 2, 1941 – April 3, 2003) was an African American songwriter, singer and record producer. Although best known by many for his songwriting for
Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...
in the 1960s and 1970s, some of his own releases from the 1960s are considered classics on the Northern Soul scene. Many of the songs he wrote have become contemporary classics.


Life

Banks was born in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...
, United States, and at the age of 16 formed the Soul Consolidators gospel group which toured around the southern states, often performing his own material. After military service, he returned to Memphis in 1964, and started a singing career with the small Genie label where he met
Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...
and David Porter. Soon, Stax founder
Estelle Axton Estelle Axton (September 11, 1918 – February 24, 2004) was an American record executive and co-founder of Stax Records, along with her brother Jim Stewart. Biography Born in Middleton, Tennessee, Estelle Stewart grew up on a farm. She move ...
hired him to work at the record shop attached to the company's Satellite Studios, where he stayed for three years, also recording for the Minit label. His three consecutive releases "A Lot of Love" (often covered as "
Ain't That a Lot of Love "(Ain't That) a Lot of Love" is a 1966 song written by Homer Banks and Willia Dean Parker, and first released by Banks on Minit Records, titled "A Lot of Love". Simply Red version In 1999, British soul and pop band Simply Red made a cover of the ...
") and "60 Minutes of Your Love" (both 1966) and "Hooked By Love " (1967) all found success in England, eventually becoming Northern Soul classics. "A Lot of Love" formed the musical basis of the
Spencer Davis Group The Spencer Davis Group were a British band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (keyboards, guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). Their best known songs include the UK numbe ...
hit single "
Gimme Some Lovin' "Gimme Some Lovin" is a song first recorded by the Spencer Davis Group. Released as a single in 1966, it reached the Top 10 of the record charts in several countries. Later, ''Rolling Stone'' included the song on its list of the 500 Greatest So ...
" released in October 1966. Jim Stewart at Stax refused to give Banks a contract as a singer, but eventually Stax did give him a songwriting contract. He began working with co-writer Allen Jones, placing songs with
Johnnie Taylor Johnnie Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000) was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco. In 2022, Taylor ...
and
Sam and Dave Sam & Dave were an American soul and R&B duo who performed together from 1961 until 1981. The tenor (higher) voice was Sam Moore (born 1935) and the baritone/tenor (lower) voice was Dave Prater (1937–1988). Nicknamed "Double Dynamite", "The S ...
, and also writing " I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down", later a UK hit for
Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
. Banks had greater success with
the Staple Singers The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (April 11, 1934 – February 21 ...
, writing their first Stax single "Long Walk to DC", and then some of their biggest hits including "
If You're Ready (Come Go with Me) "If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)" is a song by the Staple Singers. Released from their album '' Be What You Are'', the single spent three weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' magazine's Hot Soul Singles chart in 1973. It peaked at number ...
". In 1968, he formed a songwriting trio with
Bettye Crutcher Bettye Jean Crutcher (September 16, 1939 – October 20, 2022) was an American songwriter. She was a staff writer for Stax Records.Peter Barker"Bettye Crutcher, Stax Records contributor and pioneering songwriter, dies at 83" ''Tennessee News'', ...
and Raymond Jackson, calling themselves We Three. Their first song was "Who's Making Love", which was recorded by Johnnie Taylor and became a # 3 pop hit and # 1 R&B hit, Stax's biggest. Banks also wrote, with Jackson and Carl Hampton, " (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", a song first recorded by
The Emotions ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
which became a hit when recorded by
Luther Ingram Luther Thomas Ingram (November 30, 1937 – March 19, 2007) was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. His most successful record, "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and No. 3 ...
, and later recorded by Isaac Hayes and
Millie Jackson Mildred Virginia Jackson (born July 15, 1944) is an American R&B and soul recording artist. Beginning her career in the early 1960s, three of Jackson's albums have been certified gold by the RIAA for over 500,000 copies sold. Jackson's songs o ...
and many other singers, including
Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artist ...
,
Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...
and
Cassandra Wilson Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female Jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed wi ...
. Banks' twin brother James also worked for Stax, co-writing the company's last big hit,
Shirley Brown Shirley Brown (born January 6, 1947, West Memphis, Arkansas) is an American R&B singer, best known for her million-selling single " Woman to Woman", which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975. Biography Brown was born in West Memphis, but ...
's " Woman to Woman". After Stax folded, Homer Banks and Carl Hampton signed a publishing deal with
A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...
and moved to California, where they continued to write but with less success. In 1977, as Banks and Hampton, they recorded the album ''Passport to Ecstasy'' for
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
. In the 1980s, Banks formed the Two's Company recording company with Lester Snell, which released albums by J. Blackfoot and Ann Hines. In 1983, Banks, Reginald Jenkins and Chuck Brooks formed Sound Town Records, Inc. and released the top twenty album on J. Blackfoot titled ''City Slicker''. It included the R&B top five single "Taxi" and also debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, which he wrote and produced with Chuck Brooks. Banks and Brooks also produced the ''Intimate Storm'' album on the Sound Town Records label, which included four singles that made the ''Billboard'' R&B chart. All of these songs were produced for World Production Company formed and owned by Banks, Reginald (Reggie) Jenkins and Chuck Brooks. Homer Banks died in Memphis of cancer, aged 61.


Compositions

With Carl Hampton, he co-wrote " I've Got a Feeling (We'll Be Seeing Each Other Again)", which was recorded by Al Wilson. The song was produced by Marc Gordon and arranged by
H.B. Barnum HB or Hb may refer to: Academia * H-b index, an extension of the h-index used in determining academic impact * H-B Woodlawn, a secondary education program in Arlington, Virginia, US * Hathaway Brown School, an all-girls private school in Shaker He ...
. The
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
"Be Concerned" was produced by Herbert Santifer. The record made it to number 43 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on July 26, 1976. Together, Banks and Hampton also wrote "(Too Little in Common to Be Lovers) Too Much Going to Say Goodbye" for The Newcomers (1974). The track was heavily sampled for Aaliyah's 2001 song "
I Care 4 U ''I Care 4 U'' is a posthumous compilation album by American singer Aaliyah. It was released on December 10, 2002, by Blackground Records and Universal Records. Following Aaliyah's death on August 25, 2001, Blackground decided to release a posthu ...
".


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Homer 1941 births 2003 deaths Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee American soul musicians African-American songwriters Northern soul musicians Deaths from cancer in Tennessee 20th-century American musicians Songwriters from Tennessee 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American people