Genre: soul
Rating: 4 stars ****
Title: Here To Stay
Company: Volt
Catalog: VOS-6002
Year: 1970
Country/State: Mansfield, Ohio
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: strong edges and corners
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5044
Price: $110.00
1969 found Darrell Banks following producer/mentor Don Davis to Stax Records where he signed a contract with Stax subsidiary Volt. The combination of Banks Detroit soul moves and Volt's Memphis soul roots offered up an intriguing musical hybrid and the collaboration certainly got off to an impressive start in the form of Banks' first two singles for Volt:
- 1969's 'Beautiful Feeling' b/w 'No-One Blinder (Than a Man Who Won't See)' (Volt catalog number VOA-4026)
- 1969's 'I'm the One Who Loves You' b/w 'Just Because Your Love Is Gone' (Volt catalog number VOA-4014)
While neither single was a massive commercial success, Volt management was sufficiently impressed to finance an album. Recording sessions took place in both Detroit and Memphis, but before the album could be complete, in February 1970 Banks was killed in a confrontation with a Detroit policeman. While the details remain subject to controversy, the official story was that Banks was the victim of a tragic love triangle. Divorced and the father of two kids, Banks was seeing a local barmaid. The woman was apparently trying to end her relationship with Banks and had started to see a local policeman. Banks became aware of the relationship, confronted the two, pulled a gun on the woman and was shot dead by the cop.
1969's posthumous and ironically titled "Here To Stay" served as an impressive final release for Banks. With produced Davis tapping into both local Detroit songwriters (including Brothers of Soul members Fred Bridges and Richard Knight) and Memphis-based talents including Homer Banks, Bettye Crutcher and Raymond Jackson, the collection offered up a nice mix of Detroit and Memphis influences. While Banks wasn't soul's most distinctive singer (he occasionally recalled Sam Cooke, or Johnny Taylor), there was no faulting his work on tracks such as the should've-been-a-hit 'Forgive Me', the bluesy 'You Don't Know What To Do' and 'I Could Never Hate Her'. Surrounded by uniformly strong material, the entire album was worth hearing, including his covers of such well known hits as Jerry Butler's 'Only the Strong Survive' and Soloman Burke's 'When a Man Loves a Woman'. As for which influence wins the contest, while it's hard to pick one over the other, if pushed I'd go with the four Memphis oriented selections - 'Just Because Your Love Has Gone', the killer 'We'll Get Over', 'When A Man Loves A Woman' and 'Beautiful Feeling'. Nice, nice, nice ...
"Here To
Stay" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Just Because Your Love Is Gone (We Three aka Raymond Jackson - Bettye Crutcher - Homer Banks) - 3:34
2.) Forgive Me (Melvin Davis - Don Davis) - 2:21
3.) Only the Strong Survive (K. Campbell - Leon Huff - Jerry Butler) - 3:07
4.) You Don't Know What To Do (Fred Bridges - Richard Knight) - 2:20
5.) When a Man Loves a Woman (C. Lewis - A. Wright) - 3:04
6.) We'll Get
Over (We Three - aka Raymond
Jackson - Bettye Crutcher - Homer Banks)
- 2:33
(side
2)
1.) Beautiful Feeling (Fred Bridges - Richard Knight - B.
Eaton) - 3:16
2.) I Could Never Hate Her (C. WIlson) - 2:18
3.) Never Alone (Don Davis) - 2:48
4.) No-One Blinder (Than a Man Who Won't See) (Don Davis - H. Ross) - 2:52
5.) My Love Is Reserved (C. Wilson) - 2:41
There's an excellent Banks website located at:
http://www.soulfuldetroit.com/web09-darrell%20banks/db%20story/darrellbanks