| L.V. Banks | |
| Birth Date: | October 28, 1932 |
| Birth Place: | Stringtown, Mississippi, United States |
| Death Place: | Chicago, Illinois |
| Instrument: | Guitar, vocals |
| Genre: | Chicago blues, electric blues, soul blues |
| Occupation: | Guitarist, singer, songwriter |
| Years Active: | 1960s - 2011 |
| Label: | Wolf |
L.V. Banks (October 28, 1932 – May 2, 2011)[1] was an American Chicago blues and soul blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a respected club performer in Chicago for many years. He recorded two albums for Wolf Records.
Banks was born in Stringtown, Mississippi. He taught himself to play the guitar and fronted a blues band in Greenville, Mississippi. His musical influences included B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Milton.[2] Banks moved to St. Louis, Missouri,[1] before he was drafted into the U.S. Army. After his duty was over, in the early 1960s, he relocated to Chicago, Illinois.[3] He played on Maxwell Street and later was a regular fixture for over three decades in local clubs, particularly on the South Side.[1] [3] In the early 1990s, Banks acted as mentor to the then-teenaged blues musician Marty Sammon.[4]
Banks's debut album, Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear, was released in June 1998 on the Austrian label Wolf. John Primer played guitar on the album.[5] A second album, Ruby, was released by Wolf in 2000. It was his final album.[6]
He died of heart failure in the South Shore Hospital, in Chicago, in May 2011, aged 78. His son, Tre' is following his father's tradition as a Chicago-based blues musician.[1]
| Year | Title | Record label |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear | Wolf Records |
| 2000 | Ruby | Wolf Records |