This picture of L.V. Banks by Joe of Joe's Corner (http://www.joes-corner.de/)Bill Gilmore, proprietor of Bill's Blues Bar in Evanston, IL, is fond of guitarist/vocalist L.V. Banks. The South Side bluesman hits Bill's Blues every 6 weeks or so. He was holding down the middle of the evening on this past Saturday (between the indie rock group and the reggae D.J. that came on after midnight). If you like your blues raw, unpolished, gritty and loose, L.V. is your guy. By the way, Mr. L.V. Banks is not related to the late, great Chico Banks (I checked with L.V. last night).
He is no youngster - he celebrated his 76th birthday this year. L.V. arrived in Chicago in the 1960's from Greenville, Mississippi - he is in the second generation of Delta blues artists that came to Chicago to try to make a living; about the same age as Buddy Guy and Eddy Clearwater. In L.V.'s case, stardom didn't come knocking. He has played the clubs in Chicago for over 40 years; he finally got his first record out in 1995. The second disc was released in 2000 (both were issued by Wolf Records, a European label). That is the sum total of his recorded output over four decades as far as I know. L.V.'s son, Tre' Hardiman, is one of the "young gun" blues guitarists in town - yeah, the apple don't fall far from the tree.
L.V. Banks and the Swingin' Blues Band is a casual group. They kick off their songs in a relaxed fashion and build the groove around L.V.'s stinging guitar tone and effective vocal style. Banks likes to banter with the crowd ("So what y'all want to hear next? Fast or slow blues?"). The band stuck to the Chicago blues repetoire - "Hoochie Coochie Man" was covered; so was "Rock Me Baby." An attempt to fulfill a request for an Al Green tune ("Love and Happiness) ended badly. But the band's blues was as real as it gets.
L.V. and I know each other, a little, so he called me up and I played harp and sang a couple of tunes. Mr. Banks is a gentleman and it was a joy to play with him - a very comfortable experience on a very cold night.
Anyone in Chicago that loves pure blues needs to see L.V. Banks. His music used to be played in every other tavern on the South Side in the 1950's and 1960's. Catch him before he is gone...
LV Banks is one of the baddest guys around. It's an overused cliche, he truly is one of the most under-recognized guys around! His CD's a very nice.
ReplyDeleteTre' last name isn't Hardiman. It's just Tre'. Ask him and he'll tell you. His recordings are really nice, too.
Yeah, I agree with you about L.V. He is like strong coffee with grounds at the bottom of the cup.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, I confirmed Tre's last name via Google search - http://www.answers.com/topic/tre-hardiman
Mr. G
Re the Tre' thing: It was printed in Living Blues that way.
ReplyDeleteI had some photos of him on my web site. I used the name Tre' Hardiman on the web site. A few months later, I received an e-mail from him and he told me his last name wasn't Hardiman. He said the Living Blues article was wrong. He said, "My name is Tre'. Just Tre'. One name. One game. That's blues."
I built up a web site for home back around 1998. He changed his e-mail address a few times and I lost track of him.
I saw him at Artis's sitting in with Billy Branch and the SOB's.
He used to play at Artis's on Sundays after JW Williams stopped working there. I haven't seen him in years. I don't get back to Chicago as much as I used to.
Thanks for keeping this blog going. It's nice to keep track of what's going on back home.
Happy Holidays!
come out to:
ReplyDeleteL.V. Banks Birthday Celebration Party@
Checker Board Lounge 773.684.1472
5201 S. Harper
October 28th, Wednesday
9pm -1:30am
Live Blues and Food*