The Lost Soul

Born Darrell Eubanks on July 25, 1937 in Mansfield, Ohio, he was raised in Buffalo where he began singing Gospel music in church, before switching to secular music with two local groups calling themselves The Daddy B Combo and The Grand Prix. Now calling himself Darrell Banks, his first appearance on record came in 1966 with Lebaron Taylor's small and short-lived Detroit label called Revilot. In fact, he had both the first release and first hit for the label when Open The Door To Your Heart shot to # 2 R&B/# 27 Billboard Pop Hot 100 that summer on Revilot 201 b/w Our Love (Is In The Pocket).

That turned out to be one of just four hits for Revilot before it ceased operations in 1969, the second also being a Darrell Banks offering, Somebody (Somewhere) Needs You which finished at # 34 R&B/# 55 Hot 100 in November 1966 on Revilot 203 b/w Baby What'cha Got (For Me?). Taylor also introduced the subsidiary Solid Hit records which released 12 sides in 1966/67 without producing a hit. The overall lack of charted hits for the two labels owes much to the fact Taylor was operating on a limited budget where promotion was concerned and that, in turn, more or less underscores the significance of the accomplishment by Banks and the quality of the voice of this pure Northern Soul vocalist, especially when you consider that the other two hits came from The Parliaments in 1967 - (I Wanna) Testify and All Your Goodies Are Gone (The Loser's Seat). And they are in the R&R Hall Of Fame.

In 1967 he switched to the Atco subsidiary of the much larger Atlantic Records but strangely, despite the quality of the two singles released there that year - Here Come The Tears/I've Got That Feelin' (Atco 6471) and Angel Baby (Don't You Ever Leave Me)/Look Into The Eyes Of A Fool (Atco 6484) - not to mention Atlantic's ability to promote - neither could make any national charts, although the follow-up 1967 LP did fairly well: Darrell Banks Is Here (Atco 33-216) containing Here Come The Tears, I've Got That Feelin', I'm Gonna Hang My Head And Cry, Look Into The Eyes Of A Fool/Our Love (Is In The Pocket), Open The Door To Your Heart, Angel Baby (Don't You Ever Leave Me), Somebody (Somewhere) Needs You), Baby What'cha Got (For Me), You Better Go. The four Revilot sides were included here. In 1968 he released I Wanna Go Home/The Love Of My Woman on Cotillion 44006, another of Atlantic's subsidiaries, without success.

A move to the Stax/Volt operation in 1969 produced two unsuccessful singles - Just Because Your Love Is Gone/I'm The One Who Loves You (Volt 4014) and Beautiful Feeling/No One Blinder (Than A Man Who Won't See) (Volt 4026), as well as the 1969 LP Here To Stay (Volt 6002) containing Just Because Your Love Is Gone, Forgive Me, Only The Strong Survive, Don't Know What To Do, When A Man Loves A Woman, We'll Get Over, Beautiful Feeling, I Could Never Hate Her, Never Alone, No One Blinder (Than A Man Who Won't See), My Love Is Strictly Reserved (For You).

And that, with the exception of two previously unreleased sides - I'm Knockin' At Your Door (Please Let Me In) and The Harder You Love - was the extent of his brief recording career. Like Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye, and eerily reflecting the titles of some of his recordings, his life was cut short on February 24, 1970 at age 33 when, after pointing a gun at an off-duty Detroit cop who was allegedly having an affair with Banks' girlfriend, he was fatally wounded in the neck.

This 1997 release by the U.K. outlet Goldmine Gold Supply pulls together all his recordings, including the two previously unreleased sides, and while the sound quality is good, there is room for improvement. But until something better comes along, this is easily the best Darrell Banks compilation available.

Some really great songs here. Tones of Otis & possibly Sam Moore in Darrell's singing voice, with a gentler touch. The guy met a sad end as detailed in the sleeve notes but this music is his legacy. Truly, well worth the money.

I'm the Only One Who Loves You [Version One], Open the door to your heart, Our love is in the pocket etc etc, what can we say. Ordered on the 6th December for my wife to open on the 25th December, and it arrived in time for her to do that. Great album, beautiful tunes and you can feel in each track the love and hurt Darrell felt. Lost a good soul voice.