- Bessie Banks
Bessie Banks is an American
soul singer, probably best known for her original recording of theMoody Blues ’ hit song “Go Now”.She was born Bessie White in
North Carolina , and later raised inBrooklyn ,New York . By the mid-1950s, she began singing with a quartet called Three Guys and a Doll. While a member of the group, she met and married singer Larry Banks. She performed and recorded as Toni Banks during the mid-'50s, including the single "You're Still in My Heart", on which she was backed by TheFour Fellows .Taking back the name Bessie Banks, she recorded as a solo singer in the first half of the 1960s, starting with "Do It Now" in 1963 on the Spokane Records label. In 1964, Larry and Bessie decided to make a new push to establish her with a song that Larry had written specifically for the purpose of breaking her nationally: "Go Now."
Jerry Leiber andMike Stoller produced the recording, which appeared on their Blue Cat label, the R&B/soul imprint of Red Bird.The success of The
Moody Blues ’ cover version overshadowed her later career. In subsequent years, she recorded singles for the Verve and Volt labels, and continued to release records into the mid-1970s, including “The Best Is Yet To Come”.Larry Banks also recorded under his own name, and both recorded with and produced his second wife Joan, who recorded as
Jaibi .
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