Peter Banks

Early life

Peter William Brockbanks was born in Chipping Barnet in north London, on 15 July 1947, and raised in 37 Alston Road. His father William was an optical mechanic and his mother Ellen a cleaner. He attended Barnet Secondary School, followed by Barnet College of Further Education. Lonnie Donegan was Banks' first major musical influence and inspired him to take up the guitar at around 8 years of age. His parents bought him his records to listen to as well as his first guitar, an acoustic model which he later said "was practically unplayable". His first electric guitar was a Gretsch Tennessean. Banks studied art and once had an ambition of becoming a zookeeper, but decided against it when he learned the job had unfavourable hours, and pursued music. Banks also cited guitarist David O'List and Pete Townshend as an influence in his early period.

Career

Early career and Yes

Banks started as rhythm guitarist in the Nighthawks, a local group, in 1963. His first gig took place at the New Barnet Pop Festival. In the following year he left to join the Devil's Disciples with John Tite on vocals, Ray Alford on bass, and Malcolm "Pinnie" Raye on drums. They recorded two covers on an acetate, Arthur Alexander's "You Better Move On" and Graham Gouldman's "For Your Love", which became a hit record for the Yardbirds one year later. It was Banks' first visit in a recording studio, during which he wore headphones and experienced stereo sound for the first time. He found the experience "totally terrifying", and was so traumatised that he started having doubts if he could carry on playing the guitar and work in another studio again. In 1965 Banks joined the freakbeat group the Syndicats, replacing guitarist Ray Fenwick.

After leaving the Syndicats, Banks joined the Syn which at the time included Chris Squire on bass, Andrew Pryce Jackman on keyboards, Steve Nardelli on vocals, and Gunnar Hákonarson on drums. They recorded two singles, "Created by Clive"/"Grounded" and "Flowerman"/"14 Hour Technicolour Dream", both in 1967, before they split. Later that year, Banks and Squire joined Mabel Greer's Toyshop with Clive Bayley on rhythm guitar and vocals and Bob Hagger on drums. In the spring of 1968 Banks left the band to join Neat Change, with whom he recorded one single, "I Lied to Aunty May". He was fired from the band after his bandmates wanted to adopt a skinhead look, and Banks refused to cut his hair. Meanwhile, Jon Anderson had joined Mabel Greer's Toyshop as lead vocalist, and Hagger was replaced by drummer Bill Bruford. The four entered a period of rehearsals in London, during which Banks replaced a departing Bayley and keyboardist Tony Kaye was brought in to round out the group.

While rehearsing with the new line-up, the band exchanged ideas for a name. Anderson suggested Life and Squire proposed World, but all agreed on Banks' suggestion of Yes, which he had thought of some time before. Following their debut in August 1968 Banks devised the band's first logo, a design featuring the group's name inside a speech bubble. Banks performed on the first two Yes albums, Yes (1969) and Time and a Word (1970). The latter features orchestral arrangements which Banks disagreed with, and he often clashed with producer Tony Colton. On 18 April 1970, Banks was fired from Yes after their gig at the Luton College of Technology, and was replaced by former Syndicats guitarist Steve Howe. In his autobiography, Howe wrote that Banks "was an interesting guitarist to have to follow. He, too, adopted different guitar styles and had already set a scene I could relate to. He was a sweet guy and came to many of our early gigs. I can't think of many other ex-band members doing that – I mean, right after they've left the band."

Post-Yes career

Banks joined Blodwyn Pig for around six months in 1970, following the departure of original guitarist Mick Abrahams. He tried to incorporate more arrangements into their simple blues-oriented music, which he later realised did not fit and found his style incompatible. In later years, however, Banks looked back on this period as a particularly happy one and enjoyed working with his bandmates. After the band ran its course, Banks was unsure of his next move and later admitted that he was still "shell-shocked" by his departure from Yes, and turned to alcohol and drugs. He earned some money as a session musician, but found the work restrictive in a creative sense. At one point he was close to bankruptcy, and had to sell some of his equipment. Attempts to form a new band fell through, partly due to his disinterest in being a leader.

Banks' fortunes changed when music reporter Chris Welch wrote an article about him in Melody Maker in June 1971. The article was spotted by vocalist Colin Carter, who contacted Banks and invited him to form a band. Following the addition of bassist Ray Bennett and drummer Mike Hough, the four named themselves Flash and began touring in 1972. In the same year they released two albums, Flash and In the Can, to a warm reception. The group disbanded in 1973 towards the end of a US tour to promote their third album, Out of Our Hands. Banks felt the group lacked the right management, and got angry at Carter and Bennett for often playing with their backs to the audience. By this time Banks was a heavy drinker, addicted to valium, and unbeknownst to him until years later, was suffering from his first nervous breakdown.

In 1973 Banks recorded his debut solo album, Two Sides of Peter Banks. It was recorded at the same time as Out of Our Hands, with Banks working with Flash during the day and travelling to a different studio to work on his own at night. The album features guest appearances from Jan Akkerman of Focus, drummer Phil Collins and guitarist Steve Hackett of Genesis, and John Wetton of King Crimson. In the summer of 1973, Banks played in a short-lived band with Collins, guitarist Ronnie Caryl, violinist Mike Poggott, and bassist John Howitt named Zox and the Radar Boys.

While touring the US with Flash, Banks met his first wife Sidonie Jordan (known as Sidney Foxx). In 1974, they formed Empire and recorded three albums with various musicians until 1979, which remained unreleased until the 1990s. Amongst the musicians involved were Collins, Preston Heyman, bassist John Giblin, and keyboardist Jakob Magnusson. Ray Bennett of Flash was in the group for a period, but he and Banks did not get along and Banks caught Jordan having an affair with him. Empire disbanded in 1980, having only performed showcase gigs for record executives.

Personal life and death

Banks' first marriage was to American singer and musician Sidonie Jordan (known as Sidney Foxx). They first met in 1974 and co-formed Empire, and divorced in 1985. Banks moved to Los Angeles, California in 1976. In 1996, Banks left the US for his childhood home in Barnet, north London, to care for his ailing father. In 1999, he married Peruvian-born Cecilia Quino Rutte. Although Banks found married life "fantastic" at one point, his second marriage ended in a divorce by the early 2000s due to the effects of his medication to treat his depression, which his friends said made him difficult to live with. A longtime friend said he also went through seasonal "dark" periods around February and March.

In 2011, Banks was hospitalised with a case of septicaemia, likely caused from an infected tooth due to dental neglect. He also caught Legionnaires' disease. During this time his doctors discovered a cancerous tumour. Banks died on 7 March 2013 in his rented flat where he grew up in Chipping Barnet, London, aged 65. He failed to turn up for a scheduled recording session, and a concerned friend had medical staff break into his home, where his body was discovered. The coroner declared that he died from heart failure. His former business partner and manager George Mizer, who he first met in the 1970s, organised Banks' posthumous business affairs, and discovered that Banks' body was unclaimed in the local mortuary. As Banks had no children or a will, Mizer reached out to Quino, who gave the required approval for the body to be released. There was no money to pay for a funeral or wake, so Mizer setup an online fund for fans to contribute. Banks was cremated, after which several friends and associates, including David Cross of King Crimson and original Yes manager Roy Flynn, met for a memorial drink in Denmark Street. Mizer kept the ashes, and sprinkled some in areas that meant something to Banks.

Discography

Solo

Two Sides of Peter Banks (1973)

Instinct (1993)

Self-Contained (1995)

Reduction (1997)

Can I Play You Something? (The Pre-Yes Years Recordings from 1964 to 1968) (1999, compilation)

The Self-Contained Trilogy (2018, compilation)

Be Well, Be Safe, Be Lucky... The Anthology (2018, compilation including previously unreleased material)