# John Banks (drummer)

John Banks (23 September 1943 – 20 April 1988) was an English drummer. He was the drummer for The Merseybeats from 1962 to 1966.
After leaving the Merseybeats in January 1966, he played in a few bands before moving to Israel in 1968. He lived there for twenty years, all while never learning Arabic or Hebrew. He became a local celebrity and was known by all of the nearby citizens in Tel Aviv. His later life was plagued with alcoholism, which led to Banks suffering from paranoia and becoming a recluse. He was shipped back to England for the first time since 1968 to receive cancer treatment in early 1988, where he died soon after aged 44.

## Early life in England

Born in Anfield, Banks wanted to be a graphic artist. His father a dock worker who died in the 1970s. His grandfather was aboard the Titanic. Banks had an older sister.
He joined The Merseybeats in April 1962, replacing Frank Sloane. The Merseybeats were great friends with The Beatles and on occasion Banks filled in on drums. While on tour, Banks often went missing due to excessive drinking. This problem also led to him collapsing on stage in 1965 and showing the first signs of a mental breakdown. After leaving the band in early 1966, he and Merseybeat member John Gustafson were in a short lived duo called Johnny and Jon. In 1967, Banks performed in the psych pop group Rupert's People. He also backed Roy Young.

## Later life in Israel
### 1966–1971

Towards the end of 1966, he received a job offer to serve as a drummer in an Israeli concert club that belonged to Rafi Shauli. He brought down a guitarist and a bassist to play with him in the country, the guitarist being David Bowie. The day before the flight to Israel, Banks tried to locate the country on a map of Latin America. He then drank a few bottles of beer, fell asleep, and the next day woke up in Tel Aviv. Banks was in a relationship with actor Mona Silberstein during the late 1960s and early 1971. When he went back to England when the tour was finished, she flew to England, and spent five months locating him, eventually finding him in a cafe in London.
As Silberstein was preparing to aboard a plane back to Israel, she asked him if he wanted to come with her, but he refused. Soon after, she mailed him a plane ticket as a second chance, which fully convinced him. He moved to Tel Aviv, Israel in 1968 to live there permanently and played for Mandy Rice-Davies, who owned a club there. The relationship between Banks and Silberstein ended in 1971, and when Banks realised that he know had no real reason to remain in the country, bought plane ticket to England. When leaving the travel agency, he looked at the ticket, hissed "What the hell," tore it up and threw it in a nearby trash can. He stayed in Israel for another 17 years.
He played in a few bands during his time in Israel, including a popular act called The Spiders. Banks accompanied many Israeli singers, including Ruthie Navon, Boaz Sharabi, Zvika Pick and Edna Lev.

### 1970s–1980s

In 1974, his drum set broke down as a result of contact with water. Banks chose not to repair it, and didn't buy any replacements. If the drums were ruined, he assumed there was probably no reason to play anymore and took a job as a bartender.
Banks never learned Arabic or Hebrew, only learning a few basic words in either languages; John only knew how to say one full sentence in Hebrew: "Hebrew is not my mother tongue". The two lived in London for a while before returning to Israel, where they both lived for the remainder of their lives.
Banks was a local celebrity, his way of serving drinks as a bartender was seen as a form of entertainment to the citizens, with one friend of his, Shaul Ariel, saying he was "a great man, an extraordinary and captivating personality, but also an alcoholic to a psychotic level".
Friends used to say that Banks joked that he only came to Israel for a two week holiday, but ended up staying for more than 10 years. He never applied for Israeli citizenship, and was asked many times to report to the British Embassy, but always claimed that he lost his passport.
Banks played drums in many different house bands in local Israeli clubs, all while still battling alcoholism. A few of the people he knew said he always fell asleep with two bottles of Vodka by his side, and when he woke up he began drinking them at an instance, and compared the drinks to his breakfast.
By the early 1980s, Banks' health was declining and his drumming days came to an end when he accompanied Edna Lev at the Hebrew Song Festival and went on stage completely drunk and unfocused. The other performers were waiting for the drummer's signal to start, and for about half a minute, Edna stood in front of the microphone and waited, while the hall was silent, and everyone was waiting for John. Banks withdrew from the public eye following the incident, quit working as a bartender, and worked as a dish washer. He eventually isolated himself in his apartment for days on end, disconnected his phone line and was believed to suffer from anxiety and schizophrenia.
As his mental health declined, his recollection of his personal life in England was foggy; he claimed his father was an abusive man in the navy, who rarely came home and if he did was severely drunk and beat the family. He also claimed he had two older brothers who died in the second world war. When one of Banks' close friends in Israel got in touch with John's mother, it was actually revealed that his father was a dock worker who returned home from work everyday, and that he never had two older brothers who died in the war.
From 1981 to 1988, he was in a relationship with a woman called Michaeli, who was 20 years younger than John.

## Death

In early 1988, Banks was diagnosed with throat cancer. Since he was not an Israeli citizen, he was not allowed to be held in their hospitals, and was flown to London. He returned to England after living in Israel for over 20 years in March 1988. He was operated on but died on 20 April 1988 aged 43. Merseybeat members John Gustafson and Billy Kinsley were amongst those by his side on his deathbed.
Banks was cremated and his ashes were scattered across the River Mersey.
Banks' career in England was completely unknown to his friends Israel, and his life in Israel was unknown to his friends and family in the UK. A memorial concert was held in Liverpool soon after, featuring acts such as The Searchers and The Swinging Blue Jeans.