From: "Dik de Heer" Date: Sat Feb 15, 2003 2:19 am Subject: Born To Be With You : Joe Banashak JOE BANASHAK (By Phil Davies) Born Joseph Banashak, 15 February 1923, Baltimore, Maryland Died 23 October 1985, Atlanta, Georgia Joe was a jazz fan as a teenager, buying 78s and going to see live bands. He entered record distribution in Baltimore, after serving in World War II. After marrying a Texan, he moved to Houston working for Capitol, then later for indie distributor Bob Dunbar. In 1949 he was promoted to the New Orleans office. Despite a lot of local competition Joe got the lucrative rights to distribute Imperial, Aladdin and Swingtime, selling records by local hero Fats, Amos Milburn and Ray Charles. Joe set up links with local djs like Poppa Stoppa and Jack the Cat. Joe's love of jazz took him to the trad Dixieland clubs in the French Quarter, where he soon picked up on the hot local rhythm n blues scene. He hung around with Fats, Dave Bartholomew and the session guys at J & M. Against his wishes he was transferred back to Houston and promptly quit, returning to Nawlins and working on the road for Lew Chudd. Joe was in Lew's good books for fixing a falling out between Chudd and Dave Bartholomew, he also mentioned that Slim Whitman was thinking about signing for Capitol, lucky ole Lew stepped in quickly. Later Joe helped run A 1 Distributors, working with Atlantic, Imperial and Specialty. He also helped Johnny Vincent before he broke into the national charts, which prompted him to think about making records himself. Working with Eddie Shuler's son Wayne, they set up the Trey label and had Elton Anderson on the label. Mercury were interested in signing him and Wayne wanted to go with them whilst Joe wished to be an indie. He then founded Minit Records with local disc jockey Larry McKinley in 1959. With Allen Toussaint as house producer and songwriter, Minit and its sister label Instant were responsible for many hits of the early '60s from New Orleans artists such as Ernie K-Doe (Mother-In-Law), Chris Kenner (I Like It Like That), Jessie Hill (Oo Poo Pah Doo) and the Showmen (It Will Stand). Great artists like Irma Thomas, Benny Spellman and Earl King also blossomed on these labels. National distribution was handled by Imperial, but when Toussaint left for army service in 1963, the creative dynamic was gone and Banashak sold the Minit catalogue to Lew Chudd of Imperial. Banashak persevered with Instant Records and a new partner, Irving Smith. The label's most successful artist was Kenner who continued to record for Instant until 1969, while Toussaint's studio band backed other local artists like Art Neville, Eskew Reeder (aka Esquerita) and Lee Dorsey. On the subsidiary label, Alon, Toussaint's group the Stokes recorded Whipped Cream, later a big hit for Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass. Shortly afterwards, Toussaint left the company. Banashak continued with new A&R men Sax Kari and Eddie Bo who produced blues and soul tracks for Instant until the late '60s. Huey Piano Smith helped out on the production side, Joe later became disillusioned with the music biz, especially when Smith retired to become a Jehovah's Witness. Joe became a born again Christian in the 70s. The company became inactive in the '70s. His Bandy label issued many local r&b acts on lp. Joe died in Atlanta on 23rd October 1985, shortly after writing the foreword to Jeff Hannusch 's superb I Hear You Knockin' book, much of the info above is taken from the chapter on Joe. Joe's legacy can be found in the many great New Orleans songs he had a hand in either distributing, selling or producing/owning. Recommended Listening: Charly and Westside have/had many fine Banashak related releases in their catalogues. My fav cross section compilation of New Orleans music (inc many Minit/Instant songs) is the US Emi 4cd box Crescent City Soul, Sound of New Orleans 1947-74.