Tommy Bankhead
American blues band member (1931–2000)
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Tommy Bankhead (October 24, 1931 – December 16, 2000) was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer who played with Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson I, Elmore James (his cousin),[1] Joe Willie Wilkins, Robert Nighthawk, and Joe Hill Louis.[2] He sometimes played the bass guitar and harmonica. He released a few albums under his own name.[3] In his later years, he toured as Tommy Bankhead and the Blues Eldoradoes.
Life and career
Bankhead was born in Lake Cormorant, Mississippi on October 24, 1931.[1] He moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1949. He formed his own bands, the Landrockers then the Blues Eldorados, and performed around clubs in the city.[4] Bankhead was a fixture in St. Louis blues for over fifty years, playing with musicians such as Little Milton, Oliver Sain, Ike Turner, Henry Townsend, and Albert King.[2] He also worked as a deputy sheriff and a security guard at times.[2]
Bankhead died in St. Louis of respiratory failure due to emphysema on December 16, 2000.[2] The Killer Blues Headstone Project placed the headstone for Tommy Bankhead at Laurel Cemetery in St. Louis.[5]
