Jaibi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jaibi was the stage name of the American soul singer Joan Banks.

Born Joan Brown (some sources state Joan Bates), she first recorded with a group, the Pleasures, but is best known for her solo record, You Got Me. This was issued on Kapp Records in 1967, written and produced by her husband Larry Banks (previously the husband of singer Bessie Banks). It was not successful in terms of sales and, after a few more recordings (some with her husband as Lawrence & Jaibi), her musical career ended. She and Banks later divorced, and she died young, of leukaemia, in the early 1980s.

The record is now remembered due to the efforts of soul music pioneer Dave Godin, who regarded it as a masterpiece, of "almost indescribable beauty and poignancy", the ultimate expression of Deep Soul music. He wrote : "No matter if you have only ever made one record, or written one book, or made one film, if that work is a great work of art then your name deserves to be remembered and your memory thanked equally as if you had produced dozens. For, in the creation of a masterpiece, even if it only touches the lives of a few, you have enriched life itself beyond measure, and in this respect, those who benefit in this way have been given a precious jewel of experience to add to all those other magic moments we collect as we journey through life."