Song of the Day 9/20: Homer Banks, “Coming Together”

Another nugget from “Written in Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos,” the 2023 box set that includes three discs of songs that, like this one, were demoed for the label’s stable of artists but never got a proper recording.

Homer Banks, a Memphis native, had cut some minor singles that went nowhere in the US, but later became Northern Soul standards in Britain. He got his start at Stax working in the record shop attached to their studio. They wouldn’t sign him as a singer, but he did land a songwriting contract and went on to co-write several hits, including Luther Ingram’s “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right” and Johnnie Taylor’s “Who’s Making Love.” Elvis Costello recorded another Banks tune, “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down.”

I’m not sure when this was written and recorded, but if I had to guess from the sound and subject I’d guess the early ’70s. As you can hear, Banks doesn’t have a bad voice, but he was writing for a label full of powerhouse vocalists, so outside of the dozen examples on the 7-disc set we never got to hear him use it.