Video: King Louie Bankston – “Trinkets”

Directed by Art Boonparn. From Harahan Fats, out November 10 on Goner.

I didn’t know King Louie Bankston but I got to hang out with him one evening thirty years ago, before he was coronated. My senior year of college some pals and I decided to drive from Kalamazoo to New Orleans to go to Mardi Gras. Two girls we knew were living down there so we knew we could crash at their place. That was extent of the plan. Pre-cellphone, pre-google maps, what could go wrong? Worst case scenario was we’d have to crash in the car…or get arrested and hauled off to Tent City, I guess. But it all worked out. Our hosts were friends with the Royal Pendletons who got us up bright and early and took us to the Zulu Parade. Later we ended up at a club called Muddy Waters to see Tav Falco’s Panther Burns. That’s where Louie came in. All the other guys we met looked straight out of a 1961 Sears catalog but Louie had long greasy hair like a hippie! And instead of wearing a sharkskin suit and skinny tie, Louie was wearing a bright red leather motorcycle jacket that said “PRIDDY 78 H” on the back. I was a drunk goofball in a flannel shirt and I was intimidated.

It wasn’t until Bankston died last year at 49 that I connected the dots and realized who he was. After his time with the Pendletons he continued to spread the gospel of rock and roll via a number of bands and projects. His label says “Bankston would ultimately release 53 records in his lifetime.” The closest he came to dipping a toe into the mainstream was with the Exploding Hearts, who released Guitar Romantic in 2003 to critical acclaim. Louie left the band shortly after the album was released.

Harahan Fats, his first posthumous release, was mostly recorded over the four years before he died. “Trinkets” was recorded by Jay Reatard in Memphis ten years prior. It’s sad and sweet and it’ll break your heart.