Who is Rabindra Danks?

[saki]

In article <37fmqe$9...@newsbf01.news.aol.com> nivra...@aol.com
(Nivrac2001) writes:

>About 15 years ago in Los Angeles I knew a man named Rabindra Danks who
>claimed to have been close friends to the Beatles since their early years.
>
>Rabindra was about the right age, English, a musician, and wore his hair
>in a "Beatle" type haircut. But I have found no mention of him in the
>Beatle books I have read.
>
>Can any of you well-read Beatlelogists confirm my old friends claim?

Unless he's changed his name since his alleged days with the Fabs,
this doesn't strike a bell with me.

Without knowing more details---such as the exact era or locale (Hamburg?
Liverpool? London?) of his interactions with the Boys---it's hard to
corroborate his claim.

--
---------------------------------
"Their name liveth for evermore."
----------------------------------------------------------------
saki (dm...@math.ucla.edu)

[Nivrac2001]

About 15 years ago in Los Angeles I knew a man named Rabindra Danks who
claimed to have been close friends to the Beatles since their early years.

Rabindra was about the right age, English, a musician, and wore his hair
in a "Beatle" type haircut. But I have found no mention of him in the
Beatle books I have read.

Can any of you well-read Beatlelogists confirm my old friends claim?

Niv

[lancer...@gmail.com]

As Raul Banks he did open for the Beatles, but I can't speak towards their friendship.

[Stephen X. Carter]

Congratulations on following up a 24 year old article.

--
steve.hat.stephencarter.not.com.but.net
Nothing is Beatle Proof!!
Mr Kite posters and more at http://www.zazzle.com/mr_kite*
Mr Kite posters and more at http://www.zazzle.co.uk/mr_kite*

[jodef...@sbcglobal.net]

Interesting -I have one of his lion prints and was looking for his real name. I came up with some info that said he was a guitarist , was a curtain raiser for the Beatles in Europe in 1961 and had his own artist galleries in CA as well as held shows in the 70's. I'm looking for His real name and does he still live in the US? What ever became if him? Is Raul his real name?

[Pudgy the Bear and Jasper]

Google is your friend. His names was Raul Banks and was from Scotland,
lived in LA in the '70s, but he changed his name to Robinda Banks and
now lives in Japan. He has a website and a Facebook page. He may be a
Scientologist.

As to whether they ever played with the Beatles, even as warm-up, I
would check Lewisohn. The name rings no bells with me. The only 1961
European gigs they played were for their first Hamburg residency. So,
if he appeared with them, it would probably have been on one of their
English tours. Even as late as Dec 1961, they were still playing the
Casbah and the Cavern, so they were still pretty obscure.

[Laughing Jaw]

On Sunday, June 3, 2018 at 8:10:14 PM UTC-4, jodef...@sbcglobal.net wrote:
> Interesting -I have one of his lion prints and was looking for his real name. I came up with some info that said he was a guitarist , was a curtain raiser for the Beatles in Europe in 1961 and had his own artist galleries in CA as well as held shows in the 70's. I'm looking for His real name and does he still live in the US? What ever became if him? Is Raul his real name?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-UvJNAlhtE

[edwinhj...@gmail.com]

I new Rab Danks both in Hamburg and in Paris and on tour in artistesFrance where we worked together with artistes like Lucky Blondo, Arielle and quite a few others. A very good creative player. We all admired his drawings. He has a brother who was also an excellent guitar player. Did he know the Beatles? If he said he did I'm sure he did. We all made friends very quickly in Hamburg. We were children learning to drink our first beers. A good time in a good place. Incidentally Micky Jones ( Foreigner) was also on those French tours.

[jeanet...@hotmail.com]

Hi. His real name is Ralph Danks. He has been living in Tokyo for many years as a very successful artist. And still plays guitar. He cannot sing any more as he has been very ill with voice problems. But still loves to play guitar. He still paints under the name rabindra Danks. Hope this helps ! 😊😊

[msj...@aol.com]

He is my nephews father. He learned just yesterday that he passed away yesterday. RIP

[lonnie...@gmail.com]

Ha ha - Born Ralph Danks in Glasgow - he was the guitarist for the 'Glasgow Playboys' and later at the Star Club (Berlin) during the time the Beatles played. He was under consideration but Paul preferred George. After the Playboys, as Raul, he played for Tony Sheridan for a while in France. Upon coming to the USA, Raul met actress, dancer, pianist, composer, Stefanianna Christopherson and recorded an album in NYC on Colossus (check YouTube) - later in LA he and Stefanianna became Vedantists (not Scientologists for crying out loud) and took the name Rabindra, she, Indira - As Rabindra his talent as an illustrator/artist came to the fore and 'Gallerie Rabindra' sold his 'Graphic Safari' pictures for decades. As the artist Rabindra, he was introduced to Japan at the end of the 80s and has enjoyed continued success with several yearly art exhibits in major department stores. As a musician, Ralph, was a respected guitarist, sitting in with bands, forming duos and doing solos around Tokyo. Sadly he lost a long and debilitating struggle with cancer in January 2020. He is missed. I know, I've been part of it all ... Cheers.

[jean.b...@gmail.com]

Ralph Danks knew the beatles when they played in Hamburg between 1960 and december 1962. Ralph palyed with various british band in the the Hamburh=g scene: Kaiserkeller, Top Ten club, Star club.He was in Hamburg in 1961- 1963 firts with the Glasgow play boys , played the Top ten club, puis il a joué avec Tony Shridan et son orchestre the Beat, a rencontré à ce moment là les Beatles qui ont joué avec Tony Sheridan. En 63 il quitte Tony Sheridan pour Paris, où Johnny Taylor a son groupe teh Strangers...
Then he moved to Paris to join Dick Rivers backing band in 63. Since Ralph a outstanding rock and rol guitarist he was hired by Vince Taylor in 64 to back him with the Bobbie Clarke noise. They cut an LP, one of the best Vince taylor ever made and some other records.
When Vince had health problems in 65, Bobie Clarke and Ralph and johnny Tay lor moved to San francisco, they cut some records as a duo with Johnny Taylor. Then Ralph remebered his passion for drawings and started to draw annimals in black and white.He hgot a lot of success, but somebody has copied him, since he had not thought of registered , he lost a lot of customers, and moved to Japan in the late 70's. Where he became famous under the name of Rabindra danks , he was drawing and producing various gadgets.

https://www.facebook.com/rabindradanks
, his official website: https://rabindradanks.com/
unfortunately Ralph died three weeks ago in Tokyo, he had been suffering from cancer. RIP Ralph
more on Ralph danks jean.ba...@wanadoo.fr or http://www.guitaresetbatteries.com/

Jean Bachèlerie
Guitares et batterie






Le mercredi 12 octobre 1994 23:53:59 UTC+1, saki a écrit :

[jeanet...@icloud.com]

Hello. Rabindra Danks (real name Ralph Danks ) was my father. Fantastic musician and amazing artist. I miss him so much. Jeanette xxx

[billy...@hotmail.com]

A Giver of light, Rabindra Danks shall be remembered for his support for the protection and preservation of the world’s wildlife through his mesmerizing art. Lucky to have 3 large works, yet continue to search for them all for collective gallery. The Legacy mural by Tristan and Matt Eaton at Cooke and Auahi in Honolulu is breathtaking. Thank you for the Legacy opportunity to hear Rabindra himself, https://tristaneaton.com/legacy.
Condolences to Jeanette, Tristan, Matt, and all family for loss of such a great man.

[ranr...@gmail.com]

On Monday, March 2, 2020 at 11:02:09 PM UTC-8, jeanet...@icloud.com wrote:
> Hello. Rabindra Danks (real name Ralph Danks ) was my father. Fantastic musician and amazing artist. I miss him so much. Jeanette xxx

I’m so sorry to hear about your father Jeanette. I used to work at his Gallerie Rabindra in Del Amo in the mid 70’s. He would occasionally visit the store and was a very nice guy. He was so very talented! I still have some art I purchased while there. I hope he had a happy life. xx

[JS]

Jeanette & others who knew Ralph (Rabindra),

I am looking for relatives & friends of Ralph's as I have something to share. I was one of his band mates in Tokyo and have made a memorial video with sound and video recordings of Ralph on stage that I plan to put on YouTube as a "private" video. Would love to share it with you, before that perhaps get more images to include in the slideshow part of the video, and also check on its accuracy, so would be fantastic if you -- especially Jeanette -- could get in touch with me.

And if you, or anyone, could offer any help as to how to get in touch with Ralph's son, that also would be great.

Though I did hit "reply to all" before typing this message, am not sure if this will actually get to all who have posted above, nor am I familiar with how more direct contact might be made. Maybe the best way would be for anyone interested to both reply in this forum and send me an email directly at swigmeister at gmail dot com.

Anyhow, I have some great footage & recordings of Ralph playing & singing on stage -- which i dug out of storage recently & was surprised I even had -- so would love to share with others who knew Ralph & the awesome person he was!

Jeff

[S-M Robinson]

Jeff-

I knew Ralph as well, and would love to see your video. I spent a lot of time with Ralph in London and in Tokyo. I’m an American writer and director, and sang for Ralph in karaoke while he played guitar. I had an interesting time with him when I had to help recover his wallet in London when he got kicked out of where he was staying after an incident with an oven.
He couldn’t have been kinder to me. When I had next to nothing, he helped me with the funds to print out some scripts that I had wrote, and I still owe him for that.
The reason I am looking for him and found this is that I am writing a story at the moment in which he is apart of. I always loved his jokes and his stories, but I can’t remember any of his signature jokes. Any help would be appreciated!
They say live a life worth remembering. And Ralph certainly did. My favorite thing about him was how slippery he was. How he got into all manner of situations and found his way out. His story about escaping Scientology is one of my favorites.

-Sean

[Milton Delgado]

On Tuesday, 3 March 2020 at 2:02:09 am UTC-5, jeanet...@icloud.com wrote:
> Hello. Rabindra Danks (real name Ralph Danks ) was my father. Fantastic musician and amazing artist. I miss him so much. Jeanette xxx

Hello Jeanette,
I found one of his paintings at a local gallery. It looks like an original. I love it, and wanted to know if you knew any more about his early works.
Milton Delgado
Mil...@miltondelgado.com