An American soul singer, probably best known for her original recording of the Moody Blues’ hit song Go Now.

She was born Bessie White in North Carolina and later raised in Brooklyn, New York. By the mid-1950s, she began singing with a quartet called Three Guys and a Doll. While a member of the group, she met and married singer Larry Banks. She performed and recorded as Toni Banks during the mid-1950s.

Taking back the name Bessie Banks, she recorded as a solo singer in the first half of the 1960s. In 1964, Larry and Bessie decided to make a new push to establish her with a song that Larry had written specifically for the purpose of breaking her nationally: Go Now. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller produced the recording, which appeared on their Blue Cat label, the R&B/soul imprint of Red Bird.

The success of the Moody Blues’ cover version overshadowed her later career. In subsequent years, she recorded singles for the Verve and Volt labels, and continued to release records into the mid-1970s.