Rab Noakes

A gift for writing hook-laden songs and sensitively interpreting the work of American singer/songwriters brought Rab Noakes to the forefront of Scottish pop music. His 1970 debut album, Do You See the Lights?, included "Together Forever," which became a folk-pop hit for <a href="spotify:artist:4AgFg0hHythyklEs4t7XKt">Lindisfarne</a>. His second album, Rab Noakes, produced by early <a href="spotify:artist:4LOM7NzyrZvlGSYPFDsnTk">Dylan</a> producer Bob Johnston, released in 1972, featured guest vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:7tjbDPvrdvDshcpEMXKRVb">Gerry Rafferty</a>. Noakes subsequently played guitar and sang background vocals on <a href="spotify:artist:4ew33GzqUUdGNpeaKC3ejt">Rafferty</a>'s debut album, Can I Have My Money Back? Although he agreed to form the band <a href="spotify:artist:7bPU7cvfoD20ixGD9Qnqki">Stealers Wheel</a> with <a href="spotify:artist:4ew33GzqUUdGNpeaKC3ejt">Rafferty</a>, he left the group to resume his solo career before they recorded their Top Ten hit "Stuck in the Middle with You."

Noakes continued to record on his own. His third solo effort, 1973's Red Pump Special, was recorded in Nashville and produced by Elliot Mazer. His fifth album, Restless, was released on <a href="spotify:artist:6DbJi8AcN5ANdtvJcwBSw8">Ringo Starr</a>'s label, Ring O'Records, in 1978. Although he released the equally memorable albums Rab Noakes in 1980 and Under the Rain in 1983, he didn't issue another record until 1994's Standing Up, a scaled-down set featuring his solo guitar and vocals. Following the album's release, Noakes toured with a band, <a href="spotify:artist:0g35EuIouuYPxKXbCfot7b">the Varaflames</a>, featuring ex-<a href="spotify:artist:0WwSkZ7LtFUFjGjMZBMt6T">Dire Straits</a> drummer Pick Withers, <a href="spotify:artist:4AgFg0hHythyklEs4t7XKt">Lindisfarne</a> guitarist/bassist <a href="spotify:artist:1tZctZvf5cUt2L63CXHnMi">Rod Clements</a>, and harmonica player Fraser Spiers. In a review of their performance at the Eaglesham Roots 'n' Bluegrass Festival in June 1999, the Herald wrote that the set was "a roots festival in itself as [Noakes] collected <a href="spotify:artist:6hnWRPzGGKiapVX1UCdEAC">Sam Cooke</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3iRSHS3b4NUdjNbnw3Opg8">Rufus Thomas</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:37Ah4cSE4iD0VeTrGytkqx">Fred Rose</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4LOM7NzyrZvlGSYPFDsnTk">Dylan</a>, early <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Motown%22">Motown</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3vbKDsSS70ZX9D2OcvbZmS">Beck</a> voodoo blues and a handful of his best originals into a homogenous, hugely satisfying, style."

After working as music director for the BBC television series Your Cheatin' Heart, Noakes accepted a position as senior executive producer for BBC Radio Scotland. He left the post to form his own production company, Neon, which he ran with personal and business partner Stephanie Pordage. In January 2000, he appeared on the multi-artist compilation People on the Highway: A Bert Jansch Encomium. Rab Noakes died on November 11, 2022, at the age of 75. ~ Craig Harris, Rovi