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Topic Originator: McCaig`s Tower
Date: Fri 11 Nov 18:22
I see Barbara Dickson has paid tribute to the above singer-songwriter who has sadly passed away.
I didn`t really follow his career but I have a vague memory he had a connection to one of the Pars` brief ventures into vinyl - I can`t remember if it was "We`re the boys from East End Park" or perhaps "The Dunfermline Song" (as sung by Gregor Abel). Maybe I am mixing him up with someone else?
Can anyone remember?
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Topic Originator: AJ27
Date: Fri 11 Nov 18:45
Dreadfully sad news - “Red Pump Special” still stands up as one of the best albums ever (with “Standing Up” not far behind) and he did a cover of Beck’s Devil’s Haircut which is just a complete joy.
A wonderful man and superb performer who will be greatly missed.
Andy J
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Topic Originator: Buspasspar
Date: Fri 11 Nov 20:05
Sad News
There are not many left like him, he must be near the last
He does not like the future, still talks really about the past
He is a dreamer
RIP Rab
We are forever shaped by the Children we once were
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Topic Originator: parfection
Date: Fri 11 Nov 20:32
I’m very sad to hear this too. Rab did a great deal of really good stuff both as a performer and a producer and he’ll be missed by many, many people on the Scottish music scene. RIP Rab and thank you very much.
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Topic Originator: LochgellyAlbert
Date: Fri 11 Nov 20:59
RIP Rab, another good one gone!
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Topic Originator: wee eck
Date: Fri 11 Nov 21:45
Just checked and I`ve got two of his albums. The first one was just called `Rab Noakes` and must have been his debut album in 1972. There are lots of Fife references in the sleeve notes including one about sitting in the pub at Halbeath. I must listen to them again some time.
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Topic Originator: wee eck
Date: Fri 11 Nov 23:26
There`s a nice tribute on the BBC Scotland News web page. I didn`t realise he was a founder member of Stealer`s Wheel.
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Topic Originator: veteraneastender
Date: Sun 13 Nov 15:14
Apparently he worked in the employment centre in Alloa at one time - remembered by locals.
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Topic Originator: wee eck
Date: Mon 21 Nov 23:21
As with Dan McCafferty the Guardian have given him an extensive obituary so this is just an extract :-
Rab was born in St Andrews, Fife, the son of Robert Noakes, a postal worker, and Elsie (nee Ogilvie), a local government officer and amateur singer. The family moved to Cupar, where Rab attended Castle Hill primary and then Bell Baxter high school, where he first met Davie Craig and Artie Trezise, friends with whom he would go on to make music.
Leaving school at 16 he joined the civil service, working as a pensions and national insurance clerk, first in Alloa, then Glasgow and London. But he was also making a name busking and playing the folk club circuit. He made his first professional appearance in Glasgow in 1967 and in 1969 spent “nine weeks, seven days a week, four hours a night” playing in a hotel in Denmark with Craig.
In the same year he met Gerry Rafferty in Billy Connolly’s father’s house in Glasgow. They remained close friends and in 1971 he played on Rafferty’s solo album Can I Have My Money Back?, before deciding not to remain with him in Stealers Wheel (although he still sometimes played live with them). By now he had met Lindisfarne, who recorded his Turn a Deaf Ear on their 1970 debut Nicely Out of Tune, and Together Forever on their bestselling Fog on the Tyne in 1971.
Rab was now following his own path. He joined Barbara Dickson, Craig and Trezise, and other musicians from across the region, in the Great Fife Road Show, which toured Scotland in 1970, and in the same year he released his first album, Do You See the Lights? A second solo album, Rab Noakes, was released in 1972, produced by Bob Johnston, who had worked with Dylan, while Red Pump Special (1973) was produced in Nashville by Elliot Mazer, famed for his work with Neil Young. Its songs included Branch, which he sang on the BBC TV show The Old Grey Whistle Test, but it failed to produce any hits. Later albums included Never Too Late (1975) and Restless (1978), produced by Terry Melcher, famed for his work with the Byrds, and which included backing vocals by Rafferty and Dickson.
Once known as a heavy drinker, Rab gave up alcohol in 1982. With his pop career apparently stalled, he moved to the BBC, where he made use of his vast musical knowledge and love of radio, working in Manchester and then Glasgow, as a senior music producer. He quit in 1995 to start a production company, Neon, with Stephy Pordage, whom he married in 1998. This was followed by a label, Neon Records, and now his career blossomed, as he became a maverick independent shaking up the Scottish music scene.
(continued in next post)
Post Edited (Mon 21 Nov 23:24)
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Topic Originator: wee eck
Date: Mon 21 Nov 23:23
His recent releases included I’m Walkin’ Here (2015), The Treatment Tapes (his 2016 answer to Dylan’s Basement Tapes, following a cancer operation) and Welcome to Anniversaryville (2018).
An active member of the Musicians’ Union, he served on its executive committee for 16 years until he stood down in 2020. As a performer who loved meeting other musicians and music fans in the media, he was one of the current organisers of the London lunches that he christened “the SCRIBs”: Songwriters, Composers, Rockers, Inky-fingered maniacs (writers & publicists) and Broadcasters. He often sang, and was always the best-dressed man in the room.
Stephy died last year. His first marriage, to Marianne Mitchelson, ended in divorce. Rab is survived by his brothers, Alan and Ken.
Rab (Robert Ogilvie) Noakes, musician, songwriter and producer, born 13 May 1947; died 11 November 2022
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Topic Originator: LochgellyAlbert
Date: Tue 22 Nov 11:33
Lovely!❤️
RIP Rab.😮💨
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Topic Originator: wee eck
Date: Tue 22 Nov 12:08
There`s a tribute programme on Radio Scotland tonight at 8pm - Ricky Ross I think.
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