Rab Noakes

Rab Noakes rose to prominence in Scottish pop music through his knack for crafting songs packed with hooks and his nuanced takes on American singer/songwriter material. The 1970 debut album Do You See the Lights? contained "Together Forever," later a folk-pop hit for Lindisfarne. Bob Johnston, who had earlier produced Bob Dylan, helmed the follow-up Rab Noakes, issued in 1972 and featuring guest vocals from Gerry Rafferty. Noakes went on to contribute guitar and backing vocals to Rafferty's own first album, Can I Have My Money Back? He had initially committed to joining Rafferty in Stealers Wheel yet departed before the band cut its Top Ten single "Stuck in the Middle with You."

Solo work remained Noakes's focus. Elliot Mazer produced the third album, Red Pump Special, tracked in Nashville during 1973. The fifth release, Restless, appeared in 1978 on Ring O'Records, the label founded by Ringo Starr. Though Rab Noakes in 1980 and Under the Rain in 1983 proved equally memorable, another album did not surface until 1994's Standing Up, a spare collection limited to solo guitar and voice. Afterward Noakes toured alongside the Varaflames, whose lineup included ex-Dire Straits drummer Pick Withers, Lindisfarne guitarist/bassist Rod Clements, and harmonica player Fraser Spiers. The Herald described their June 1999 set at the Eaglesham Roots 'n' Bluegrass Festival as "a roots festival in itself as [Noakes] collected Sam Cooke, Rufus Thomas, Fred Rose, Dylan, early Motown, and Beck voodoo blues and a handful of his best originals into a homogenous, hugely satisfying, style."

After serving as music director for the BBC television series Your Cheatin' Heart, Noakes took the role of senior executive producer at BBC Radio Scotland. He later resigned to launch the production company Neon, operated with partner Stephanie Pordage. In January 2000 he contributed to the multi-artist compilation People on the Highway: A Bert Jansch Encomium. Rab Noakes died on November 11, 2022, at the age of 75.