Rab Noakes The 50th Anniversary of his first LP ‘ Do You See The Lights? touring select shows Backstage at The Green Hotel, Kinross Friday 17 April ..Plus other dates

The 50th Anniversary of my first LP ‘Do you see the lights?’.

For me, 1969 ended with the preparation well underway for the recording sessions for my first LP. I had signed a deal with a production company called Lynx and their deal was with Decca Records. Ray Horricks was appointed producer with Alex Sutherland as MD.

A trip to Aberdeen took place to routine the repertoire with the redoubtable Alex. The songs were selected and the dates were set for Saturday 24^th and Sunday 25^th January 1970. The studio was the renowned Craighall Studios in Edinburgh. Ray Horricks had an interesting track-record which included a number of substantial jazz recordings and such influential records as Davy Graham’s ‘Folk, Blues and Beyond’ and Davy’s record with Shirley Collins ‘Folk Roots, New Routes’. He was also, at the time, about to enjoy an International hit record as he produced the released version of Dana’s 1970 Eurovision winner ‘All kinds of everything’.

The musicians were, as far as I can recall, Bill Kemp on drums, Ronnie Rae on stand-up bass, Alan Robertson on piano. There were others, a bass guitarist and an oboist whose names are elusive. Robin McKidd was ever-present as my personally-chosen guitar-player. It was recorded live, in the old-fashioned way, three songs a session. The record was released in September of 1970 and I became a featured recording artist.

In this show, one set will be devoted to the LP’s 12 songs in sequence. The other set will feature songs from the period, many of which appeared on Demos & Rarities Vol One. They include ‘Turn a deaf ear’, ‘(What would have happened) If I’d stayed around?’, ‘November afternoon’, ‘Long time no see’, ‘It could be you’, ‘Looking up into the sun’, ‘Debts pile high’, ‘Taking the long way home’, ‘Long way round’ and others.

Many of the ‘Do you see the lights?’ songs make an appearance in my current repertoires from time to time. ‘East Neuk misfortune’ turns up often, as does ‘Somebody counts on me’. ‘Together forever’ survives very well and was revisited on 2018’s ‘Welcome to Anniversaryville’ CD.

This LP reaching the grand old age of 50 seems worth marking, with a series of selected concerts.