Features / Singers Babs ‘n’ Rab reunite after 50 years
MORE THAN half a century after they first performed together, this weekend sees Fife singers Barbara Dickson and Rab Noakes bring their ‘Reunited’ tour to Lerwick.
Though the duo have performed together off and on since the 1960s, this is the first time they have taken their “two voices and two guitars” show out on the road.
Catching up with Shetland News ahead of Sunday night’s concert at Mareel, singer-songwriter Noakes comes across as a relaxed, genial sort who seems thrilled – aged 67 – to find himself working on numerous musical projects, solo and otherwise.
He and Dickson mine classic 1950s pop, traditional folk numbers and a few self-penned favourites – all blended into a compelling set recalling their early years playing in Scottish folk clubs and concert halls.
The tour was dreamt up following a one-off festival appearance together in 2012.
“After that we thought ‘this is really good, why don’t we put together something that’s two voices and two guitars, something we’re both good at’. Dare I say it,” Noakes tells us, “we’re in pretty good voice for a couple of 60+ people!
“I do love to sing with other people, and Barbara’s way at the top of that list.”
He continues: “We went back to some songs that we used to sing together way back when. ‘Do Right Woman’, ‘Tears of Rage’ – we met through an interest in the medium of folk song, and had listened to a lot of the same pop records. The Everly Brothers was a shared favourite.
“The songs cover the whole period, dipping back into the 1950s: a celebration of our interest in and love of the popular song all our lives.”
Though Dickson has played in the islands once before, it will be a maiden – and long overdue – visit to Shetland for Noakes, whose life in music has taken in time as a member of Stealers Wheel and regular appearances on iconic shows including John Peel and the Old Grey Whistle Test.
He is very aware of Shetland’s musical heritage, and hopes this will be “the first of a number of visits”.
“We’ve known Aly Bain since he first came south in the 1960s, and I remember being aware of Tom Anderson.
“Peerie Willie [Johnson] was a most interesting man. As a musician he was exemplary, but also that whole connection he had. Michael Marra wrote ‘Schenectady Calling’ in reference to the American radio station that played jazz records, that Peerie Willie used to be able to listen to loud and clear in the northern hemisphere.
“He was able to put it to exceptional use as accompaniment for fiddlers, which up to that point had normally been a pianist’s job, a style that was jazzy and chordy but also had that rhythmic vamp. That influence is still there in guitarists in that field, and not one to be underestimated.”
This writer first came across Noakes at a 70th birthday tribute to Bob Dylan at the Celtic Connections festival in 2011. Amid a rich field of contemporary songwriters his reading of ‘Mississippi’ was a near show-stealing moment, something he modestly admits “went very well and got a lot of positive attention”.
He places a lot of value on “the art of interpretation”, a staple of folk music tradition and something so much greater than merely mimicking an original arrangement.
“The word ‘cover’ gets bandied about too much these days, and it’s potentially devalued the art of interpretation,” Noakes says. “This idea that a bad song someone has written themselves is of more value than someone else’s songs. I like to write songs, but also tackle a wide range of songs from other places.”
He feels the contemporary roots scene in Scotland is buoyant, enlivened by the presence of Celtic Connections.
“It was to my mind becoming a bit dominated by tunes, and it was always the songs for me, but people are becoming a bit more interested in Scotland’s song heritage. A lot of really interesting young performers have been attracted to the music for one reason or another.
“If anything I would like to see the resurgence of a bit more locality and regionality – there’s a tendency to become a bit homogenised, but the quality of musicianship is terrific.”
• There are still a limited number of tickets available to see Rab Noakes & Barbara Dickson at Mareel on Sunday night at Shetland Box Office, priced £22.
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