On stage, Rab Noakes was an immaculately dressed singer and fine guitarist who might play almost anything. There could be Scottish traditional songs, American country ballads, or songs by his heroes Bob Dylan and the Everly Brothers, through to tracks by Cliff Richard, Talking Heads or Beck Hansen.
And along with the “interpretations” (he hated the word covers), there were his own songs, which showed his gift for melody, his love of Americana and his ability to write about a wide range of subjects, and ranged from tributes to other musicians, such as his great friend Gerry Rafferty, to the defiant That Won’t Stop Me, written after he had been treated for cancer, or Water Is My Friend, a song about hydration and praise for the NHS.
