A new compilation of songs titled "Look A Little Higher" by Ike Noble & The Uptights released today
(24 Jun 2022) by Athens Of The North.
The Up Tights were formed by Henry Bradley in Forrest City,
Arkansas in March of 1967 while most of the band members were attending
Lincoln High School. They took their name from Stevie Wonder's 1966
song.
Their first recording was as Noble and The Up Tights in 1966 "Don't Worry About It" / "Lonely Man" on Memphis' Action Records, Noble being Izear 'Ike' Noble Jr. who
sang and wrote both songs, neither of which feature on this
compilation.
When Henry Bradley was drafted to Vietnam in 1968 his guitar duties were
performed by his brother Arthur. They released the first version of "It's Just A Dream" along with "Henry's Guitar" as The Up-Tights on Solid Beat. I'm assuming that this was released
around 1968 after Henry was drafted as the label scan on Discogs has
Arthur Bradley's name hand written on it. The scant details on the label,
and with it being the only listed recording for the label, indicates that
it is most likely a private press.
Through hiring manager John Mitchell the group were introduced to Joe Lee
who owned Variety recording studio in Jonesboro, Arkansas and the Alley
label. They cut two songs written by Ike Noble, "Look A Little Higher" and an updated version of "Just a Dream", on Alley Records in 1968. Lee continued to experiment in the studio
and produced many versions of the group’s original songs, adjusting the
mix and adding elements to each unique take, hence the several alternate
cuts feature on this compilation.
The next Alley release, billed as only Ike Noble, were two Charles
'Jamie' Holmes songs "It's Bad" / "That's What I Get". Curiously both Discogs and 45Cat date this as 1967 but the catalogue
number is higher (1058) than the previous single (1045) dated 1968! "It's
Bad" has become a very in-demand tune in recent years since UK rare soul
dealer/DJ John Manship started championing it at Sunday soul sessions at
Feed Your Soul in Newark.
Another Holmes song, "There’s Gonna Be a Better Day Coming", remained
unreleased but was released by Soul7 in 2014 along with another three
tracks "How Long Must I Wait For You", paired with the latter, and "That's
The Sound Of My Heart" / "That's What I Get" which are all included on the
compilation.
Apparently, Stax Records was interested in signing the group and wanted
to re-record "It's Bad", but they ultimately passed since they generally
had a policy of working with Memphis based groups.
Ike Noble continued to record into the 70s and 80s and an
Ike Noble Discography
was posted in April 2020 which contains several of these recordings and
his later material.
01 - Money Wont Change You
02 - It's Bad [1967 Alley #AL-1058]
03 - Good Thing
04 - Best of Luck to You
05 - That's What I Get [1967 Alley #AL-1058]
06 - That's the Sound of My Heart [2014 Soul7 #SOUL7-038]
07 - How Long Must I Wait for You [2014 Soul 7 #SOUL7-039]
08 - Foxy Mama
09 - Look a Little Higher [1968 Alley #1045]
10 - I Take What I Want
11 - She's Got to Be Loved
12 - Just a Dream [1968 Alley #1045]
13 - I've Never Found Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)
14 - There's Gonna Be a Better Day Coming [2014 Soul 7 #SOUL7-039]
15 - Good Thing (Alternate Take)
16 - That's What I Get (Alternate Take)
17 - Just a Dream (Alternate Take 1)
18 - Just a Dream (Alternate Take 2)
19 - Foxy Mama (Alternate Take)
20 - She's Got to Be Loved (Alternate Take)
21 - Look a Little Higher (Alternate Take 1)
22 - Look a Little Higher (Alternate Take 2)
23 - Look A Little Higher (Alternate Take 3)
The compilation is available digitally on the main DSPs or on vinyl from
AOTN Bandcamp store.
| Rating: | 8.2 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Classic Soul |
| Format: | Album |
| Media: | Digital / Vinyl |
| Label: | Athens Of The North |
| Cat No: | None |
| Date: | 24/06/2022 |
| Price: | £7.99 / £27.42 |
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