Cliff Nobles [2021] - My Love Is Getting Stronger [Matasunu]

The debut single from little known singer Cliff Nobles from 1966 on the tiny J-V imprint which acquired a national release on Atlantic. "My Love Is Getting Stronger" is 'proper' Northern Soul and is getting it's first official reissue on vinyl on 17 Sep 2021 via Berlin based label Matasunu founded in 2016 by Alex D. of DJ duo SoulBrigada (with Fabio V.). It's a bit of an unusual release for the label as scanning through their 30 odd releases to date this appears to be the first Northern Soul record they have issued.

The flip side is another 1966 track by Russell Evans & The Night Hawks "The Bold" which is a Hammond driven mod style instrumental released as a flip on Atco. It got a UK release on Atlantic. This appears to be their only recording.

Nobles would release another three singles,  on Atlantic and J-V before a switch to Phil L.A. of Soul before hitting pay dirt with his fifth single "The Horse"/ "Love Is Alright" in 1968 which reached #2 on Billboard Hot 100. "The Horse" was an instrumental, also released by The James Boys as a vocal version, with "Love Is Alright" being the vocal version. A version of "Love Is Alright" was later released on Soul City in 1999 by Jesse James who wrote the song. Note that this Jesse James (James Herbert McLelland) is a different singer to the one who released the modern soul classic  "If You Want A Love Affair" and the two recent Soul Junction unreleased tracks.

Following "The Horse," he released around another six or seven singles with only "Switch It On" (written and produced by Jesse James and arranged by Mike Terry)  making the lower reaches of Billboard (#93) and "This Feeling Of Loneliness" (another James composition) on Roulette in 1973 entering the R&B chart.

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Details

Rating:	8.5 / 7.5
Genre/Style:	Northern Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	7"
Label:	Matasunu
Cat No:	None
Date:	17/09/2021
Key/BPM:	9B/133
Value:	£1

NS593 Cliff Nobles [1966] - My Love Is Getting Stronger [Atlantic]

593 Cliff Nobles [1966] - My Love Is Getting Stronger [J-V A-1034 / Atlantic 45-2352]
b/w Too Fond Of You

Format:   45
Label:     J-V / Atlantic
CatNo:   A-1034 / 45-2352
Year:      1966
Value:     $406 on J-V $376 on Atlantic

Nobles was born in Grove Hill, AL, in 1944, and moved to Mobile aged two. He joined the high school choir and started singing lead for a popular local group called the Delroys. After school, he moved to Philadelphia, PA. Nobles cut three singles for Atlantic Records that went unnoticed.

He later formed Cliff Nobles & Co., which consisted of Benny Williams (bass), Bobby Tucker (lead guitar), and Tommy Soul (drums). The group made tapes for Jimmy Rogers (not to be confused with the country singer of the same name), who made them available to producer/writer/singer Jesse James. James started writing songs for Nobles and the band, and secured a contract for the group with Phil La of Soul Records. The first release bombed. The second featured "Love Is All Right," backed with "The Horse." "The Horse" became a huge hit and established Nobles as a legit one-hit wonder. Ironically, "The Horse" was simply "Love Is All Right" without Nobles' vocal, Nobles isn't even featured on "The Horse." He neither sings nor plays an instrument on the track; the brass playing on the song would become famous years later as MFSB. The whole incident was an accident, the side with the vocal was supposed to be the side that was plugged, but DJs kept playing the non-vocal version. The record would have gone to number one, but another instrumental, "Grazin' in the Grass" by Hugh Masekela, was even more popular and occupied the top spot for two weeks. The week of July 29, 1968, had to be the first time in modern pop music history that two instrumentals were ranked at numbers one and two, respectively, on the charts. Shamelessly, Phil La of Soul released two more instrumentals -- "Horse Fever" and "Switch It On," -- and credited them as being by Cliff Nobles, though Nobles didn't play an instrument. A later single on Roulette actually featured Nobles' singing and nearly cracked the R&B Top 40, stalling at number 42. Phil La issued an album entitled The Horse that consisted of mostly instrumentals and dance tunes like "The Mule," "The Camel Walk," and "Judge Baby I'm Back," a tune sounding like a hit that Nobles sings with a feel similar to a Berry Gordy, Jr. production for the Contours. Moonshot Records released an LP one year later, in 1969, where Nobles sang three songs, the rest being instrumental.

The Atlantic material remains in the vaults. Supposedly, Nobles was an excellent entertainer and a gifted dancer, but, in essence, he was the Milli Vanilli of the '60s.

~ Modified from Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide

http://chancellorofsoul.com/nobles.html