Cliff Nobles & Co. “Love is All Right” b/w “The Horse”
For regular Uptown listeners, this one won’t be a surprise. “The Horse,” by Cliff Nobles & Co. is one of the jewels in my collection—in fact, I have a few different versions of it. This one, though, sporting the yellow Phil-L.A. Of Soul label is my favorite. Why? It’s not because it’s particularly valuable (monetarily, at least) or rare (it was a hit after all). It’s because when this single was released in 1968, it took on a life of its own.
The Horse” was actually the B-side to a song called “Love is All Right,” written by the track’s producer, Jesse James. Pretty quickly, it became obvious that “The Horse” was the more popular track. It’s a common enough story among old singles: The B-side far outshining the A-side. But “The Horse” is a really interesting case because it pretty much only appeared on the single to save some cash.
Then, as now, recording music is an expensive endeavor. And instead of having Nobles & Co. record two songs to fill a 45 rpm single, producer James made the economical decision to just release the instrumental version of “Love is All Right” as the B-Side. He dubbed it “The Horse,” and they called it a day. Little did they know that “The Horse” would be conquering dancefloors in the States and, eventually, the UK where it became a staple of Northern Soul nights in the 70s.
Listen to both tracks back-to-back and you’ll start to understand why the instrumental became the hit. Don’t get me wrong “Love is All Right” is a standout late 60s soul track in its own right. The iconic horn stabs are punchy, and boy-howdy, does this tempo make you wanna dance. As a singer, Cliff Nobles has that special blend of funky grit and Philly-Soul smooveness that’s at once defiant and pleading at the same time. The bit of call-and-response is an extra little treat too.
However, Maybe this is hindsight, but the vocals do feel layered on top of a song, rather than them being an integral part of its DNA. Because without Nobles’ vocals, the song really breathes. From that jazzy guitar lick at the beginning to the smoking-hot drum break to those wonderful horns, each part feels like it’s locked into a bigger whole. You can probably chalk that up to the talent of the players in the Phil-L.A. Of Soul house band. Many of who would go on to further define the Philly Soul sound as members of MFSB (you may know them as the band behind the Soul Train theme).
But if you’re in Cliff Nobles’ shoes, the success of “The Horse” must’ve been pretty bittersweet. He did have a few more “Horse” themed tracks with his name attached, notably “Horse Fever” and “Pony the Horse.” Another Nobles track, “Switch it On,” is also worth a listen (dig the bari sax on that one). Unfortunately, none of those songs have Nobles’ vocals on them either.
