Ray Noble

Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 3 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United States.

Noble wrote both lyrics and music for many popular songs during the British dance band era, known as the "Golden Age of British music", notably for his longtime friend and associate Al Bowlly, including "Love Is the Sweetest Thing", "Cherokee", "The Touch of Your Lips", "I Hadn't Anyone Till You", and his signature tune, "The Very Thought of You". Noble played a radio comedian opposite American ventriloquist Edgar Bergen's stage act of Mortimer Snerd and Charlie McCarthy, and American comedy duo Burns and Allen, later transferring these roles from radio to TV and popular films.

Birth and Death Data: Born December 17, 1903 (Brighton), Died April 3, 1978 (London)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1925 - 1948

Roles Represented in DAHR: director, composer, songwriter, lyricist, conductor, arranger, vocalist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 26-50 of 246 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BS-88963 10-in. 5/10/1935 Paris in spring Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor BS-88964 10-in. 5/10/1935 Bon jour mam'selle Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor BS-88965 10-in. 5/10/1935 'Way down yonder in New Orleans Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band director  
Victor BS-88966 10-in. 5/10/1935 Chinatown, my Chinatown Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band director  
Victor BS-89300 10-in. 3/9/1935 El relicario Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band director  
Victor BS-89301 10-in. 3/9/1935 Flowers for Madame Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor BS-89302 10-in. 3/9/1935 Allah's holiday Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band director  
Victor BS-89327 10-in. 3/15/1935 My melancholy baby Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band arranger, director  
Victor BS-89328 10-in. 3/15/1935 Ev'rything's been done before Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band director, arranger  
Victor BS-89329 10-in. 3/15/1935 You opened my eyes Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band director, arranger  
Victor BS-89330 10-in. 3/15/1935 Basin Street blues Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band arranger, director  
Victor BS-92229 10-in. 6/8/1935 Top hat Al Bowlly ; The Freshmen ; Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal ensemble director  
Victor BS-92230 10-in. 6/8/1935 Let's swing it The Freshmen ; Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal ensemble director  
Victor BS-92231 10-in. 6/10/1935 Piccolino Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor BS-92232 10-in. 6/10/1935 St. Louis blues Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor BS-92747 10-in. 7/20/1935 Why dream? Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor BS-92748 10-in. 7/20/1935 Double trouble The Freshmen ; Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal ensemble director  
Victor BS-92749 10-in. 7/20/1935 Why stars come out at night Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director, lyricist, composer  
Victor BS-92750 10-in. 7/20/1935 I wished on the moon Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor BS-92903 10-in. 8/1/1935 Why stars come out at night Bill Staffon Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
Victor BS-95042 10-in. 9/18/1935 Roll along prairie moon Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band director  
Victor BS-95043 10-in. 9/18/1935 Red sails in the sunset Al Bowlly ; Ray Noble Male vocal solo, with jazz/dance band director, arranger  
Victor BS-95190 10-in. 10/9/1935 Bugle call rag Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band director  
Victor BS-95191 10-in. 10/9/1935 Dinah Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band director  
Victor BS-98063 10-in. 11/14/1935 Life begins at sweet sixteen The Freshmen ; Ray Noble Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal ensemble director  
(Results 26-50 of 246 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Noble, Ray," accessed April 23, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102805.

Noble, Ray. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 23, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102805.

"Noble, Ray." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 23 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102805

External Sources

Wikipedia: Ray Noble

Discogs: Ray Noble

Allmusic: Ray Noble

Grove: Ray Noble

IMDb: Ray Noble

Linked Open Data Sources

LCNAR: Noble, Ray, 1903-1978 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80063207

Wikidata: Ray Noble - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q953019

VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/37102927

MusicBrainz: Ray Noble - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/716a01fc-da79-41b8-816c-4e98168f002f

FAST: http://id.worldcat.org/fast/55323

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

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