Cliff Nobles grew up in Mobile, Alabama, and began singing in high school as a member of a local group, The Delroys. He moved to Philadelphia and recorded three singles for Atlantic Records, none of which charted. While living in a commune in Norristown, Pennsylvania, he formed a group, Cliff Nobles & Co., with bassist Benny Williams, guitarist Bobby Tucker, and drummer Tommy Soul. They recorded demos and, with the help of songwriter/record producer Jesse James, landed a recording contract with Phil-LA of Soul. Their second release for the record label was the single "Love Is All Right" b/w "The Horse", which featured the horn section from what would later be known as MFSB. "The Horse" was simply an instrumental version of the A-side, and Nobles, who was the lead singer, does not actually play on the track at all.
Nevertheless, it caught fire at radio stations and became a hit, peaking at #2 for three weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1968, as well as #2 on the Black Singles chart. It was held out of the #1 spot by Hugh Masekela's "Grazin' in the Grass", on the week of 29 July 1968 - resulting in the only occurrence of instrumentals occupying both the #1 and #2 slots of the pop charts in the same week. Nobles' record label continued releasing instrumental singles on which Nobles himself didn't play a note, though a later single on which Nobles actually sang narrowly missed the R&B Top 40. A full-length album credited to Cliff Nobles & Co., entitled The Horse, was released consisting mostly of instrumentals, and hit #159 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart. Cliff Noble's "The Horse" is played by marching bands across the country, High School and College. Cliff died in the autumn of 2010.
