Have you ever eaten at the famed Lou Mitchell’s restaurant located at the beginning of Route 66 (565 W. Jackson Boulevard) in downtown Chicago? Did you know it was once owned by 1950’s pop star Nick Noble? Nicholas Valkan (6/21/26-3/24/2012), better known by his musical stage name Nick Noble, would score a number of Billboard pop hits in the mid-‘50s and enjoy a lengthy music career through the late ‘70s before turning restauranteur.
Noble was born on Chicago’s South Side, attending Hirsch Metropolitan High School before serving time as a Navy veteran in WWII.
The son of Greek immigrants, Noble attended college to appease his parents, his daughter Debra Gawrys said in a story from the Beverly Review, but his true passion was singing. Her father indulged his passion for singing by performing at small clubs while in college, she said, and on the weekends.
It was at one of his weekend gigs that Noble got his first big break, Gawrys said. “Lou Douglas, who was the A&R chief at Mercury Records, heard him sing, gave him his card and said, ‘Kid, if you ever want to take a crack at a recording career, give me a call,’” Gawrys said.
Noble accepted Douglas’ invitation and signed with Mercury Records. The label gave him full backing with the likes of the Dick Marx Orchestra, orchestrations by Lew Douglas and support from the Jack Halloran Choir on his debut single “Right or Wrong” b/w “Maybe Today” in 1954. With his relationship with Mercury over the next three years Noble would enjoy four hits on the newly created Billboard Pop chart with “The Bible Tells Me So” reaching #22, “To You Me Love” climbing to #27, “Moonlight Swim” reaching #37 and his biggest hit “A Fallen Star” #20.
Although primarily a pop crooner, Noble refused to be pigeonholed in one category, moving on to European-flavored records, and even to country. When Douglas left Mercury he took Noble with.
They released a couple of singles on the local Fraternity label before inking another national deal with Coral. While he toured nationally, he would use venues such as the Playboy Club, Empire Room and Chez Paree as his home base.
He would remain popular in Chicago, still charting in the Top 20 on local radio in 1962 with his cover of “Hello Out There,” but it wasn’t until 1978 when he would hit the national charts again with the easy listening hit “Stay With Me” https://youtu.be/oFOrdWVw-M0.
Noble would release well over four dozen singles throughout his career although into the ‘60s and ‘70s would migrate from label to label including Liberty, 20thCentury Fox, Date, Columbia, Capitol, TMS and even Chicago-based Chess and Churchill.
After 35 years of show business, Noble joined his uncle at Lou Mitchell’s. Noble took over as proprietor of Lou Mitchell’s in the early ‘80s and ran it for 12 years. Noble officially retired in 1993 when he sold the restaurant, his daughter said, and settled back into a comfortable family lifestyle in the Beverly neighborhood as Nick Valkan. He fully enjoyed his years in the limelight, Gawrys said, but never sought out attention or fame. Sadly he passed away in 2012.