By registering for free articles you will receive our weekly newsletter, you can change this preference at any time by clicking Unsubscribe in the newsletter. 28 in the US Top 40 in early 1979. [62] While the news stories focused on Rafferty's binges, they revealed nothing of the impact on his family and friends. "Gerry Rafferty and his songs of alienation", "Stealers Wheel | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links", "BBC Radio 2 Sold on Song TOP 100 number 48 Baker street", "Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" Revisited", "Gerry Rafferty Biography: 'Right Down the Line' Liner Notes", Musician Gerry Rafferty took refuge in farm at height of fame, "The Proclaimers - Letter From America (Band Version)", "Archived version of Gerry Rafferty's Website (6 December 2000)", "News section postings dated 23 February 2004 and 31 March 2004", "Tickets & Eintrittskarten online kaufen | Hypertension Music", Gerry Rafferty's funeral is held in Paisley, "Obituary: Gerry Rafferty, singer and songwriter", 'I lost my soulmate' says Gerry Rafferty's fiancee, "Gerry Rafferty, 'Baker Street' Singer, Dies at 63", "The lonely road from 'Baker Street' to skid row", "Gerry Rafferty's struggle with demons, and the Willie Whitelaw connection Telegraph Blogs", "Missing Baker Street singer Gerry Rafferty is living in hiding", "Gerry Rafferty happily stuck in the middle of Tuscany", Neighbours of Baker Street star Gerry Rafferty speak of shock at his collapse, Hope for family as Rafferty is taken off life support machine, "Gerry Rafferty's daughter sings at his funeral", "Baker Street singer Gerry Rafferty died at his daughter's home in Stroud", Mourners' Farewell To Singer Gerry Rafferty, "Gerry Rafferty's girlfriend loses battle for inheritance", "Baker Street singer Gerry Rafferty dies at age of 63", "Finbar Furey leads tributes to the late singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty", "Star tribute as Gerry Rafferty Drive opens", "Bring It All Home Gerry Rafferty Remembered", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerry_Rafferty&oldid=1150587964, Musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, This page was last edited on 19 April 2023, at 00:00. This was elaborated on by music journalist Paul Gambaccini for BBC World News:. The Celtic thing is the drone, you know -its fifths, the same as in country music, a lot of which comes from Scotland and Ireland, anyway. According to guitarist Hugh Burns, Murphy's death was "a great blow to Gerry"[42] and marked the end of a creative partnership that had lasted almost 30 years. Nice memories. (Thanks, Jack.). Gerry wanted respect. If I dont, Ill give you 75. Im like, You cant sign an artist of mine and not listen to the record! He says, Thats the deal. But depending on whom you ask, the intrigue doesnt quite end there. The next album was all organised but Gerry wanted to get rid of me.". [citation needed], Other artists continue to be inspired by Rafferty's work. In conversations with both Burns and Burton, a controversy and lawsuit involving George Harrison came up. [11] Instead of a cover painting and hand-lettering by John 'Patrick' Byrne, who had illustrated every previous Rafferty and Stealers Wheel album, Sleepwalking featured a simple, stark photograph of an empty road stretching to the sky. Becoming a member is easy. All content on the site is the property of Rock's Backpages and protected by copyright laws. Gerry in a very rare interview from a radio scotland programme in 2003.This is a rare insight into the world of one of the past centurys greatest songwriters. In 1972, having gained some airplay from his Signpost recording "Make You, Break You", Rafferty joined Egan to form Stealers Wheel and recorded three albums with the American songwriters and producers Leiber & Stoller. And he certainly got that. I was going through a very strange period in my life right then, he explains with a burr that is thick yet as gentle as his large gray eyes. Then he tried it on guitar, and that didnt sound quite right. Rafferty and Joe Egan formed the group Stealers Wheel in 1972 and produced several hits, most notably "Stuck in the Middle with You" and "Star". Succession Recap: Logan Roy Makes Shock Return, Shiv and Tom Get Kinky, After a long pause during which Raffertys eyes are downcast and the only sound to be heard is that of his chewing gum, he answers intently: I dont really think about it in those kinds of terms. . After listening to the two songs side-by-side, I have to say they are close enough that it seems almost certain that the British saxophone player [Ravenscoft] must have heard Steves record. He added that since Half a Heart came out 10 years before Baker Street, someone must have heard the record. If your local library has signed up with Rock's Backpages, please enter your card number below: Becoming a subscriber is easy. What I want is just to develop in terms of my songs and also to work in other areas. He then worked in a butcher's shop, as a civil service clerk, and in a shoe shop. Rafferty and Fuschini rented a large home together in Upton, near Poole. Gerry Raffertys promising partnership with Joe Egan as Stealers Wheel had ended after three albums and a US no.1 single in Stuck In The Middle With You. Well do 4-3-2. They said, What? I said, 4% from the first album, 3% from the next album and 2% from the album after that, I wont disclose how much I earned, but it was a substantial amount of money.. The 10 solo albums made by Gerry Rafferty during his lifetime form a distinguished legacy, from 1971's cult favourite Can I Have My Money Back, through the platinum-selling years of City to. Rafferty grew up in a council house on the town's Glenburn estate and attended St. Mirin's Academy. He said, Ill play you something. The duo disbanded in 1975. The "80,000" figure has been widely repeated in newspaper articles ever since. [69] Rafferty died of liver failure at the home of his daughter Martha in Stroud, Gloucestershire, on 4 January 2011, at the age of 63. "[76], The reaction of younger artists suggests Rafferty's music has also inspired a new generation of fans. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. Brewer's offices were just across the road. Now based in London, he employed sound engineer Giles Twigg to assemble a Digidesign mobile recording studio and, with Twigg's help, recorded the album Another World in London, Scotland, Barbados, France, and Italy with collaborators from previous albums, including Hugh Burns, Mark Knopfler, Kenny Craddock, and Mo Foster. People werent quite used to that., Of course, theres also something about the saxophone. The track appeared on Dickson's albums Don't Think Twice It's All Right (1992) and The Barbara Dickson Collection (2006). Listen to Positive Charge, The Gaslight Anthem's first single in nine years, Eddie Van Halen was planning a farewell tour with the original Van Halen lineup, Coke! He was in self-destruct mode. If you feel uncomfortable with it you shouldn't do it. (Singer/songwriters were crawling out of every apartment at that time.) But two of the initial recruits deserted before they even recorded, and as musicians came and went, Stealers Wheel deteriorated into Rafferty and Egan backed by a cast of dozens. He wandered over with Gerry and left them to talk. For his self-titled album, see, Undated "Prank call" video of Billy Connolly on YouTube, uploaded 25 November 2007, Connolly remembers Rafferty as a prank call "expert he used to make me scream. We were looking for. [42] On a Wing and a Prayer (1992) reunited him with his Stealers Wheel partner Egan on several tracks. This is a great song.. What did you do before Baker Street? theyll ask, and as he answers politely, concealing both his boredom and bemusement, through his head may well run the lines, Fools to the left of me, jokers to the right/Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.. So I picked up and moved [from London] back to Scotland to sort myself out., Eventually Rafferty was prevailed upon to rejoin Stealers Wheel, and he resumed writing songs that conveyed pretty scary kinds of feelings and condemned managers, record companies, the whole thing. (When I asked what he felt was the persistent theme of his music, Rafferty replied tersely and without hesitation, Alienation.) Though he and Egan sugarcoated their bitter pills with sweet melodies and glossy pop arrangements, they were unable to repeat the success of Stuck in the Middle., Editors picks He was so rude about his fanbase, about the American people and going on the road, that at the end of the day, that was it it was all over. Louder is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. He wanted his songs to be respected. Gerry had had a tough upbringing in Glasgow and the manager sensed that he carried "tremendous resentment" about it. Michael Gray, Rafferty's former manager, agreed: "The audible proof is there from the demos that Rafferty himself created the riff and placed it within the song's structure exactly where it ended up. I just now went to the Internet and, sure enough, found out the history of Rafferty and Baker Street, and viewed a YouTube performance of it. At first it was part of the melody, and Rafferty reckoned hed sing it. Soundtrack: 50/50. The disputed history behind Gerry Raffertys 1978 hit. They married in 1970 and lived in Scotland with their daughter, Martha Mary, before moving to the south of England in the late 1970s,[20] where they divided their time between their farm near the KentSussex border and a home in Hampstead, London. For me, singing and writing is very therapeutic. Quite frankly, I loved his songs. [50], After leaving St Thomas' Hospital, and while claiming he was in Tuscany, he was moving from one London hotel to another. Scott is the Content Director of Music at Future plc, responsible for the editorial strategy of online and print brands like Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog, Guitarist, Guitar World, Guitar Player, Total Guitar etc. And for good reason. Signing up for the RBP newsletter provides access to a limited number of free articles, as well as six new free articles every week. For institutions, Rock's Backpages is provided as an unlimited access subscription, meaning that all staff, students and library patrons have "Gerry Rafferty: Right Down the Line". Its most popular comment is this: This song makes me think of the Summer of 1978. [17] After the disputes were resolved in 1978, he recorded his second solo album, City to City, with producer Hugh Murphy, which included the song with which he remains most identified, "Baker Street". The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time Its almost identical, only a little bit different and that wouldnt happen by chance seeing as it was so close.. [4] His Irish-born father, an alcoholic, was a miner and lorry driver who died when Rafferty was 16. So surprised and impressed was he when he first heard Gerry's music, Billy didn't believe that the songs had been written by him . At eleven, he started to play. Gerry Rafferty Remembered is at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall as part of Celtic Connections on 22 and 23 . From what shes said, I believe Linda was quite happy to have Gerrys hands on her, for a time. The Times, Wednesday 5 January 2011. by Celtic fusion artist Martyn Bennett. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Gerry Rafferty is one of the more elusive and enigmatic figures on this increasingly strange roundabout. "[47] Finally, thanks to the Internet, it seemed Rafferty no longer needed the music industry: technology was allowing him to put his music directly in the hands of an appreciative audience. "Gerry Rafferty went to meet his maker sober and unafraid, curious and brave", "Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street' Blues: Rolling Stone's 1978 Feature". Jerry Gilbert, [6] Finbar Furey, who knew Rafferty for over 40 years, said he "was in a different league completely. I dont have a manager now, nor do I want one.. Hell do all the painting -it will be partly animated -and Ill do the music., Raffertys outlining of his goals, which seem at once modest and ambitious, is interrupted by the entrance of members of his entourage, a magazine photographer and a newspaper reporter who confesses to me that until today she had never heard of the man shes about to interview. When he gets there, Artie Mogull is in a hurry. [26] In a 2003 interview with The Sun (Scotland), Rafferty commented on how profitable his biggest song had been: "Baker Street still makes me about 80,000 a year. Byrne was also responsible for one of Rafferty's most prized possessions: a hand-painted Martin acoustic guitar bearing his portrait and the name 'Gerry Rafferty', which features in many photographs of the singer. [20][21][22] As the singer recalled in a 1988 interview with Colin Irwin: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, "When I wrote the song I saw that bit as an instrumental part but I didn't know what. ), The video for Baker Street has been viewed over 5 million times. "[75] Speaking after the funeral, Charlie Reid of The Proclaimers said: "I think Gerry Rafferty was one of the few people who really successfully straddled the worlds of both folk and popular music. And Baker Street was an enormous radio record. In 1966, Rafferty and Egan were members of the band the Fifth Column. I'm unsure whether he did. (Both of these were popular hobbies in the year 1978. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. [citation needed], Rafferty drew a clear distinction between the artistic integrity of a musician, on the one hand, and the music industry's need to create celebrities and sell products, on the other. Please visit our Personal Subscriptions page for pricing and to place your order. It makes me think of home, nostalgia and happiness. You can view our full Privacy and Cookies Policy. The Humblebums were a flop My life doesn't stand or fall by the amount of people who buy my records. The follow-up single "Get It Right Next Time" made the UK and US Top 40. Thats not to diminish Ravenscroft because, denuded of the sax, Baker Street sounds like another middling acid trip of a song in a decade full of them. His frustration during this period underlies Baker Street, which takes its name from the London street where he often stayed in a friends flat. Roy Wood Jr. But they were old-school producers. I thought the contract had finished but it turned out it hadnt. But the song did benefit Ravenscofts career, and he went on to work with Pink Floyd, Marvin Gaye, and Daft Punk. We will keep you informed of developments as they happen. [citation needed], In 1969, Rafferty became the third member of a folk-pop group, the Humblebums, along with comedian Billy Connolly and Tam Harvey. Barry Recap: A Tragic Death Shakes Up Bill Haders Dark Satire Jon Brewer now a successful documentary maker (opens in new tab) managed Rafferty through his most successful period before their relationship ended in acrimony. "[52] Reid believed Rafferty was fundamentally unsuited to the pressures of celebrity: "He struck me as a very, very sensitive man and for someone like that, fame was probably not appropriate. This was again on the Hypertension music label. Gerry Rafferty Buy album Year of Release: 1978 Appears in: 141 charts Rank Score: 881 Rank in 1978: 35 Rank in 1970s: 375 Overall Rank: 1,918 Average Rating: 76 (159 votes) Comments: 8 2. Featuring 18 tracks, the album contains six new recordings, covers of Christmas carols, plus also some traditional songs that had previously been available on the Gerry Rafferty website. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was "Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. Rafferty himself said as much, during an interview taken not long before his death in 2009: "There have been periods in my life where I have experienced depression. [29] One of the lesser-known songs from that time is "Big Change in the Weather" (the B-side of "Baker Street"). Gerry Rafferty - Right Down the Line (Lyric Video) 'Right Down the Line' is taken from the album 'City to City'. [12] Yet although the album was a critical success, it did not enjoy commercial success. Stealers Wheels management company Ricochet had disappeared with the bands money and times were tough. August 1975. Nor have the preoccupations of Raffertys lyrics changed all that much. His career high came in the 1970s and included the anthemic Baker Street and Stuck in the Middle . In a 2006 interview with The Times, Ravenscroft recalled the episode differently, claiming he was presented with a song that contained "several gaps": "If you're asking me: 'Did Gerry hand me a piece of music to play?' It wasnt illegal. Rafferty recorded his first solo album, Can I Have My Money Back?, with Hugh Murphy, a staff producer working for the label. Brewer took the album to the US where he got a meeting with Artie Mogull, who had then just bought United Artists with partner Jerry Rubinstein. But theres something special about four or five guys in a studio and working with an artist and honing whatever it is that the song is and fine-tuning it. Him and Billy used to play a game. They got married and ran off together. I saw a man in despair". In a blog posting dated 31 March 2004 he wrote: "Let's get back to music: after all that's the only reason that this website has been set up." [7][34], Another World marked a new departure for the singer. Ive got nothing against electronics. The sax solo did sound vaguely familiar, so perhaps I have heard this in the past on the radio somewhere along the way. Accept | Cookies policy | Privacy policy, Click here to sign in via the UK federation WAYF. The 50 Worst Decisions in Music History this can result in this site earning a commission. Gerry had had a tough upbringing in Glasgow and the manager sensed that he carried tremendous resentment about it. [5] Reviews of the album were mixed. According to Burns, a lot of the songs that seem to have some longevity tend to feature, for the most part, real instruments. For a while, the saxophone was a key feature of that dynamic. If I have to listen to the album, Ill give you 50 thousand. I did six albums with him. "It was something I was fiercely protective of in myself. He had been signed to A&M. Ravenscroft considered his contribution to Baker Street to be substantial enough to warrant a songwriting credit or a percentage of publishing money. The career of Gerry Rafferty from folk-roots to multi-million selling success and alcohol-fuelled demise was one of amazing highs and lows. "[7] Monsignor John Tormey, celebrating Rafferty's funeral mass, suggested the singer's attitude to fame was an indication of his spiritual integrity: "He always searched for a more authentic way to live his life, shunning the outward trappings of celebrity so that he might live as he chose to live his life."[52]. [60], In November 2010, Rafferty was admitted to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital where he was put on a life-support machine and treated for multiple organ failure. You can take the boy out of Paisley but you can't take Paisley out the boy! Also, according to legend, he was only paid 27 for his contribution, while Rafferty was said to have made 80,000 in annual royalties until his death in 2011. I said, If you give him 5 million, youll never get another album Its the worst thing you can do. To be a star in inverted commas -that is probably the last thing I want. Singer, who would pass away in 2011, is sitting on top of the world as he gives this interview in New York City's Plaza Hotel, Gerry Raffertys Baker Street Blues: Rolling Stones 1978 Feature, You Are Grimes Now: Inside Music's Weird AI Future, Pharrells Something in the Water Fest Cancels Final Day Due to Severe Weather, Stagecoach: Kane Brown Breaks Mental Health Stigma With 'Memory,' Talks Depression, Kiss Paul Stanley Has 'Thoughts' About Parents Who Support Kids Gender Identities, Kanye West Fallout Sparks Class Action Lawsuit Against Adidas, Roy Wood Jr. Its a topic thats since been remaindered to the small music forums at the dusty edges of the Internet. Affiliate programs and In 1965, 18-year-old Rafferty met 15-year-old Carla Ventilla, an apprentice hairdresser from an Italian family in Clydebank, at a dancehalla story he later recounted in the song "Shipyard Town" on North and South. The problems we had, had little to do, actually, with the results we got on the board, because they were great in terms of sound and all that.

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