[77] Electropop star Elly Jackson described "Right Down the Line" as "my favourite track of all time. The Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, who has died aged 63 after a long illness, wrote the multimillion-selling hit Baker Street, which more than 30 years after . 4: Whatever's Written In Your Heart (from 'City To City', 1978) If there's one song that proves Gerry Rafferty's peerless songwriting ability, it's Whatever's Written In Your Heart. 'Can I Have My Money Back?' 28 in the US Top 40 in early 1979. ", Rafferty's next album, Night Owl, also did well. I feel as if I can dictate the pace, and thats whats really very good: to dictate your own pace so that you have enough time to write, enough time to record, enough time, really, to give your best. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Rafferty quickly denies this and points out that the destination of The Ark is extremely indefinite, though he does admit to reading such mystics as Gurdjieff and Ouspensky. Or as Burton put it, You hear something, your brain forgets., Musically, all the decisions on a Gerry Rafferty album, all the decisions on yes, that stays, or no, that goes were fundamentally his, said Burns. Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! "[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]. [41], Rafferty released two further albums in the 1990s in what musician Tom Robinson later described as "a major return to form". Fewer reservations and a bit more ebullience might be expected from a man with Americas Number Two single, Baker Street, and album, City to City (both have been Number One on some charts). [1] He is survived by his daughter Martha, granddaughter Celia, and brother Jim. Signing up for the RBP newsletter provides access to a limited number of free articles, as well as six new free articles every week. More likely, he has simply mellowed with age. Do you remember how old ladies used to have those little baskets on wheels they used to push around the shops? Contributing artists included his friend Rab Noakes, The Proclaimers, Barbara Dickson, Ron Sexsmith, Jack Bruce, Paul Brady, Emma Pollock, James Vincent McMorrow and Betsy Cook. The career of Gerry Rafferty from folk-roots to multi-million selling success and alcohol-fuelled demise was one of amazing highs and lows. Click here for academic and other group subscriptions. Brewer: He says, Heres the deal. According to Rafferty's daughter Martha, it was around this time that her father discovered, by chance, Colin Wilson's classic book The Outsider, about alienation and creativity, which became a huge influence both on his songwriting and his outlook on the world: "The ideas and references contained in that one book were to sustain and inspire him for the rest of his life. In 1978, he recorded his second solo album, City to City, which included "Baker Street", his most popular song. Artists write the best songs when theyre hungry., "Anyway, they gave him five million and he pissed off and bought a house in the Caribbean. The newspaper Scotland on Sunday reported that Rafferty had been asked to leave the hotel and had then checked himself into St Thomas' Hospital suffering from a chronic liver condition, brought on by heavy drinking. Here is the song sung by Gerry with Joe providing the second lead vocal: Theres a 1 hour BBC4 documentary about him here. Its fellow honorees that yearCome Together, Candle in the Wind, and Build Me Up Buttercupdeliver some sense of the songs real reach. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). Heres how it works. It contains an In his interview with Colin Irwin, Rafferty disputed this and said that Ravenscroft had been his second choice to play the saxophone solo, after Pete Zorn, who was unavailable: "The only confusion at the time that I didnt enjoy too much was the fact that a lot of people believed that the line was written by Raphael Ravenscroft, the sax player, but it was my line. The liner notes to the compilation album Right Down the Line, written by Jerry Gilbert with Rafferty's close co-operation, note his consistent refusal to tour the United States and "generally 'play the industry game'. Barry Recap: A Tragic Death Shakes Up Bill Haders Dark Satire The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time. After the duo separated in 1971, Transatlantic owner Nathan Joseph signed Rafferty as a solo performer. If there were an official anthem for playing darts alone in an empty roadside bar during a rainstorm, it would be Baker Street. And while theres no data to back it up, Baker Street is undoubtedly the top song to idle to in a driveway before cutting the engine to your Dodge Aspen. Musical is very cyclical. All rights reserved. Burns isnt ruling out its return. He is currently working on the official documentary on the life of Chuck Berry. They got married and ran off together. He joined the folk-pop group the Humblebums (of which Billy Connolly was a member) in 1969. His wife had just given birth to their daughter and he told me that he didnt have any money to buy nappies, says Brewer. Id got married, had a child, I was twenty-four, and one day it was like Id been living in a dream for six or eight years and suddenly I woke up. As he explained in a press release heralding the new record in November 2000: "My heart and soul have gone into this album, and by releasing it in this way my creative influence has not been diluted in any way. 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.. Scottish singer/songwriter Gerry Rafferty, best known for his solo hit "Baker Street" and "Stuck In The . Ghosts! Baker Street has been covered by a wildly diverse set of outfits, most virtuously by Waylon Jennings and the London Symphony Orchestra, most sentimentally by Lisa Simpson, and most blandly by the Foo Fighters and Rick Springfield. Gerry Rafferty is one of the more elusive and enigmatic figures on this increasingly strange roundabout. When I reached out to Burton earlier this week to ask him if he or Marcus had ever made the connection to Baker Street, he was caught a little off-guard. Rafferty originally had conceived of Stealers Wheel which he formed after spending three years as the better half of a folk-rock duo, the Humblebums as a quartet of singer/songwriters, sort of a Scottish Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Ravenscroft considered his contribution to Baker Street to be substantial enough to warrant a songwriting credit or a percentage of publishing money. [59], Rafferty enjoyed alcohol from a young age,[20][37][42][60] and early songs, such as "One Drink Down", "Baker Street", and "Night Owl", freely mention the subject. [20], In 1980, Rafferty and Murphy produced a record for Richard and Linda Thompson; though never released, it eventually evolved into their album Shoot Out the Lights. Gerry Raffertys former manager Jon Brewer recalls what it was like managing the Baker Street star in the wheeling-dealing 70s the age of chart-fixing, payola and big money. Rafferty grew up in a council house on the town's Glenburn estate and attended St. Mirin's Academy. And although he had a few more hit singles in the United States, by 1980 it was basically all over, and when I say 'it', I mean basically his career, because he just was not comfortable with this. The collection of blues, rock, and folk demos had been planned for a new album before his death. Burns also nodded to the songs unusual structure, which he compared in its unorthodox nature, to Queens Bohemian Rhapsody., Its not just opening, verse, chorus, he said. [60], In the last decade of his life, having taken pains to shun the fame and celebrity that accompanied his musical achievements, Rafferty found himself making headlines once again as he struggled with alcoholism and depression and the increasingly erratic behaviour they spawned. 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. As the 1980s progressed, Rafferty's growing drinking problem placed his marriage under impossible strain and his wife divorced him in 1990, though they remained close. If your local library has signed up with Rock's Backpages, please enter your card number below: Becoming a subscriber is easy. Guitarist Richard Thompson helped by performing on the track "Take The Money and Run", and the title track was a UK No. He wanted his songs to be respected. Bath Jon Brewer now a successful documentary maker (opens in new tab) managed Rafferty through his most successful period before their relationship ended in acrimony. However, he explained in an interview, "But there was never anything else for me but music. I must admit, I could live off that song alone." Shortly after news of the singer's death, Lily Allen tweeted the message "Rest in Peace Gerry x" with a video link to the song "Right Down the Line", reputedly one of her favourite music tracks. 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. [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". [citation needed], Also in 1983, Rafferty announced his intention to take a break and devote more time to his family: "It dawned on me that since Baker Street I had been touring the world, travelling everywhere and seeing nowhere. [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. At thirty-one, hes clearly overcome much of the anger he felt as a younger man toward both women and the music business. Thats why I especially liked the Everly Brothers.. Another posting announced that Rafferty would begin to release music regularly as free downloads: "In reality, Gerry could put a new track out every two weeks or so. Released as a single in July 1978, it reached #12 on the U.S. [3] It was the third release from Rafferty's City to City LP as the follow-up to his first major hit as a solo artist, "Baker Street". From a Richard Thompson interview this spring, discussing the shelved Rafferty-produced 1980 sessions prior to the Shoot Out the Lights album. The Internet is a conspiracy-theory clearing house, and yet the connection between Baker Street and the opening riff of Half a Heart lives in semi-ubiquity. Enter Raphael Ravenscroft, a session saxophonist who came highly recommended, and the rest is history or at least a hit single. Now I feel much more in control of myself, and certainly much more in control of the way I want my career to go along. For me, singing and writing is very therapeutic. Gerry Rafferty - Right Down the Line (Lyric Video) 'Right Down the Line' is taken from the album 'City to City'. [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. The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Rafferty came up with the hook. By the late 70s, Brewer had had a hand in the early career of David Bowie, Alvin Lee and others and had a publishing company called Belfern Music. So what you get is someones heartfelt experience and you put that into the lyric and into the song. Brewer's offices were just across the road. He wouldnt sit in my Rolls, he wouldnt sit in my offices, we had to meet in these pubs and it all became very strange. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. 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. From a Richard Thompson interview this spring, discussing the shelved Rafferty-produced 1980 sessions prior to the. His frustration during this period underlies Baker Street, which takes its name from the London street where he often stayed in a friends flat. [28], "Right Down the Line" was the second single from City to City. "[53] Billy Connolly agrees that Rafferty had different priorities: "I wanted success and fame and I got it, to a degree. "[13] Rafferty later confirmed that alienation was the "persistent theme" of his songs;[2][14] "To Each and Everyone", from Can I Have My Money Back?, was an early example. Billboard Hot 100 [2] and #8 on Cash Box. Nor have the preoccupations of Raffertys lyrics changed all that much. But they were old-school producers. [73], Newspapers printed lengthy obituaries for the singer; in The Guardian, Michael Gray charted Rafferty's long downward spiral into alcoholism,[38] while a full-page obituary in The Times summarised his career more positively: "As well as being a singer of considerable talent who at one time had the pop world at his feet, Gerry Rafferty was also a consummate songwriter, blessed with sensitivity and an enviable melodic flair that at its best recalled Paul McCartney. The Humblebums were a flop My life doesn't stand or fall by the amount of people who buy my records. Gerald Rafferty (16 April 1947 - 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. They'll know where to find me." 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. The mass was streamed live over the Internet. Fuschini contested the will, but it was later reported that she had lost her case and 75,000 legal costs were awarded against her. A Scotsman bred on traditional music, he was never a proper folkie - not really - and his alliance with Billy Connolly in The Humblebums at the end of the '60s always seemed a bizarre blend of opposites, though Gerry maintains it was . Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns/Getty. I never heard before until I just now listened, but I am sure if I had actually written the song back in the day I would have retained my copyright as I always did and would have been aware of it. [18] The album sold over 5.5million copies, toppling the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in the US on 8 July 1978. It goes through a little kind of journey, it takes you through a journey and so, in some sense, its a very complete composition, which is unusual for popular music at that time. Its most popular comment is this: This song makes me think of the Summer of 1978. Quite frankly, I loved his songs. Rafferty recorded a new version of his Humblebums song "Her Father Didn't Like Me Anyway" on the album Over My Head (1994). Billy Connolly on Gerry Rafferty (Conan O'Brien, 2012) russallert 5.31K subscribers 597K views 5 years ago Billy Connolly appears on the Conan O'Brien show in 2012 and tells a story about his. According to Michael Gray, the singer's personal manager in the early 1980s: "It never occurred to me in all the time I knew him that he was heading for alcoholism. 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. And managers cant fucking tell you whats best for you in terms of when you should do gigs, rates and so on. unrestricted remote and on-site access to each text and audio file in the database. Politicians in attendance were the First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond MSP, Wendy Alexander MSP, Hugh Henry MSP, and Robin Harper MSP. Perhaps I was on the edge of a nervous break-down thats how it felt, anyway. [16] Stealers Wheel also produced the lesser top 50 hits "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" followed by "Star", and there were further suggestions of Rafferty's growing alienation in tracks such as "Outside Looking In" and "Who Cares". In fact, most of what I played was an old blues riff, he once explained. . Liner notes for the compilation album Right Down the Line (prepared with Rafferty's close co-operation[33]) confirmed this several years later, noting the singer was now "finding himself at the crossroads and looking to replace the treadmill with a new dimension in his life". That means youre there dead on two oclock, you have a coffee break at exactly five oclock, and then you finish at eight oclock on the dot and you dont go over regardless of what youre doing. I thought the contract had finished but it turned out it hadnt. Three acoustic guitars, layers and layers of backing vocals, very lush, very evened out sound., (You must log in or sign up to reply here. He was in self-destruct mode. Click here for academic and other group subscriptions. Given the songs ubiquity and influence, its understandable that Ravenscroft might later fib about his role. In the same interview, he said that the entire record had been made for approximately 200,000, with half spent on travel, the recording system costing 75,000, and the website and marketing adding 25,000. Rafferty was born on 16 April 1947 into a working-class family of Irish Catholic origin in Underwood Lane in Paisley,[1] a son and grandson of coal miners. After they disbanded in 1971, he recorded his first solo album, Can I Have My Money Back? . To be a star in inverted commas -that is probably the last thing I want. I said, If you go on David Frost, Im finished. Gerry had a glass eye I didnt know this until Billy told me this story and theyd wait until it was really pouring and theyd go out and all the old girls would put up their umbrellas. [34] According to Michael Gray, Rafferty's personal manager at the height of his success, he turned down many opportunities to work with other artists:[38] " he retained a healthy scepticism not just about the music industry but about society, money and politics in general.
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