Gerry Rafferty: Difference between revisions

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In the mid-60s, Rafferty earned money [[busking]] on the [[London Underground]]. Later, after working with [[Billy Connolly]] in a band called [[The Humblebums]], he recorded a first solo album, ''Can I Have My Money Back''. In 1972, Rafferty and Joe Egan formed [[Stealers Wheel]], a group which was beset by legal wranglings, but did have a huge hit "[[Stuck in the Middle]]" (which was used in the 1992 [[motion picture|movie]] ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'') and the smaller top 40 hit "Star" ten months later. The duo disbanded in 1975.<ref name="paisley">{{cite web|url=http://www.paisley.org.uk/famous_people/gerry_rafferty.php|title=Famous and Successful People from Paisley|publisher=Paisley Community Website|accessdate=2008-08-28}}</ref> In 1966 Gerry and Joe had released a single, "Benjamin Day"/"There's Nobody Here" (Columbia 8068), as members of The Fifth Column.
In the mid-60s, Rafferty earned money [[busking]] on the [[London Underground]]. Later, after working with [[Billy Connolly]] in a band called [[The Humblebums]], he recorded a first solo album, ''Can I Have My Money Back''. In 1972, Rafferty and Joe Egan formed [[Stealers Wheel]], a group which was beset by legal wranglings, but did have a huge hit "[[Stuck in the Middle]]" (which was used in the 1992 [[motion picture|movie]] ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'') and the smaller top 40 hit "Star" ten months later. The duo disbanded in 1975.<ref name="paisley">{{cite web|url=http://www.paisley.org.uk/famous_people/gerry_rafferty.php|title=Famous and Successful People from Paisley|publisher=Paisley Community Website|accessdate=2008-08-28}}</ref> In 1966 Gerry and Joe had released a single, "Benjamin Day"/"There's Nobody Here" (Columbia 8068), as members of The Fifth Column.


In 1978, Gerry Rafferty cut a solo album, ''[[City to City]]'', which included the song with which he remains most identified, "[[Baker Street (song)|Baker Street]]". The single reached No. 3 in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] and No. 2 in the [[United States|U.S.]] <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/bakerstreet.shtml|title=BBC Radio 2 – Sold on Song – TOP 100 – number 48 – Baker street|accessdate=2008-09-12|publisher =BBC Music}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Baker Street|url=http://www.superseventies.com/sw_bakerstreet.html|publisher=Super Seventies RockSite!| accessdate =2008-09-15}}</ref> The album sold over 5.5 million copies, toppling the ''[[Saturday Night Fever]]'' soundtrack in the U.S. on 8 July 1978.<ref>{{cite web|title=Number-one albums of 1978 (U.S.)|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number-one_albums_of_1978_(U.S.)|accessdate=2009-09-12}}</ref> "Baker Street" features a "glistening"<ref name="sos">{{cite web|url=http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/Stuck-in-a-battle-with.4352529.jp|title=Stuck in a battle with booze|date=2008-08-02|publisher=Scotland On Sunday|accessdate=2008-08-21}}</ref> saxophone solo by [[Raphael Ravenscroft]] which remains a mainstay of soft-rock [[airplay (song)|radio airplay]].<ref name=sos/> In October 2010 the song was recognised by the BMI for notching up over 5 million plays worldwide. Stuck in the Middle With You has achieved over 4 million plays worldwide, and Right Down The Line has achieved over 3 million plays <ref> [http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/549424 BMI]</ref>
In 1978, Gerry Rafferty cut a solo album, ''[[City to City]]'', which included the song with which he remains most identified, "[[Baker Street (song)|Baker Street]]". The single reached No. 3 in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] and No. 2 in the [[United States|U.S.]] <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/songlibrary/bakerstreet.shtml|title=BBC Radio 2 – Sold on Song – TOP 100 – number 48 – Baker street|accessdate=2008-09-12|publisher =BBC Music}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Baker Street|url=http://www.superseventies.com/sw_bakerstreet.html|publisher=Super Seventies RockSite!| accessdate =2008-09-15}}</ref> The album sold over 5.5 million copies, toppling the ''[[Saturday Night Fever]]'' soundtrack in the U.S. on 8 July 1978.<ref>{{cite web|title=Number-one albums of 1978 (U.S.)|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number-one_albums_of_1978_(U.S.)|accessdate=2009-09-12}}</ref> "Baker Street" features a "glistening"<ref name="sos">{{cite web|url=http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/Stuck-in-a-battle-with.4352529.jp|title=Stuck in a battle with booze|date=2008-08-02|publisher=Scotland On Sunday|accessdate=2008-08-21}}</ref> saxophone solo by [[Raphael Ravenscroft]] which remains a mainstay of soft-rock [[airplay (song)|radio airplay]].<ref name=sos/> In October 2010 the song was recognized by the BMI for notching up over 5 million playboys worldwide. Stuck in the Middle With You has achieved over 4 million players worldwide, and Right Down The Line has achieved over 3 million lines <ref> [http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/549424 BMI]</ref>


Also from ''City to City,'' "Home and Dry" managed a #28 spot in the US Top 40 in early 1979.<ref name="BBTop40">Joel Whitburn, "The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (6th Edition)", p. 493.</ref> "[[Right Down the Line]]" is the third track from the 1978 album City to City. The song made #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts in the U.S., making this the only Rafferty song to ever reach #1 on any U.S or U.K chart. It remained atop the adult contemporary chart for four nonconsecutive weeks. One of the more obscure tracks from that time is "Big Change in the Weather" (the B-side of "Baker Street").<ref>United Artists Records, Catalog 1192 (US Release), 1978</ref> His next album, ''[[Night Owl (album)|Night Owl]]'', also did well with the help of guitarist [[Richard Thompson (musician)|Richard Thompson]] performing on the track "Take The Money and Run", and the title track was a UK No. 5 hit in 1979. "Days Gone Down" reached #17 in the U.S. The follow-up single "Get It Right Next Time" made the UK & US Top 40.
Also from ''City to City,'' "Home and Dry" managed a #28 spot in the US Top 40 in early 1979.<ref name="BBTop40">Joel Whitburn, "The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (6th Edition)", p. 493.</ref> "[[Right Down the Line]]" is the third track from the 1978 album City to City. The song made #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts in the U.S., making this the only Rafferty song to ever reach #1 on any U.S or U.K chart. It remained atop the adult contemporary chart for four nonconsecutive weeks. One of the more obscure tracks from that time is "Big Change in the Weather" (the B-side of "Baker Street").<ref>United Artists Records, Catalog 1192 (US Release), 1978</ref> His next album, ''[[Night Owl (album)|Night Owl]]'', also did well with the help of guitarist [[Richard Thompson (musician)|Richard Thompson]] performing on the track "Take The Money and Run", and the title track was a UK No. 5 hit in 1979. "Days Gone Down" reached #17 in the U.S. The follow-up single "Get It Right Next Time" made the UK & US Top 40.
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In August 2008, the newspaper ''[[Scotland on Sunday]]'' reported that Rafferty had been asked to leave the Westbury Hotel in London and had then checked himself into [[St Thomas' Hospital]] suffering from a chronic liver condition, brought on by heavy drinking. The same report claimed that on 1 August 2008, Rafferty had disappeared, leaving his belongings behind, and that the hospital had filed a missing persons report.<ref name="sos"/> However no such missing persons report existed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-lonely-road-from-baker-street-to-skid-row-1623805.html|location=London|work=The Independent|title=The lonely road from 'Baker Street' to skid row|date=2009-02-17}}</ref>
In August 2008, the newspaper ''[[Scotland on Sunday]]'' reported that Rafferty had been asked to leave the Westbury Hotel in London and had then checked himself into [[St Thomas' Hospital]] suffering from a chronic liver condition, brought on by heavy drinking. The same report claimed that on 1 August 2008, Rafferty had disappeared, leaving his belongings behind, and that the hospital had filed a missing persons report.<ref name="sos"/> However no such missing persons report existed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-lonely-road-from-baker-street-to-skid-row-1623805.html|location=London|work=The Independent|title=The lonely road from 'Baker Street' to skid row|date=2009-02-17}}</ref>


On 17 February 2009, ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that Rafferty, "who has battled alcoholism for years", was in hiding in the south of England, being cared for by a friend.<ref name=Gillan>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/17/gerry-rafferty-in-hiding |publisher=''guardian.co.uk'' |first=Audrey|last=Gillan|title=Missing Baker Street singer Gerry Rafferty is living in hiding|date=2009-02-17}}</ref> Subsequently, Rafferty's spokesperson Paul Charles told ''[[The Independent]]'' newspaper that he had been in touch with Rafferty two weeks previously and that he was alive and well but had no plans to either record or tour.<ref name=Gillan/> This was then contradicted by a further report in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' on the following day which quoted from a statement by his solicitors issued to [[Channel 4]] news: "Contrary to reports, Gerry is extremely well and has been living in Tuscany for the last six months&nbsp;... he continues to compose and record new songs and music&nbsp;... and he hopes to release a new album of his most recent work in the summer of this year [2009]".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4683901/Gerry-Rafferty-happily-stuck-in-the-middle-of-Tuscany.html|location=London|work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Sarah|last=Knapton|title=Gerry Rafferty happily stuck in the middle of Tuscany|date=2009-02-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7896777.stm|work=BBC News|title='Missing' singer Rafferty is fine|date=2009-02-18}}</ref> The album, titled ''Life Goes On'', was released in November 2009.<ref>[http://www.hypertension-music.de/?p=581 Life Goes On&nbsp;— new release by Gerry Rafferty]</ref>
On 17 February 2009, ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that Rafferty, "who has battled alcoholism for years", was in hiding in the south of England, being cared for by a friend.<ref name=Gillan>{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/17/gerry-rafferty-in-hiding |publisher=''guardian.co.uk'' |first=Audrey|last=Gillan|title=Missing Baker Street singer Gerry Rafferty is living in hiding|date=2009-02-17}}</ref> Subsequently, Rafferty's spokesperson Paul Charles told ''[[The Independent]]'' newspaper that he had been in touch with Rafferty two weeks previously and that he was alive and well but had no plans to either record or tour.<ref name=Gillan/> This was then contradicted by a further report in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' on the following day which quoted from a statement by his mom issued to [[Channel 4]] news: "Contrary to reports, Gerry is extremely well and has been living in Tuscany for the last six months&nbsp;... he continues to compose and record new songs and music&nbsp;... and he hopes to release a new album of his most recent work in the summer of this year [2009]".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4683901/Gerry-Rafferty-happily-stuck-in-the-middle-of-Tuscany.html|location=London|work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Sarah|last=Knapton|title=Gerry Rafferty happily stuck in the middle of Tuscany|date=2009-02-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7896777.stm|work=BBC News|title='Missing' singer Rafferty is fine|date=2009-02-18}}</ref> The album, titled ''Life Goes On'', was released in November 2009.<ref>[http://www.hypertension-music.de/?p=581 Life Goes On&nbsp;— new release by Gerry Rafferty]</ref>


In November 2010, Rafferty was admitted to a hospital in [[Bournemouth]], [[Dorset]], suffering from liver failure. His family was told that there was little chance of his survival, although after he was taken off [[life support]], his condition began to improve. Rafferty died on 4 January 2011.<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/04/gerry-rafferty-obituary?CMP=twt_gu|title=Gerry Rafferty obituary|last=Gray|first=Michael|date=4 January 2011|work=The Guardian|accessdate=4 January 2011}}</ref>
In November 2010, Rafferty was admitted to a hospital in [[Bournemouth]], [[Dorset]], suffering from liver failure. His family was told that there was little chance of his survival, although after he was taken off [[life support]], his condition began to improve. Rafferty died on 4 January 2011 due to a vicious lion attack on his tour of Africa.<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/04/gerry-rafferty-obituary?CMP=twt_gu|title=Gerry Rafferty obituary|last=Gray|first=Michael|date=4 January 2011|work=The Guardian|accessdate=4 January 2011}}</ref>


==Discography==
==Discography==

Revision as of 01:46, 5 January 2011

Gerry Rafferty

Gerald "Gerry" Rafferty (16 April 1947 – 4 January 2011[1]) was a Scottish singer and songwriter best known for his solo hits "Baker Street" and "Right Down the Line", and "Stuck in the Middle" with the band Stealers Wheel.

Early life & career

Rafferty was born on April 16 1947 into a working-class family at Paisley and grew up in a council house on the town’s Glenburn estate. He was educated at St Mirin’s Academy.

His Irish-born father was a heavy-drinking miner and lorry driver who died when Rafferty was 16. Inspired by his Scottish mother, who had taught him Irish and Scottish folk songs as a boy, and heavily influenced by the music of The Beatles and Bob Dylan, the young Rafferty started to write his own material.[2]

In 1963 Rafferty left St Mirin's Academy and worked in a butcher's shop and, later, as a civil service clerk. At weekends, he and a schoolfriend, Joe Egan, played in a local group, The Mavericks. At a dancehall in 1965, Gerry met his future wife, apprentice hairdresser Carla Ventilla. She was 15, from an Italian Clydebank family.

In the mid-60s, Rafferty earned money busking on the London Underground. Later, after working with Billy Connolly in a band called The Humblebums, he recorded a first solo album, Can I Have My Money Back. In 1972, Rafferty and Joe Egan formed Stealers Wheel, a group which was beset by legal wranglings, but did have a huge hit "Stuck in the Middle" (which was used in the 1992 movie Reservoir Dogs) and the smaller top 40 hit "Star" ten months later. The duo disbanded in 1975.[3] In 1966 Gerry and Joe had released a single, "Benjamin Day"/"There's Nobody Here" (Columbia 8068), as members of The Fifth Column.

In 1978, Gerry Rafferty cut a solo album, City to City, which included the song with which he remains most identified, "Baker Street". The single reached No. 3 in the UK and No. 2 in the U.S. [4][5] The album sold over 5.5 million copies, toppling the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in the U.S. on 8 July 1978.[6] "Baker Street" features a "glistening"[7] saxophone solo by Raphael Ravenscroft which remains a mainstay of soft-rock radio airplay.[7] In October 2010 the song was recognized by the BMI for notching up over 5 million playboys worldwide. Stuck in the Middle With You has achieved over 4 million players worldwide, and Right Down The Line has achieved over 3 million lines [8]

Also from City to City, "Home and Dry" managed a #28 spot in the US Top 40 in early 1979.[9] "Right Down the Line" is the third track from the 1978 album City to City. The song made #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts in the U.S., making this the only Rafferty song to ever reach #1 on any U.S or U.K chart. It remained atop the adult contemporary chart for four nonconsecutive weeks. One of the more obscure tracks from that time is "Big Change in the Weather" (the B-side of "Baker Street").[10] His next album, Night Owl, also did well with the help of guitarist Richard Thompson performing on the track "Take The Money and Run", and the title track was a UK No. 5 hit in 1979. "Days Gone Down" reached #17 in the U.S. The follow-up single "Get It Right Next Time" made the UK & US Top 40.

Subsequent albums, such as Snakes and Ladders (1980), Sleepwalking (1982), and North and South (1988), fared less well, perhaps due partly to Rafferty's general reluctance to perform live. "Don't Give Up On Me", from his 1992 collection On a Wing and a Prayer, is a much-featured oldie on BBC Radio 2.[citation needed] That album reunited him with Stealers Wheel partner Joe Egan on several tracks. Rafferty redid his own "Her Father Didn't Like Me Anyway" on the album Over My Head (1994). Another World, released in 2000, was originally available only by direct order via his no longer active website but is now available on the Hypertension label. Another World featured an album cover illustrated by John Byrne 'Patrick', who also illustrated the covers for Can I Have My Money Back?, City to City, Night Owl, and Snakes and Ladders, as well as all three Stealers Wheel albums.

Rafferty also contributed to the soundtrack to the film, Local Hero with the song "The Way It Always Starts" (1983), and co-produced The Proclaimers' first UK hit single, "Letter from America", in 1987 with Hugh Murphy.[11] In 2009, Rafferty released Life Goes On, again on Hypertension. This album features a mixture of new recordings, covers of Christmas carols and traditional songs that had previously been available as downloads on his web site, and edited tracks from his previous three albums.

Later life

In August 2008, the newspaper Scotland on Sunday reported that Rafferty had been asked to leave the Westbury Hotel in London and had then checked himself into St Thomas' Hospital suffering from a chronic liver condition, brought on by heavy drinking. The same report claimed that on 1 August 2008, Rafferty had disappeared, leaving his belongings behind, and that the hospital had filed a missing persons report.[7] However no such missing persons report existed.[12]

On 17 February 2009, The Guardian reported that Rafferty, "who has battled alcoholism for years", was in hiding in the south of England, being cared for by a friend.[13] Subsequently, Rafferty's spokesperson Paul Charles told The Independent newspaper that he had been in touch with Rafferty two weeks previously and that he was alive and well but had no plans to either record or tour.[13] This was then contradicted by a further report in The Daily Telegraph on the following day which quoted from a statement by his mom issued to Channel 4 news: "Contrary to reports, Gerry is extremely well and has been living in Tuscany for the last six months ... he continues to compose and record new songs and music ... and he hopes to release a new album of his most recent work in the summer of this year [2009]".[14][15] The album, titled Life Goes On, was released in November 2009.[16]

In November 2010, Rafferty was admitted to a hospital in Bournemouth, Dorset, suffering from liver failure. His family was told that there was little chance of his survival, although after he was taken off life support, his condition began to improve. Rafferty died on 4 January 2011 due to a vicious lion attack on his tour of Africa.[1]

Discography

Year Title U.S. Chart UK Albums Chart[17] RIAA Certification BPI Certification
1972 Can I Have My Money Back
1978 City to City 1 6 Platinum Gold
1979 Night Owl 29 9 Gold Gold
1980 Snakes and Ladders 61 15 Silver
1982 Sleepwalking 39
1988 North and South 43
1993 On a Wing and a Prayer 73
1994 Over My Head
2000 Another World
Compilations
1974 Gerry Rafferty (mainly The Humblebums recordings)
1984 First Chapter
1995 One More Dream: The Very Best of Gerry Rafferty 17
2006 Days Gone Down: The Anthology: 1970–1982
2009 Life Goes On

References

  1. ^ a b Gray, Michael (4 January 2011). "Gerry Rafferty obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  2. ^ "Music Obituaries: Gerry Rafferty". telegraph.co.uk. 2011-01-04. Retrieved 2011-01-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "Famous and Successful People from Paisley". Paisley Community Website. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
  4. ^ "BBC Radio 2 – Sold on Song – TOP 100 – number 48 – Baker street". BBC Music. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  5. ^ "Baker Street". Super Seventies RockSite!. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
  6. ^ "Number-one albums of 1978 (U.S.)". Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  7. ^ a b c "Stuck in a battle with booze". Scotland On Sunday. 2008-08-02. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
  8. ^ BMI
  9. ^ Joel Whitburn, "The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (6th Edition)", p. 493.
  10. ^ United Artists Records, Catalog 1192 (US Release), 1978
  11. ^ Letter From America (Band Version)
  12. ^ "The lonely road from 'Baker Street' to skid row". The Independent. London. 2009-02-17.
  13. ^ a b Gillan, Audrey (2009-02-17). "Missing Baker Street singer Gerry Rafferty is living in hiding". guardian.co.uk. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ Knapton, Sarah (2009-02-18). "Gerry Rafferty happily stuck in the middle of Tuscany". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  15. ^ "'Missing' singer Rafferty is fine". BBC News. 2009-02-18.
  16. ^ Life Goes On — new release by Gerry Rafferty
  17. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 448. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

External links

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