"It's a picture that many people have direct experience or observe in that way he was exceptional.Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs. It resonates further with dreaming and aspiring and knowing it's never going to come off. "Much of Gerry's songwriting is about something very specific in a focused and small way but as a writer, he was capable of imbuing more layers. " Baker Street is an outstanding example of a hit record not just because it's an amazing sound but because its lyrics and that sequence of scenarios resonate with people. "We would meet at The Globe (in Baker Street) and put the world to rights," he recalls. John Byrne considers "drinking powered some of his songs, it was beneficial": "He might have drunk to excess but he was always in control of his work."īaker Street and Night Owl are partly drinking songs but as Noakes suggests they are almost Joycean in their exploration of life and the world. ![]() He says of working with Rafferty: "He raised my game." The sax riff, played by the late Raphael Ravenscroft would become one of the most recognisable in popular culture.īurns also played the track's guitar solo and 'seagull' string bends as well as the Duane Eddy style riff on Night Owl. "I said to him, 'It sounds good but do you think the guitar is right?' He smiled and said: 'Funnily enough, I tried a sax' the rest was history." Rafferty was working on the track and the pair got down to discussing the much mythologised opening riff. The years leading up to the song had been turbulent with various contractual problems.īurns arrived at the studio around midnight after performing with fellow Scot Jack Bruce. ![]() ![]() He said: "I was moved to hear his voice again, there's a vulnerability there."īefore recording Baker Street, Rafferty had not long turned 30 and was married with a daughter living something of a nomadic life between Glasgow and London. I Still Love You is a raw, heartfelt torch-song summoning the honesty and compassion his work was famous for while Sign Of The Times features Hugh Burns on guitar, who worked with Rafferty on his classic album City To City. "We worked on another arrangement and brought in musicians that he worked with over the years, it's nice to hear it as a mature man singing as opposed to the Dylanesque version."Īt the end of the cut, Rafferty breaks out into laughter, for the many musicians that worked with him, hearing both his spoken and singing voice again has been an emotional encounter. "He tended to go back and visit his old songs on later albums," explains Martha. Rafferty was said not to be a fan of the film or its violent torture scene. When the hit single found a new lease of life in 1992 after its inclusion on the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs it no doubt brought it back into its songwriter's mind. Among the three of them, not one was mundane - they invented the world in which they dwelled." Gerry Rafferty with his daughter Martha as a child she has compiled the singer-songwriter's newly released posthumous album, Rest In Blue Gerry Rafferty with his daughter Martha as a child she has compiled the singer-songwriter's newly released posthumous album, Rest In BlueĪ reworked version of the Stealers Wheel hit co-written with Joe Egan, Stuck In The Middle With You, from their 1972 debut album produced by Brill Building alumni Leiber and Stoller is also included. "There was a personal and professional compatibility. They shared humour and a singular abstract way of looking at things," he says. "They spent a lot of time together and a lot rubbed off on the other. I wanted it to sound the way I remember him, which was around the table singing with some of his friends or with family." "The vocal was so outstanding," explains Martha, "he loved traditional music and sang it so well. The new collection features Rafferty's take on Wild Mountain Thyme although the song has Scottish roots it was adapted by Belfast musician Francis McPeake and has been covered by a range of artists including Van Morrison who recorded the track as Purple Heather. ![]() Rafferty died in 2011, aged 63, but his 14th solo album has just been released, thanks to his daughter Martha compiling the posthumous Rest In Blue. GERRY Rafferty was born in Paisley, near Glasgow, to an Irish father and Scottish mother, who brought him up in a rich tradition of Scottish and Irish folk music. By Richard Purden Septemat 2:00AM BST Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, who died in 2011, had Irish folk music in his musical DNA Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, who died in 2011, had Irish folk music in his musical DNA
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