Who is Gerry Rafferty

Gerry Rafferty, one of rock and pop music's underrated heroes, died in early January 2011 at the age of 63. A sad loss to the world of music.

Rafferty first came to my attention in the early 1970s when as a part of the group Stealers Wheel he sang on the hit recording Stuck in the Middle With You. This song would become popular again some two decades later when it was used in the movie Reservoir Dogs. Another hit followed, Star, but then things went quiet as the band split and Rafferty was caught up in legal wranglings.

He resurfaced again as a solo singer in 1978 with the album City to City from which the superb single Baker Street comes. Always a favourite of mine, who could forget that magnificent sax and guitar solo? The melody and lyrics struck a chord with millions worldwide and became his biggest success.

More albums followed, such as Night Owl and Snakes and Ladders which were popular in the UK, but never on the same level there or overseas. His last album, Life Goes On was released in 2009, but contained no new material, instead offering unreleased tracks and cover versions instead.

It is unfortunate that we will not be hearing Gerry's smooth vocals on any new recordings, but we do have the pleasure of reminding ourselves frequently of the forty years of his back catalogue.

Image courtesy of Monosnaps @Flickr - Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)