We remember a talented singer/songwriter who passed 12 years ago today – Gerry Rafferty. He died of liver failure on this day in 2011 at age 63. Rafferty is a talent who’s been compared to Paul McCartney more than once, and had he been a little more outgoing, perhaps might have come closer to the success the latter had. Although with two of the biggest, and most enduring hits of the ’70s to his credit, he didn’t do badly for himself.
Raff was born in Paisley, Scotland to a working class family which loved to sing Celtic folk songs around the table. That, and the music of the Beatles and Bob Dylan when he was a youth set the course for his life. He left school early, and although he worked briefly as a shoe salesman and in a butcher’s shop, “there was never anything else for me but music,” he said.
By the mid-’60s, he was busking in London and joined a folk group, followed by the moderately successful (locally) The Humblebums, a folk trio which also featured Billy Connolly – the comedian. Connolly and Rafferty parted ways commercially by 1971, with them wanting different things. Connolly recalls “I wanted success and fame; Gerry wanted respect.” As well, although according to the “comedian”, Rafferty was hilarious and had a great sense of humor, on stage he wanted to be all-business, all-music, while Billy liked to joke around and tell stories between songs (hence little surprise his career would end up going the way it did.) the pair remained close friends throughout the rest of gerry’s life though.
From The Humblebums, Rafferty started Stealer’s Wheel with his friend Joe Egan; that folk-tinged group put out three albums and surprisingly, had 3 top 40 hits in Canada and the UK in 1973; the memorable one being “Stuck in the Middle” which was a top 10 in most markets and rebounded to popularity with the use in Reservoir Dogs. He then went solo, putting out a total of 9 studio albums, with the greatest output and acclaim coming for the first couple of albums after Stealer’s Wheel, City to City and Night Owl. the former includes one of the finest singles of the decade, “Baker Street”, a semi-autobiographical tune that he says UA (his label) didn’t want to release as a single! “They actually said it was too good for the public,” he later noted. Good thing for everyone concerned they relented – the single was a #1 hit in Canada and Australia, hit #2 in the U.S. and by 2010 was one of a limited number of songs confirmed by BMI as being played over 5 million times on radio! Which set Gerry for life. In 2003, he admitted he got about 80 000 pounds a year (close to $200 000 in today’s cash) in royalties from that one song alone.
The success didn’t last that long however. Although he’d score a couple more critically-acclaimed and big-selling singles, like “Right Down the Line”, Rafferty was not a fan of the “industry”, and disliked touring. A very private person, he more or less quit the music business as a recording star by 1982, working now and again through the ’80s with Mark Knopfler on the Local Hero soundtrack and producing records for The Proclaimers (who were among a number of celebrities who showed up for his funeral) and Fairport Convention’s Richard Thompson. Mainly though he lived a quiet life with his wife and daughter on a farm in England, beginning an unfortunate spiral downwards.
His dad had been an alcoholic; Gerry always liked his drink but by the late-’80s, it was becoming a major problem for him, which was putting a big strain on his marriage, which in turn increased his self-destructiveness and over-drinking. She says it eventually looked hopeless to her. “I would never have left him if there’d been a glimmer of a chance of him recovering,” she later said.
Raff had a brief return to form around the turn of the century, being an early embracer of the internet for music (he put out tunes on his own website as early as 2000 and said “I don’t want to be talking to 23 year-old record executives who are just trying to sell their product to 19 year-olds”) . However, while his 2000 Another World garnered good reviews, lacking a big label deal, very few ever heard it.
He was hospitalized with multiple organ failures in late 2010, and passed away from total liver failure weeks later. Among those at his funeral was Alex Solmond, the First Minister (top politician) of Scotland and John Byrne who delivered the eulogy. Byrne is a noted Scottish playwright who also dabbles quite well in art. He’d done the pictures for the covers of City to city and Night Owl for his friend. A year later, his hometown of Paisley named a street after him.
In summing up Rafferty in a full page obituary, London’s The Times said he was “A consummate songwriter blessed with sensitivity and an enviable melodic flair that at its best recalled Paul McCartney.” And he did it on his own terms. Not a bad way to be remembered.