When was gerry rafferty born

Over two albums, 's The New Humblebums and 's full-band outing, Open Up the Door , the group was a moderate success both on-stage and in the studio. By , however, both members seemed to be moving in different trajectories Connolly into comedy and Rafferty into rock music and they parted ways. A critical success, the LP failed to make much of a commercial impact and Rafferty and Egan banded together to form the rock outfit Stealers Wheel. Although plagued by a complicated legal and lineup history, Stealers Wheel were a success right out of the gate.

Sung by Rafferty and co-written with Egan , the song's legacy has stretched well into the 21st century thanks to heavy classic rock radio play and some key movie and television placements, most notably in Quentin Tarantino 's film Reservoir Dogs. Ironically, Rafferty had temporarily left the band during the song's chart ascension and by the time he rejoined in , most of his bandmates except for Egan had departed as well. Disillusioned with bands, Rafferty overcame several years of legal wrangling before he was able to enter the studio as a solo artist.

When he finally did in , it was to record his masterpiece. Released by United Artists, City to City was an ambitious and enigmatic pop album that turned him into a major star. Although packed with excellent songwriting, its crown jewel was "Baker Street,'' a sophisticated late-'70s soft rock powerhouse with a haunting central melody and an unforgettable saxophone line played by Raphael Ravenscroft. It might have sold even better had Rafferty 's reclusive and sometimes iconoclastic nature prevented him from touring in support of it.

By that time, Transatlantic had begun exploiting his early recording activity, reissuing Rafferty 's early solo and Humblebums tracks on CD. Of his '90s output, On a Wing and a Prayer was critically deemed a return to form and Over My Head was an attempt to reconsider his own past by rethinking some Stealers Wheel -era songs.

Increasingly fed up with the confines of recording and releasing music commercially, Rafferty 's next move was to assemble a digital mobile recording rig and record himself in different locations around the world. He also ditched the label system and launched his own website with the aim of releasing music directly to his fans.

This was the case for 's Another World , which appeared only in digital form and featured guest work by Mark Knopfler. It eventually saw a physical release on the Hypertension label. Rafferty remained relatively reclusive for the rest of the decade, returning in with Life Goes On , a collection of covers, several new tracks, and a series of traditional songs and Christmas carols which proved to be his final album.

His troubles with alcoholism were well-known to friends and by the end of , his downward spiral resulted in hospitalization and treatment for multiple organ failure. Connelly was the dominant personality, his jokes between the songs entertaining audiences as much as the songs themselves. Additionally, Rafferty began to develop a distinctive style as a singer-guitarist and songwriter, and this eventually led to tension between him and Harvey-the latter exited in , and Rafferty and Connelly continued together for two more albums, their line-up expanding to a sextet, but their relationship began to break down.

The records were selling well, and the gigs were growing in prominence, including a Royal Command Performance. Connelly, however, worked himself to the point of exhaustion amid all of this activity, and when he did recover, he and Rafferty ultimately split up over the differing directions in which each was going. They parted company in Rafferty cut his first solo album for the label that year.

The LP garnered good reviews but failed to sell. Three years of legal battles followed, sorting out problems between Rafferty and his management. All Sections. About Us. B2B Publishing. Business Visionaries. Hot Property. Times Events. Times Store.