Scottish singer/songwriter Gerry Rafferty emerged from the British folk-rock environment of the late 1960s and early 1970s while serving as one member of the Humblebums, reaching broad worldwide acclaim only after issuing the solo effort City to City in 1978. In the intervening period he established the blues-inflected rock group Stealers Wheel, whose lasting 1973 single “Stuck in the Middle with You” has acquired classic-rock stature partly through repeated appearances in cinema and on television. The contrast between that bluesy, Bob Dylan-parodying Stealers Wheel recording and the polished late-1970s soft-rock pinnacle “Baker Street,” let alone the wholly distinct Humblebums body of work, underscores the breadth of his musical range. Although his commercial peak had passed by the beginning of the 1980s, the reserved and independent artist kept producing distinctive and at times outstanding material until his passing in 2011. Throughout those years he built several key musical alliances and attracted admirers that included contemporaries such as Mark Knopfler and Richard Thompson as well as later artists like Lily Allen and James Vincent McMorrow. A decade after his death, the posthumous eleventh solo album Rest in Blue appeared in 2021.
Born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1947 to a Scottish mother and an Irish father, Rafferty grew up hearing his father sing Irish rebel songs despite the elder Rafferty’s deafness. His earliest musical surroundings combined Catholic hymns, traditional folk forms, and 1950s pop tunes. By the close of the 1960s he had performed with several local groups and sought wider exposure for his compositions. At that point musician and comedian Billy Connolly, who had spent several years with guitarist Tam Harvey in the Glaswegian folk duo the Humblebums, entered the picture. The pair had already placed an album with the Transatlantic label in early 1969 when Rafferty auditioned material for them after a Paisley show. Connolly responded favorably to both the songs and their writer, transforming the Humblebums into a trio. The arrangement soon proved unwieldy; Harvey departed, leaving Connolly and Rafferty to divide songwriting duties equally. Their live performances blended songs with Connolly’s lengthening comedy routines, yet the recordings remained a strong folk presentation that brought Rafferty’s abilities to British listeners. Across the 1969 album The New Humblebums and the 1970 full-band set Open Up the Door, the group enjoyed modest success both on stage and in the studio. By 1971 the two principals were pursuing separate paths—Connolly toward comedy and Rafferty toward rock—and they went their own ways. Still bound to Transatlantic, Rafferty satisfied his contract with the 1971 release Can I Have My Money Back?, a wry yet tuneful folk-pop collection that featured vocals from his former schoolmate and band colleague Joe Egan. Though praised by critics, the album made little commercial headway, prompting Rafferty and Egan to form Stealers Wheel. Despite a tangled legal and personnel history, the band succeeded immediately. Leiber & Stoller produced the self-titled 1972 debut, which fared well on both sides of the Atlantic on the strength of the infectious, Bob Dylan-parodying “Stuck in the Middle with You,” a Top Ten hit in the United States and the United Kingdom. Rafferty sang and co-wrote the track with Egan; its popularity has extended well into the twenty-first century through classic-rock airplay and prominent placements, notably in Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 film Reservoir Dogs. Rafferty had briefly exited the group during the song’s chart climb, and upon rejoining in 1973 he found most of his bandmates except Egan had likewise departed. The resulting second album, Ferguslie Park, failed to sustain earlier momentum, and the band had already split by the time A&M issued the third and final album, 1975’s Right or Wrong.
Frustrated with group dynamics, Rafferty spent several years resolving legal matters before he could record as a solo artist. When he finally entered the studio in 1978 he created his defining work. Issued by United Artists, the ambitious and elusive pop album City to City established him as a major star. Among its many strong songs, “Baker Street” stood out—a sleek late-1970s soft-rock statement built around a memorable central theme and a signature saxophone part performed by Raphael Ravenscroft. The single dominated radio throughout 1978 and propelled the album to number one in the United States, where it earned platinum certification. Greater sales might have followed had Rafferty’s reclusive and sometimes uncompromising temperament not kept him from touring. The following year’s Night Owl earned further critical praise and respectable chart placement, aided by the title track along with “Days Gone Down (Still Got the Light in Your Eyes)” and “Get It Right Next Time.” Yet the commercial force behind City to City had waned; by the arrival of 1980’s Snakes & Ladders, sales had dropped markedly. The 1982 synth-oriented Sleepwalking, released on Liberty, concluded that phase of his public career, and the mid-1980s yielded little activity aside from a Mark Knopfler contribution to the soundtrack of the film Local Hero and a 1987 production role with Scottish duo the Proclaimers that produced their Top Three single “Letter from America.” His next album, 1988’s North & South, appeared after more than five years but attracted little public attention. Meanwhile Transatlantic began reissuing his earlier solo and Humblebums recordings on CD. In the 1990s, On a Wing and a Prayer (1992) was viewed by critics as a return to strength, while Over My Head (1995) revisited Stealers Wheel-era material through new arrangements.
Growing dissatisfied with conventional recording and distribution, Rafferty constructed a portable digital studio and captured performances in various locations worldwide. He also bypassed traditional labels, establishing his own website to deliver music straight to listeners. This approach shaped 2000’s Another World, initially available only digitally and featuring guest contributions from Mark Knopfler; the album later received a physical release on Hypertension. Rafferty stayed largely out of the spotlight for the remainder of the decade, resurfacing in 2009 with Life Goes On, a set of covers, original songs, traditional pieces, and Christmas carols that became his last album. Longstanding struggles with alcoholism culminated in hospitalization by the end of 2010, followed by treatment for multiple organ failure. Although he showed brief improvement, Rafferty succumbed to liver disease on January 4, 2011, at age 63. In the ensuing decade his work continued to be celebrated by fellow musicians and listeners alike. In 2021 the posthumous album Rest in Blue appeared, assembled and finished by his daughter Martha Rafferty from recordings he had made toward the close of the 2010s for a planned future project.
