5 Jan 2011
The Mystery of The Sax Solo on Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street
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Gerry Rafferty dies of alcoholism; it's been on the cards for a long time, and of course alcoholism and the ensuing death as a result of is always very sad; the devastation it brings to the loved ones of alcoholics is very sad too only that is too often a private pain.
Banksy's artwork below sums up for me what it's like living with, being related to or loving an alcoholic. I know because I'm there; someone I was once very close to is one and the experience has been such a nightmare that it's inspired several chapters in both my novel My Adventures in Cyberspace and a long section in the sequel to be published in 2011, My Adventures in Cyberspace II.
Elephant in the Room by Banksy
No doubt the Gerry Rafferty Story will soon be turned into a major motion picture as it has all the thrills n spills necessary for a Hollywood blockbuster; the London Underground busker turned famous pop star, the scene in the Tarantino film set to Stealers Wheel's Stuck in The Middle, Gerry's alcoholism leading to his marriage break up and the the intrigue of his 2009 disappearance.
What interests me most, however, is who played the saxophone solo on Baker Street?
From a Google Doc file The History of Top 40 Saxophone Solos I've found this, which sheds some light onto the mystery. It looks like it was not, after all, Raphael Ravenscroft, but instead Al Newman on a Selmer Alto Mark VI circa 1958 SN84452.
Al, if you're still around, get in touch and let's hear your side of the story. Doesn't seem right that you've never had the recognition (nor financial recompense) you deserve.
BAKER STREET-GERRY RAFFERTY
RAPHAEL RAVENSCROFT is given credit on the original LP cover
City to City.
And more: The Scotsman Stuck in a Battle with Booze.
Rafferty's perfect pop moment came in 1978 with 'Baker
Street', a song of hoarse sincerity about giving up the booze
and the one-night stands and settling down. It is now a
staple of soft rock stations, where it has the sturdy
inevitability of Christmas or death. Movie director Gus Van
Sant used it for a key scene in Good Will Hunting and the
song was a hit once again in the Nineties when covered by
Undercover. It even featured in an episode of The Simpsons,
with Lisa playing it on her saxophone. Yet until Raphael
Ravenscroft overlaid a glistening saxophone solo, it was
destined to be just another folky tune. Ravenscroft's name
doesn't appear on the writing credits – allowing the NME to
start up an urban myth that bespectacled former Blockbusters
presenter Bob Holness had performed the sax solo. Rafferty
maintains that he wrote the hook, and claims he intended to
sing the refrain at first. Ravenscroft disagrees, saying he
was presented with a song that contained "several gaps".
"In fact, most of what I played was an old blues riff," says
the sax musician. "If you're asking me: 'Did Gerry hand me a
piece of music to play?' then no, he didn't." Ravenscroft's
fee was a cheque for £27, which he says bounced anyway and is
now framed and hangs on his solicitor's wall. Rafferty has
not attempted to make further payment, and Ravenscroft has
chosen not to pursue the matter of a song that guarantees
Rafferty a yearly income of £80,000. Since the song thrust
Rafferty into a spotlight that has made him deeply
uncomfortable ever since, maybe Ravenscroft is right to
regard the riches of 'Baker Street' as tainted money: "If I
had received pots of money, I wouldn't have known what to
do," he remarked recently. "It might have destroyed me."
The following quote was found on Sax on the Web;
“The Sax AL NEWMAN used is a Selmer Alto Mark VI circa 1958
SN84452. In the docs Al supplied to Howarths of London he
writes: "The last recording session I played it on prior to
leaving for America in late 1977 was at a recording studio in
Rodmarton Street, near Baker Street W1 where was required to
perform an Alto Sax solo and had to sign a release form. I
later found out that this track was Baker Street by Jerry
Rafferty and that credit for the Sax solo was first taken by
the producer of the track and later falsely by Raf
Ravenscroft who certainly did not play on that track - which
in actual fact I did!!!"
The Scene in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs set to Stealer's Wheel's Stuck in The Middle.
We're both amongst that rare breed of people who've been buskers on the London tube, and this song is why, despite the problems of the man, I have always loved Gerry Rafferty's music.
© Jude Calvert-Toulmin 2010
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