Gerry Rafferty, Days Gone Down: the Anthology 1970-1982 (Raven, 2006)
Gerry Rafferty is probably best known to you as the guy whose biggest single had that fantastic saxophone solo ("Baker Street" in 1978) or as the guy who as part of Stealers Wheel provided Quentin Tarantino with memorable music for a scene in Reservoir Dogs. Or, if you've been hanging around the Green Man Pub you recall that he produced Richard and Linda Thompson's first crack at recording the songs that became Shoot Out the Lights (oft-bootlegged as Rafferty's Folly). All of which is to say that Gerry Rafferty has been around the block, and it's about time he was as well served by a record label as Australia's Raven Records has done on the newly released Days Gone Down.
As the subtitle suggests this collection looks at his career over 12 years, when he recorded as part of The Humblebums (a folky duet with Billy Connolly,) then solo, then as part of Stealers Wheel, and finally solo again (with greater success). It appears that his style was pretty well established right from the start. The three Humblebums' tunes come from their only two albums and display a writing talent not too far removed from the one that would take the world by storm only eight years later. "Please Sing a Song For Us" is structured around a plodding piano but Rafferty's familiar and pleasing voice lifts the song at once. Strummed guitars appear in the second tune "Blood and Glory" and Connolly adds a subtle harmony behind Rafferty's lead vocal.
After the Humblebums Rafferty released a solo album called Can I Have My Money Back? It is represented here by four tracks. The title tune is a country song with fiddle and foot stomps. "New Street Blues" would have fit in with the later solo material; it's a rollicking shuffle with horns and a steady bass line. "Mary Skeffington" is a McCartneyesque ballad about a girl named, you guessed it. Pretty, gentle and melodic.
Stealers Wheel gets five songs from their three albums. Of course "Stuck In The Middle With You" is first up, and it still sounds like one of the best songs Bob Dylan never wrote! Great handclaps! Great rhythm! Great slide guitar! One of rock's classic tunes. But there was more to Stealers Wheel than one hit. "Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine" is another of Rafferty's modified shuffles, and there are few vocalists who get as much out of a quiet presentation as Gerry Rafferty does. There's something magical about hearing him sing. J.J. Cale has a theory that if you sing low, people have to lean in to the speaker to hear you. And that's a good thing because it focusses them on the music. Makes sense to me. "Star" was Stealers Wheel's only other radio track. It's catchy and bouncy, with fine harmonies, and a kazoo break!
It was three years later before "Baker Street" hit the radios! It started quietly, with... was that a flute? Then some drums, and Rafael Ravenscroft's masterful and memorable sax break, all built around Rafferty's strummed acoustic guitar, then his gentle voice...you lean in...and it's magic. But he kept the magic going if you paid attention. His albums after City To City were all filled with the same elements. Good songs, good playing, just the right mix of rock band strength and folk sensitivity. "Right Down the Line," "Night Owl," "Get It Right the Next Time" and "Days Gone Down" you've heard them all whether you remember the titles or not. That's the thing about the best songwriters of the past eras...they wrote melodies...the essence of a good song. And hooks. And Rafferty proves himself to be a master of this kind of tunesmithing.
After I received this CD in the mail, I played it again and again, to the exclusion of some things in my "must review" pile that have been sitting there for a while. I bought the originals of these albums when they first came out. Even one of the Humblebums albums is in my collection. Listening to Raven's new Anthology was like meeting an old friend. Gerry Rafferty has a Web site and a new(ish) CD. I'm glad to be reacquainted, but if you've never heard Rafferty, Days Gone Down is the place to start.
