Baker Street (song)

"Baker Street"
Single by Gerry Rafferty
from the album City to City
B-side	"Big Change in the Weather" (1978 original) "Night Owl" (1990 release) "Bring it All Home (Remix)" (1990 release)
Released	3 February 1978
Format	7"
Recorded	1977
Genre	Rock
Length	4:10 (single edit) 6:01 (album version) 6:23 (full remix)
Label	United Artists
Writer(s)	Gerry Rafferty
Certification	BPI: Gold (400,000 sales)
Gerry Rafferty singles chronology
"Baker Street" (1978) "Night Owl" (1979)
1990 Remix Release

"Baker Street" is a ballad written and first recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. Released as a single in 1978, it reached #1 in Canada, #2 in the US, #3 in the UK, #1 in Australia and #9 in the Netherlands. The arrangement is famous for its saxophone riff, played by Raphael Ravenscroft.

In October 2010 the song was recognised by the BMI for surpassing 5 million performances worldwide.

Origins

Named after the famous London street of the same name, the song was included on Rafferty's second solo album, City to City, which was Rafferty's first release after the resolution of legal problems surrounding the formal breakup of his old band, Stealers Wheel, in 1975. In the intervening three years, Rafferty had been unable to release any material due to disputes about the band's remaining contractual recording obligations.

Rafferty wrote the song during a period when he was trying to extricate himself from his Stealers Wheel contracts, and was regularly travelling between his family home near Glasgow and London, where he often stayed at a friend's flat in Baker Street. As Rafferty put it, "everybody was suing each other, so I spent a lot of time on the overnight train from Glasgow to London for meetings with lawyers. I knew a guy who lived in a little flat off Baker Street. We'd sit and chat or play guitar there through the night." The resolution of his legal and financial frustrations accounted for the exhilaration of the song's last verse: "When you wake up it's a new morning/ The sun is shining, it's a new morning/ You're going, you're going home."

Arrangement

The album City to City, including "Baker Street", was co-produced by Rafferty and Hugh Murphy. In addition to a guitar solo, played by Hugh Burns, the song featured a prominent eight-bar saxophone riff played as a break between verses, by Raphael Ravenscroft.

Rafferty claimed he wrote the hook with the original intention that it be sung. Ravenscroft said differently, saying he was presented with a song that contained "several gaps". "In fact, most of what I played was an old blues riff," stated Ravenscroft. "If you're asking me: 'Did Gerry hand me a piece of music to play?' then no, he didn't." However, the 2011 reissue of City To City included the demo of Baker Street which included the saxophone part played on electric guitar by Rafferty.

Ravenscroft, a session musician, was in the studio to record a brief soprano saxophone part and suggested that he record the now famous break using the alto saxophone he had in his car. Ravenscroft received no payment for a song that earned Rafferty an income of £80,000 per annum. The cheque for £27 given to Ravenscroft bounced and is now framed on the wall of his solicitor.

The part led to what became known as "the 'Baker Street' phenomenon", a resurgence in the sales of saxophones and their use in mainstream pop music and television advertising.

The saxophone riff was also the subject of another urban myth in the UK, created in the 1980s by British writer and broadcaster Stuart Maconie. As one of the spoof facts invented for the regular "Would You Believe It?" section in the NME, Maconie falsely claimed that British actor and television presenter Bob Holness had played the saxophone part on the recording. Later, the claim was widely repeated.

The single version was recorded with the tape of the album version sped up slightly to raise the tempo to be more radio-friendly. This also had the result of raising the key by a half tone.

Personnel

• Vocals – Gerry Rafferty
• Saxophone – Raphael Ravenscroft
• Lead guitar – Hugh Burns
• Drums – Henry Spinetti
• Bass guitar – Gary Taylor
• Keyboards – Tommy Eyre
• Percussion – Glen Le Fleur
• Rhythm guitar – Nigel Jenkins
• String arrangement – Graham Preskett

Cover versions

• Heavy metal band Carnival in Coal
• Country artist Corey Neil Doster^{[citation needed]}
• Jars of Clay (in concert)
• Country artist Waylon Jennings
• Dance artist Sax Brothers^{[citation needed]}
• The Shadows, on their 1979 #1 instrumental album String of Hits
• Rock artist Rick Springfield
• Folk artist Livingston Taylor
• Jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson on his 1978 album Carnival
• Chicago pop/rock band Baby Teeth (in concert)
• Ali Campbell on his 2010 album Great British Songs.
• Foo Fighters, on the B-Side of their single "My Hero", as well as on their 2011 covers album Medium Rare and on the Extended 10th Anniversary Special Edition of The Colour And The Shape.
• The London Symphony Orchestra
• German techno band Scooter sampled the saxophone solo from the song in their song "Nessaja", the opening track to the 2009 film Brüno
• Indie rock band Sebadoh co-founder Eric Gaffney, on his Uncharted Waters
• Political rock band State Radio in their January–February 2009 tour
• Dance group Undercover, from their album 1992 album Check Out the Groove, reached #2 on the UK singles chart.
• Progressive house project The Fierce Angel Collective in a 2011 single featuring Payton & Lady V.

Appearances in other media

The song was cited by guitarist Slash as an influence on his guitar solo in "Sweet Child o' Mine".

The song was featured during the basketball court fight scene in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting.

The opening bars of the song are used as the theme music for the popular syndicated US radio show The Dave Ramsey Show.

The song played toward the end of the 2007 film Zodiac.

The song is being played by Peter in Family Guy Season 10 Episode "Grumpy Old Man" while having phone sax with Lois.

The song opens up a Season 2 episode of The Sopranos titled Full Leather Jacket.

Chart positions

Gerry Rafferty version

"Baker Street" reached #3 in the UK and #2 in the US, being kept out of the #1 spot by "Shadow Dancing" by Andy Gibb.

Year	Chart	Position
1978	UK Singles Chart	#3
1978	US Billboard Hot 100	#2
1978	ARIA Charts	#1
1978	German Singles Chart	#3
1990	UK Singles Chart (re-mix)	#53
2011	UK Singles Chart	#55
2011	German Singles Chart	#69
2011	Dutch Singles Chart	#27
2011	Swiss Singles Chart	#53

Undercover version

Year	Chart	Position
1992	UK Singles Chart	#2

External links

• "Baker Street" at Discogs (list of releases)
• "Baker Street (Remix)" at Discogs