Raphael Ravenscroft
Raphael Ravenscroft (born in Dumfries) is a Scottish saxophonist and author on saxophone play. He now resides in Exeter, Devon, England.
He is best known for his work with Gerry Rafferty, performing the saxophone solo on "Baker Street". 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."[1] However, the 2011 reissue of City To City included Rafferty's demo of Baker Street which included the saxophone part played on electric guitar.
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.[1]
An urban myth was started by Stuart Maconie and the NME that the solo was played by Bob Holness.[2][3]
Other Ravenscroft performing credits included work with ABBA, America, Kim Carnes, Marvin Gaye, Mike Oldfield, Pink Floyd, Chris Rea, Robert Plant, Brand X, Hazel O'Connor[2] and Bonnie Tyler.
In 1979, Ravenscroft released the solo album Her Father Didn't Like Me, Anyway (CBS Portrait JR 35683). In 1983, Ravenscroft released the track "Maxine" which gained airplay, but performed poorly on the charts. His track "A Whole Lot of Something Going On" was sampled by producer Heavy D on the track "Feel It In The Air", by Beanie Sigel.
In 2010, Ravenscroft played on albums and with Duffy, UB40, and Mary Hopkin.
Ravenscroft is also the author of several books on saxophone technique including the instruction book, The Complete Saxophone Player (1990). Until 2004, he was a tutor of music in the UK at York College.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Stuck in a battle with booze" www.scotsman.com 2 Aug 2008
- ^ a b Maconie, Stuart (2004). Cider With Roadies (1st ed.). London: Random House. p. 256. ISBN 0-091-89115-9.
- ^ BBC - Why do we think Bob Holness was the Baker Street saxophonist?
[edit] External links
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