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Raphael Ravenscroft

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Raphael Ravenscroft
Ravenscroft in 2014
Ravenscroft in 2014
Background information
Born(1954-06-04)4 June 1954
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England
Died19 October 2014(2014-10-19) (aged 60)
Exeter, Devon, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • composer
  • author
InstrumentSaxophone

Raphael Ravenscroft (4 June 1954 – 19 October 2014) was a British musician, composer and author. He is best known for playing the saxophone riff on Gerry Rafferty's song "Baker Street".

Early life

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Ravenscroft was born in the district of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire,[1] the eldest son of Trevor Ravenscroft, author of the 1972 occult book The Spear of Destiny.[2] He spent much of his childhood in Dumfries, where his father lived.[3]

Career

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Gerry Rafferty and "Baker Street"

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In January 1978, Scottish singer-musician Gerry Rafferty was recording his first solo material since 1972, and his first material of any kind since the demise of Stealers Wheel in 1975, at Chipping Norton Studios in Oxfordshire. As a then-unknown session musician, Ravenscroft was booked to play saxophone on two tracks on the album, City to City (1978). His contribution included the sax riff on the best-known song from the album and of Rafferty's career, "Baker Street". The song became an international hit, charting at number 3 in the UK and number 2 in the US, and in 2010 was reported to have received 5 million air plays worldwide. City to City reached number 1 in the US album charts and went platinum. In the UK the album reached number 6 and went gold.

The saxophone break on "Baker Street" has been described as "the most famous saxophone solo of all time"[4] and "the most recognizable sax riff in pop music history".[5] The distinctive wailing, bluesy sound of the sax riff was a result of the alto saxophone Ravenscroft was using being tuned slightly flat, and in a radio interview in 2011, he said that listening to his performance on the song annoyed him. "I'm irritated because it's out of tune. It's flat, by enough of a degree that it irritates me at best."[6] Ravenscroft's contribution to "Baker Street" is said to have been responsible for a resurgence in the sales of saxophones and their use in mainstream pop music and television advertising.[7]

Ravenscroft stated that the decision to use the riff, which he said was based on "an old blues riff", was his, but earlier demo recordings for "Baker Street" contain a similar riff played by Rafferty on guitar and recorded before Ravenscroft became involved. An almost identical riff had been played ten years before on the 1968 Steve Marcus jazz track "Half a Heart", and it has been suggested that Ravenscroft's performance on "Baker Street" may have been influenced by it.[8]

Ravenscroft mostly refused to play "Baker Street" during interviews, and the last time he played "Baker Street" was in the summer of 2014, when he organised a charity gala concert in Exeter, where he was living, for a city schoolgirl who had died in a fall.[9] In 2010 he told the BBC's The One Show that he was paid only £27.50 for the "Baker Street" session, the Musicians' Union freelance rate at the time.[10] It has been incorrectly[11] reported that the cheque bounced, and that it was hung on the wall of Ravenscroft's solicitors. The song is said to have earned Rafferty £80,000 a year in royalties.[12]

Ravenscroft worked with Rafferty from 1977 to 1982. As well as the songs he worked on for City to City, he contributed to Rafferty's next two albums, Night Owl (1979) on which he played the lyricon on the title track of the album, and follow-up album Snakes and Ladders (1980).[13] In 2011, he recorded a tribute to commemorate the funeral of Gerry Rafferty called "Forgiveness" with friend/producer Grice Peters at Sound Gallery studios, which combined his saxophone playing with the voices of Grammy-nominated choir Tenebrae.[14]

Other work

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From his breakthrough with "Baker Street" he went on to perform with Pink Floyd (The Final Cut, 1983), ABBA[15] and Marvin Gaye.[15] Other Ravenscroft performing credits include work with America, Maxine Nightingale,[15] Daft Punk,[15] Kim Carnes, The Only Ones, Mike Oldfield, Chris Rea, Robert Plant, Brand X, Hazel O'Connor[16] and Bonnie Tyler. In 1979, he released the solo album Her Father Didn't Like Me, Anyway (CBS Portrait JR 35683). On September 19, 1982 Ravenscroft released the album Lifeline of which in 1983 from that album he released the track "Maxine" which gained airplay, but performed poorly on the charts. There were also two versions of that song released with different vocal and instrumental arrangements and one has an extra verse. In 1987, he was credited, along with Max Early and Johnny Patrick for the new theme to the Central Television soap opera Crossroads.[citation needed]

In 2010, Ravenscroft played on albums and on sessions with Duffy,[15] Mary Hopkin and Jamie Hartman. In 2011–12, Ravenscroft contributed to the album Propeller by Grice Peters (GRICE).[17]

Ravenscroft wrote several books on saxophone technique, including The Complete Saxophone Player (1990).[15]

In 2012, Ravenscroft created the music for a series of films featuring photographer Don McCullin, and during 2011–2012 composed for several major advertising campaigns around the world. In summer 2012, he took a break due to ill-health, and moved back to Devon.

In 2014, Ravenscroft went to Belgium to help to set up a saxophone project Wie is Sax4Pax? with the company Adolphe Sax & Cie, who were also planning to produce a "Ravenscroft Edition".[18]

Personal life and death

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He married and divorced twice, and separated from his third wife in 2009. His daughter is the artist Scarlett Raven.[19] Ravenscroft died on 19 October 2014 at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, aged 60, of a suspected heart attack.[15]

Collaborations

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References

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  1. ^ "GRO: SEP 1954 9b 746 STOKE, Raphael G. Ravenscroft, mmn = Johnson - click 'Find' to search". ONS GRO Birth Index of England and Wales. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
  2. ^ "Dusty (John Martyn)". Scott Walker; or The Man Who Ruined My Life True Life Confessions of a Showbiz Hack. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  3. ^ Raphael Ravenscroft obituary, itv.com, 20 October 2014. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  4. ^ Selby, Jenn (22 October 2014). "Raphael Ravenscroft dead: 'Baker Street' musician who played the most famous saxophone solo for just £27, dies aged 60". The Independent. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  5. ^ Lynch, Joe (21 October 2014). "Raphael Ravenscroft, Man Behind Most Iconic Sax Riff in Pop Music, Dies at 60". Billboard. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  6. ^ "Baker Street saxophone player Raphael Ravenscroft dies". BBC News. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  7. ^ Ingham, Richard (1998), "Rock and the Saxophone", The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone, Cambridge Companions to Music, p. 156, ISBN 9780521596664
  8. ^ Adam Chandler (17 December 2015). ""Baker Street Gerry Rafferty Saxophone"". The Atlantic.
  9. ^ Byrne, Mike (1 August 2014). "Top musician organises fundraising concert for funeral of Exeter's tragic Nicole". Exeter Express and Echo. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  10. ^ "Raphael Ravenscroft BBC THE Ofty SHOW 2010". BBC. 2010. 3:08 minutes in. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2014 – via YouTube.
  11. ^ "Simon Mayo Drivetime (9 February 2012)". BBC Radio 2. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  12. ^ Chilton, Martin (21 October 2014). "I was paid £27 for Baker Street sax solo". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  13. ^ "Raphael Ravenscroft". LinkedIn. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.[unreliable source?]
  14. ^ Notice of death of Raphael Ravenscroft, westernmorningnews.co.uk. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g "Raphael Ravenscroft, Baker Street saxophonist, dies aged 60". The Guardian. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  16. ^ Maconie, Stuart (2004). Cider With Roadies (1st ed.). London: Random House. p. 256. ISBN 0-09-189115-9.
  17. ^ Profile AllMusic. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  18. ^ "Raphael Ravenscroft passed away - Adolphe Sax & Cie". Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  19. ^ "Testimonies". Scarlettraven.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
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