0:00:29 > 0:00:32# Just one more year then you'll be happy... #
0:00:32 > 0:00:39Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street is one of the most instantly recognisable and most enduring pop songs ever.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43MUSIC: "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty
0:00:48 > 0:00:52It's just SO epic. It's so epic.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56I thought, this is amazing, it's Gerry Rafferty. This is extraordinary. This is Scottish!
0:00:56 > 0:01:00It's an astonishing record and sonically, an amazing piece of work.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07When the intro comes in, it sucks you in. It's like you're going through a dark tunnel
0:01:07 > 0:01:10with nice lights flashing,
0:01:10 > 0:01:14then you get to the end of the tunnel and the doors open
0:01:14 > 0:01:18and all the lights come on and it's duh-dan-nuh-duh-nuh-nuh and you've gone to Hollywood.
0:01:18 > 0:01:20SAXOPHONE RIFF
0:01:35 > 0:01:37# Windin' your way down on Baker Street
0:01:39 > 0:01:42# Light in your head and dead on your feet
0:01:42 > 0:01:44# Well, another crazy day
0:01:44 > 0:01:46# You'll drink the night away
0:01:46 > 0:01:50# And forget about everything... #
0:01:50 > 0:01:55Then he sings this story, and the sax riff comes and hits you again,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58and then it comes to another bit, where it goes to space
0:01:58 > 0:02:02and Hugh Burns is going eeer-eeer-eeer on his guitar.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05GUITAR RIFF
0:02:11 > 0:02:17I guess you'd call them organic sounds, animal sounds, seagull sounds, anything like that.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21I wasn't sure what to play. He played me the track a few times,
0:02:21 > 0:02:24after a few takes. That's what came out.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27So it was a lucky day for me.
0:02:29 > 0:02:30CYMBALS CRASH
0:02:34 > 0:02:37The myth that prevailed was the saxophone player actually wrote
0:02:37 > 0:02:42the line and was not given the full credit.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46I bet you anything you like Gerry wrote every note of that solo.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48That's what he was like.
0:02:48 > 0:02:54It was early demos when he'd play that on electric guitar himself.
0:02:59 > 0:03:05In 1978, Baker Street was a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08clocking up five million radio plays in the US to date.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15Gerry became the voice incarnate of FM radio in America.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19I remember driving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas
0:03:19 > 0:03:23and every channel you hopped from, there was Gerry Rafferty.
0:03:23 > 0:03:24It was extraordinary.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27But the spectacular scale of this success wasn't something Gerry,
0:03:27 > 0:03:32a deeply private man, readily embraced.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35His diffidence is evident in this rare public appearance,
0:03:35 > 0:03:41picking up the award for the Best Single of 1978 at the British Rock and Pop Awards.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48- Congratulations, Gerry.- Thanks a lot. - How do you feel at this moment? - Absolutely wonderful.
0:03:50 > 0:03:51Terrific.
0:03:51 > 0:03:52Congratulations.
0:03:55 > 0:03:56OK.
0:03:56 > 0:03:57APPLAUSE
0:04:04 > 0:04:09Gerry Rafferty died at the beginning of 2011, at the age of 63.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14Mourners at his funeral in Paisley included Scotland's First Minister,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18old friends, and fans from as far away as New York.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23His daughter, Martha, and her cousins, performed one of his songs
0:04:23 > 0:04:27in a family tradition of singing in harmony.
0:04:27 > 0:04:33# Whatevers written in your heart, that's all that matters
0:04:35 > 0:04:42# Youll find a way to say it all someday, yeah. #
0:04:46 > 0:04:50Rafferty's life is written in the words and music of his songs.
0:04:50 > 0:04:55Family Tree recalls a childhood with music at its heart.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03# We could feel the harmonies
0:05:03 > 0:05:09# You'd sit there waiting in the wings
0:05:09 > 0:05:12# How long have you been waiting?
0:05:12 > 0:05:17# Let your light shine
0:05:17 > 0:05:21# Many years have gone since then... #
0:05:21 > 0:05:25Gerry was the youngest son of a Paisley working-class Catholic family.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30His older brothers, Joe and Jim, were both keen on singing.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33When I was small, we were singing at parties,
0:05:33 > 0:05:37myself and my two brothers and all the family and relatives.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39I was aware that my elder brother, Joe,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43would occasionally be singing a different tune from me.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45And I was really intrigued by this.
0:05:45 > 0:05:50I said to him, "You know when we were singing a few moments ago,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53"what is that a thing that you do, when I'm singing,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55"and you sing a different tune?"
0:05:55 > 0:05:58He said, "Oh, it's called harmonising."
0:05:58 > 0:06:05# I can see it in you, you can see it in me... #
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Within a year or two, I could sing second and third part harmonies
0:06:08 > 0:06:15and it was just an amazing, magical, magical world opening up.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19# To bring out our memories... #
0:06:20 > 0:06:21That song is about
0:06:21 > 0:06:24the idea of the family coming together,
0:06:24 > 0:06:28which is very much part of an Irish, traditional thing,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31families would come together and they would sing,
0:06:31 > 0:06:37before they had TV and the Internet. And that's what they did, the Raffertys.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41# When we were young, we used to sing... #
0:06:46 > 0:06:47My father was tone-deaf.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50He was actually physically deaf, as well,
0:06:50 > 0:06:55because he had punctured his eardrum, working as a coalminer.
0:06:55 > 0:06:56But he used to tap his foot.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00He would try to get into the beat.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05He would say, "Play something with a bit of swing, son."
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Was he black, your father?
0:07:07 > 0:07:10He was one of the black Irish!
0:07:22 > 0:07:26After leaving school, Gerry teamed up with fellow Paisley Buddy,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Joe Egan, in beat group, Mavericks.
0:07:29 > 0:07:35In 1966, as The Fifth Column, they made their recording debut.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40I don't even think we were in our 20s at that point.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44Two of the songs we did with Columbia Records.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49They were getting sort of groomed to be a pop band,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52rather than an original sound.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56They had a song called Benjamin Day,
0:07:56 > 0:08:00which, Gerald and I collaborated on the lyrics of that.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05# Straight from a fairytale... #
0:08:07 > 0:08:09A certain tweeness about it.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13I freely admit, it was kind of,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16it was more like a...
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Children's Favourites.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23It was a nice tune. There was a melody to it.
0:08:23 > 0:08:28# I still recall the stories he would tell us... #
0:08:29 > 0:08:32And that was our main method of conversation
0:08:32 > 0:08:36with Gerry Rafferty, was to sing with him, right?
0:08:36 > 0:08:39He did really let people in
0:08:39 > 0:08:41who could sing with him.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45I think he decided then that there was a possibility of him
0:08:45 > 0:08:49making a career out of it and began writing songs
0:08:49 > 0:08:53with a distinct, McCartney-esque influence.
0:08:53 > 0:08:54# But there's nobody here
0:08:54 > 0:08:58# I rang the bell and knocked on the door
0:08:58 > 0:09:00# She don't live here no more... #
0:09:00 > 0:09:03The single, There's Nobody Here, was not a hit.
0:09:03 > 0:09:09It didn't do anything, I have to say. Gerry, at that point,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13teamed up with Billy Connolly and Tam Harvey in The Humblebums.
0:09:15 > 0:09:21# My Dixie Darling, listen to this song I sing... #
0:09:21 > 0:09:26We both had hair down to our arses and, sort of, buckskin jackets
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and cowboy boots and stuff like that.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33Billy was thrashing away at this banjo, like a man possessed.
0:09:33 > 0:09:38Gerry came up to me after the concert and said, "God, yeah,
0:09:38 > 0:09:42"that was funny, and I liked your stuff, blah blah blah,"
0:09:42 > 0:09:46"I'm a songwriter myself." And I thought, "Oh, God, another one!"
0:09:46 > 0:09:50You know, you were constantly being approached by songwriters
0:09:50 > 0:09:53in the folk scene. It was all about rain running down the window,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55and how I miss you, you know?
0:09:55 > 0:09:56I went up for a few beers to his house,
0:09:56 > 0:10:02and he played the songs, and I thought, "Who is this guy kidding?"
0:10:02 > 0:10:05He's learnt these from a record or something. He never wrote these.
0:10:05 > 0:10:10It was like Paul McCartney coming up and saying, "I write songs, would you like to hear one?"
0:10:10 > 0:10:13# Yesterday... # Ffff... What?!
0:10:13 > 0:10:18# Well, hear me talking' blood and glory
0:10:18 > 0:10:22# I'm fed up walkin'!
0:10:22 > 0:10:23# Blood and Glory
0:10:23 > 0:10:26# I'll tell a story... #
0:10:26 > 0:10:28It was a symbiotic relationship.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31They each got so much from the other,
0:10:31 > 0:10:37and each was an absolute, er, character
0:10:37 > 0:10:40and an individual in themselves, but together, they were great.
0:10:43 > 0:10:45# Patrick, my painter
0:10:45 > 0:10:50# Painter of art You will always and ever
0:10:50 > 0:10:55Artist, John Byrne, the inspiration for this song,
0:10:55 > 0:10:58designed the artwork for the new Humblebums album -
0:10:58 > 0:11:01the first of many covers.
0:11:01 > 0:11:06# We will always be with you Jock and Larry and me... #
0:11:06 > 0:11:08I had never heard anything quite like it.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11I look back at it and I think, they were just boys.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15And for Scottish men, in particular, to stand up and sing
0:11:15 > 0:11:19about deep-felt emotions like that, was difficult,
0:11:19 > 0:11:20so, in some ways,
0:11:20 > 0:11:25it suited him quite well to have someone behind whom he stand.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29I was just a guy who knew tunes, knew songs, still am.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33But he was a musician, and I'll never be one of them.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38There were some pretty difficult gigs, a student gig or somewhere,
0:11:38 > 0:11:43where the audience was a bit loud, and Gerry wanted just total quiet.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46He would not make eye contact with the audience.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50He had a cast in his eye
0:11:50 > 0:11:53and I think it embarrassed him,
0:11:53 > 0:11:55so he would take an eye-line away from people,
0:11:55 > 0:11:57which people thought,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00"That's very aloof, he's not looking at us, he's not speaking to us."
0:12:00 > 0:12:04But I think his work, the songs,
0:12:04 > 0:12:08if that wasn't enough for you, you shouldn't have been there.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12He jumped off the stage once and decked somebody,
0:12:12 > 0:12:15and we had a police escort out of Taunton.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17But Gerry probably did more gigs with the Humblebums
0:12:17 > 0:12:20than he did in the whole of his career after that.
0:12:20 > 0:12:28# You know you feel so good, when she comes and greets you... #
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Sometimes, I would do a little accompaniment, sometimes I wouldn't.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Sometimes I would get ready to do the accompaniment,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37and he would say, "I'm doing this on my own."
0:12:37 > 0:12:41My footsteps would be heard clunking off into the wings.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46I thought that he would make me better, and he did,
0:12:46 > 0:12:52but he got better, too, so the gap remained, of musical class.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55But that became very painful for Billy,
0:12:55 > 0:12:59because what tended to happen was that a lot of emphasis was put
0:12:59 > 0:13:02on Gerry's material, and then, when Billy came to do his stuff,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05he was almost left on his own,
0:13:05 > 0:13:07and Gerry would almost go to the pub.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09If you go through the albums
0:13:09 > 0:13:14you'll find he's in all my songs, and I'm in none of his, you know?
0:13:14 > 0:13:17Because he would go into the studio and go over my bits
0:13:17 > 0:13:19and have me taken off, and go over them.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Was he right or wrong to do that?
0:13:22 > 0:13:23I would say...
0:13:23 > 0:13:26right. You know?
0:13:26 > 0:13:29He was a perfectionist.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33And perfectionists must perfect.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36So off he went, on his perfecting way.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39# You say that I am out of touch...
0:13:41 > 0:13:44And so, Billy and Gerry parted musical company -
0:13:44 > 0:13:47each having left an indelible mark on the other.
0:13:48 > 0:13:53I saw this large figure of a man striding down Baker Street
0:13:53 > 0:13:55with a pair of tartan trousers on, and I thought,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58"My goodness, that's Billy Connolly!"
0:13:58 > 0:14:00So, I went up and tapped him on the shoulder.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02And she said, "Excuse me?"
0:14:02 > 0:14:05And I went, "Yeah?" She said, "I'm Martha."
0:14:05 > 0:14:07"Oh, my God", I gave her a cuddle
0:14:07 > 0:14:10and then I saw the staggering resemblance to her dad,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12as she was speaking to me.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16I was looking at Billy, thinking how much he was like my dad,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19and also, for me, it was quite poignant,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21because he still had a lot of energy, and I could see
0:14:21 > 0:14:26a lot of how my dad would have been if he hadn't started drinking.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30We were both piss artists. We were both young and strong,
0:14:30 > 0:14:34and so it didn't really affect us. It dug in later.
0:14:34 > 0:14:40I had a meeting with him in London, about 10 years before his death.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44And we were in Langan's restaurant,
0:14:44 > 0:14:48and he was drinking Calvados, you know, that apple brandy?
0:14:48 > 0:14:53He had about 10 or 12 over lunch. Big ones, you know?
0:14:53 > 0:14:56And I thought, "Oh, God Almighty."
0:14:56 > 0:15:00So, I had read somewhere that, with alcoholics,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03you should tell them once and not twice.
0:15:03 > 0:15:08Or ask them, you know? So I said, "Listen, are you OK
0:15:08 > 0:15:13"with this drinking. Do you feel comfortable with your drinking?"
0:15:13 > 0:15:16And he said, "Yeah, it's not a problem." I said,"OK".
0:15:16 > 0:15:18That was all I ever said to him about drinking.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22# Can I have my money back Money back, money back?
0:15:22 > 0:15:24# Can I have my money back, please?
0:15:24 > 0:15:26I don't know what you're saying... #
0:15:26 > 0:15:32In 1971, The Humblebums were still signed to Transatlantic.
0:15:32 > 0:15:37Gerry was given the opportunity to fulfill their contractual obligations
0:15:37 > 0:15:41by recording a solo album, featuring collaborations with old friends,
0:15:41 > 0:15:50including Joe Egan, Rab Noakes and John Byrne.
0:15:45 > 0:15:50It was produced by Hugh Murphy and wryly entitled,
0:15:50 > 0:15:51Can I Have My Money Back?
0:15:51 > 0:15:52# Please, sir
0:15:52 > 0:15:54# I don't hear what you're saying Don't care what you're doin'
0:15:54 > 0:15:57# Can I have my money back Money back, money back?
0:15:57 > 0:16:00# Can I have my money back Please, sir? #
0:16:00 > 0:16:04During the course of recording, Can I Have My Money Back?
0:16:04 > 0:16:08Gerry invited me to take part in the record on a song,
0:16:08 > 0:16:10Mary Skeffington, Gerry's mother.
0:16:10 > 0:16:15It's quite matter-of-fact, but it's not without passion,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18it's not without love and respect.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22# Mary Skeffington
0:16:22 > 0:16:25# When you wake
0:16:25 > 0:16:33# You mustn't be afraid to face another day... #
0:16:33 > 0:16:34It was just the two of us, two voices, two guitars,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38sitting facing each other, which is a nice way to record.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40I did a little fingered start, he did a strum.
0:16:43 > 0:16:49# Look back on a home where you spent the best years of your life
0:16:52 > 0:16:56# Remember the man who asked you if you would be his wife
0:16:59 > 0:17:05# Mary Skeffington, close your eyes
0:17:05 > 0:17:12# And make believe that you are just a girl again... #
0:17:12 > 0:17:15I'm glad exists like that because it is a kind of representation,
0:17:15 > 0:17:19if you like, of what we sounded like as Stealers Wheel,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22the performers, in the summer of 1971.
0:17:22 > 0:17:28# You put something there
0:17:28 > 0:17:30# Inside of me... #
0:17:32 > 0:17:37The formation of Stealers Wheel reunited Gerry with Joe Egan.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39The band signed to A&M Records,
0:17:39 > 0:17:42and prepared to record their first album.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45It was to be produced by legendary American songwriters
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Gerry Lieber and Mike Stoller.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52We were a bit in awe of their reputations.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Of course, when you're just young and just starting out
0:17:56 > 0:17:59and all that kind of stuff but they really made us feel kind of at ease.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02They were great to work with.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Of course, they're rock'n'roll royalty
0:18:04 > 0:18:08from the time of the 1950s
0:18:08 > 0:18:10and they gave it a cache.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17This was 1972,
0:18:17 > 0:18:20and Lieber and Stoller had been in the music business for 20 years,
0:18:20 > 0:18:25writing and producing polished, big-production hits for artists
0:18:25 > 0:18:30including Elvis, The Coasters, Peggy Lee, and The Drifters.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33A&M had high hopes for this transatlantic musical marriage,
0:18:33 > 0:18:38and Lieber and Stoller brought their own ideas to the production.
0:18:38 > 0:18:39But so did Gerry.
0:18:41 > 0:18:47I think he viewed us as, um, the enemy.
0:18:47 > 0:18:53There was something very distasteful to him about us,
0:18:53 > 0:18:55what we represented to him.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Um, crassly commercial,
0:18:59 > 0:19:01what have you.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04I think they met their match in Gerry and Joe,
0:19:04 > 0:19:06because they kind of dug their heels in.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09And I think that they wanted to do it in the way that they wanted
0:19:09 > 0:19:13to do it, rather than the way that Lieber and Stoller wanted to do it.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Gerry was difficult to work with.
0:19:16 > 0:19:21Eh...he was difficult from the get-go.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26And the band in general drank a great deal.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30There were cases of brown ale,
0:19:30 > 0:19:35and there were a few cases of Scotch whisky...
0:19:35 > 0:19:40in the studio, to keep things rolling, I guess.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43And then, of course, pub hours,
0:19:43 > 0:19:48everybody ran out around the corner to the Thistle.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53Eh...God, I remember it well!
0:19:53 > 0:19:56I spent a lot of hours there.
0:19:56 > 0:20:02We thought that most of what Gerry and Joe were doing was...
0:20:02 > 0:20:04the accompaniment to their songs
0:20:04 > 0:20:10was pretty much kind of, jingy, jingy, jingy, jangy!
0:20:14 > 0:20:15I'm not putting it down.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18I'm just... That's what it was.
0:20:18 > 0:20:24And we thought we could enhance that with some of our ideas.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29Cowbell and coins between the strings of the piano,
0:20:29 > 0:20:33which made them play totally different pitch
0:20:33 > 0:20:36than the one that you would expect.
0:20:36 > 0:20:42Just using some elements of that could...
0:20:42 > 0:20:48add a flavour to it that it didn't have to begin with.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51It took a long time.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55But in the end, the result was a wonderful result.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Shortly after that I remember...
0:20:59 > 0:21:02watching The Old Grey Whistle Test with Bob Harris.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06He was interviewing Lieber and Stoller. And he said,
0:21:06 > 0:21:11"And more recently you have been working with Stealers Wheel,
0:21:11 > 0:21:12"how did that go?"
0:21:12 > 0:21:15And they looked at one another and said, "Pass"!
0:21:15 > 0:21:22As soon as it started to be successful, and it became a hit,
0:21:22 > 0:21:28he lost interest in it and was suspicious of it,
0:21:28 > 0:21:33and no longer really liked it because it was commercial.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40The album was simply entitled Stealers Wheel,
0:21:40 > 0:21:42and was finished in late 1972.
0:21:42 > 0:21:48Abruptly, Gerry upped and left, leaving Joe to front the band.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52# Woke up this mornin' Hanging out of bed
0:21:52 > 0:21:57# Too late to go to work Walked my dog instead
0:21:57 > 0:22:01# I don't try hard, but I get by. #
0:22:03 > 0:22:05I still don't really know why he left, to be honest.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07We never spoke about it.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10He just felt that he had to do it at that particular time.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13But it wasn't a good feeling to be left...
0:22:13 > 0:22:17to continue to fulfil contractual engagements,
0:22:17 > 0:22:20and all that kind of stuff that was going on then.
0:22:21 > 0:22:27# There ain't no use In you complaining... #
0:22:30 > 0:22:32But we got on with it and did it.
0:22:32 > 0:22:37We did the Berry tour, and the Colin Bluntstone tour as well.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41# I got the feeling that Something ain't right... #
0:22:41 > 0:22:45Joe even had to mime to Gerry's lead vocals on a promotional video
0:22:45 > 0:22:50for Stuck In The Middle With You, released as a single in spring 1973.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53# Clowns to the left of me Jokers to the right
0:22:53 > 0:22:57# Here I am Stuck in the middle with you. #
0:22:57 > 0:23:01The song documents an actual night at the table of a London restaurant,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04with record company executives at one end
0:23:04 > 0:23:06and potential producers at the other.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10And business being conducted around Gerry and Joe.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13# I'm all over the place
0:23:13 > 0:23:16# Clowns to the left of me Jokers to the right
0:23:16 > 0:23:19# Here I am Stuck in the middle with you
0:23:19 > 0:23:21# Well you started off With nothing... #
0:23:21 > 0:23:24It's just brilliant. And the sentiment of it.
0:23:24 > 0:23:25Everyone's felt that,
0:23:25 > 0:23:27"I'm stuck in the middle with you" sort of thing.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31And he had a great way of making something of frustration
0:23:31 > 0:23:33seem very happy.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36That song will go on absolutely forever. It's in everything.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38# Please... #
0:23:38 > 0:23:41Which is great. I love that for songwriters.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44I love it when they get a golden egg. It's fantastic.
0:23:44 > 0:23:49It was very direct production and songwriting.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53It got straight to the point, did the business and then got out again.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56And that's why Stuck In The Middle is still a timeless song.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59# Is it cool to go to Sleep on the floor
0:23:59 > 0:24:02# Cos I don't think that I can take any more. #
0:24:02 > 0:24:04With the success of Stuck In The Middle With You,
0:24:04 > 0:24:09Gerry was persuaded to return to the band. But all was not well.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11I met him on the night of Top Of The Pops,
0:24:11 > 0:24:13when they did Stuck In The Middle.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Everything was going for them.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18They had a huge deal with A&M. I'd met him in the studio,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21just before or after, with Lieber and Stoller, for God's sake.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23I thought, "God, everything for Gerry is coming good now.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27"This is fantastic." Then he told me in the dressing room at Top Of The Pops
0:24:27 > 0:24:30that he was going to not tour with it and knock it on the head.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33And I think Joe Egan was blissfully unaware of that as he sang it.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36I can never see that clip on the repeats of Top Of The Pops
0:24:36 > 0:24:39without thinking, "That poor man."
0:24:39 > 0:24:43The self-destruct gene kicked in and Gerry kind of canned it.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46And I don't know why he did that but he did it several times.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50There was so much politics taking place between the whole band
0:24:50 > 0:24:53and everybody involved with the band - our managers and so forth.
0:24:53 > 0:24:59Um...the live performances we did,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01most of them were not very good.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05Um...everything seemed to be incredibly rushed.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08We never had time to rehearse properly because we were being taken
0:25:08 > 0:25:11from the rehearsal studio to go and do interviews,
0:25:11 > 0:25:14and we were taken from that to go and do something else.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17You go in it to make music and, unfortunately, you end up
0:25:17 > 0:25:22making music about 20% of the time that you do your job.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27So the bit that you love about your job you get to do
0:25:27 > 0:25:28kind of the least.
0:25:28 > 0:25:35That was my first taste of just the nature of the music industry as a beast.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37He didn't like being ordered around, basically.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39He didn't like people telling him what to do.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42And he had a great distrust of the music business,
0:25:42 > 0:25:45what he would see as its machinations,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49and looking for a pound of flesh all the time.
0:25:54 > 0:26:01After the release of the 1974 album Ferguslie Park, the band split
0:26:01 > 0:26:07and Gerry and Joe carried on as a songwriting and recording duo.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11# So they made you a star Now your head's in a cloud... #
0:26:12 > 0:26:14The single Star charted
0:26:14 > 0:26:16and the promotional machine started up again
0:26:16 > 0:26:21with appearances like this one, on German TV.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26Look at the set. Imagine hanging around there all day and miming to your record.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28And you look at the audience... HE LAUGHS
0:26:28 > 0:26:34There's not a soul - you look out there - who looks like they want to be there, right?
0:26:34 > 0:26:39So, as the day progresses, you could just see Gerry and Joe thinking,
0:26:39 > 0:26:44"Well, let's have a wee bit of fun with this," on the one hand,
0:26:44 > 0:26:50and on the other hand just really wishing they were somewhere else.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52They come out of it rather well, I think.
0:26:52 > 0:26:57Better than the audience does, who get no points for effort, really, do they?
0:26:57 > 0:27:00You just had to laugh. I mean, nervously.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05I mean, it didn't seem as if anybody was enjoying themselves at all,
0:27:05 > 0:27:09so the people that were laughing were us, me and Gerry.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13The song itself came over pretty well, I thought, anyway, so that was fine.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22Jerry and Joe recorded Stealers Wheel's swansong, Right Or Wrong,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25while their management company went bankrupt,
0:27:25 > 0:27:29leaving Gerry and Joe broke and with legal issues
0:27:29 > 0:27:32which would take years to resolve.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42I went back to Glasgow to lick my wounds and take stock.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44I knew that I was going to pursue a solo career.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47I didn't want to be involved in bands any more.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50So I was living in Glasgow
0:27:50 > 0:27:53but I was spending a lot of time going back and forth
0:27:53 > 0:27:57from Glasgow to London to sit in lawyers' offices.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02And that lasted about two-and-a-half to three years.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07Oddly enough, it was one of the most productive periods I've ever had in my life.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11# I was lost
0:28:11 > 0:28:16# On an endless sea
0:28:16 > 0:28:20# Going down, going down... #
0:28:20 > 0:28:23I basically used to the raw material of going back and forth
0:28:23 > 0:28:28from Glasgow to London for the basis of all the songs that I wrote then.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32His music room was always bang next to my bedroom,
0:28:32 > 0:28:39so I remember falling asleep most nights to him singing at the piano or guitar next door.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43It was something I wish more people had heard, actually,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46just the pared down... no big production.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50It was lovely background music to my childhood, you know?
0:28:50 > 0:28:56# Here I am, back in town... #
0:28:56 > 0:29:00Gerry took his songwriting from this period into the studio.
0:29:00 > 0:29:05Unfettered by band politics and determined to set his own agenda,
0:29:05 > 0:29:12Gerry delivered to United Artists and himself massive success with three solo albums.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14This was 1977.
0:29:14 > 0:29:16Punk was making a big noise
0:29:16 > 0:29:20and John Byrne was again designing the record sleeve.
0:29:20 > 0:29:24The original cover for City To City was a kind of punky-looking guy,
0:29:24 > 0:29:27a fair-haired guy, a young guy,
0:29:27 > 0:29:30and his nose was split, it had a split on it.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32He was standing in a kind of...
0:29:32 > 0:29:39the wreckage of a city and he's wearing a snakeskin jacket.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41And smoking a cigarette.
0:29:41 > 0:29:46And they said it looked too punky, the record company,
0:29:46 > 0:29:49and would I please do another one.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51So I did another one,
0:29:51 > 0:29:54and whether it's the better two of the two covers, I don't know.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57But I think they were right.
0:29:59 > 0:30:04# Yes, I get a little lonely When the sun gets low... #
0:30:08 > 0:30:11The creative process in the studio making City To City,
0:30:11 > 0:30:14Night Owl and Snakes And Ladders
0:30:14 > 0:30:17was very different from what had gone before,
0:30:17 > 0:30:20with Gerry now co-producing his own work.
0:30:21 > 0:30:25Some people are insecure and they don't want to be overshadowed.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29Gerry wanted the best people, he wanted really great creative people.
0:30:29 > 0:30:36# We've still got a long way We've still got a long way to go. #
0:30:36 > 0:30:39I was used to working very fast.
0:30:39 > 0:30:40That was the way that people did it.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42He didn't work like that.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46It was the first time I had come across an artist who was
0:30:46 > 0:30:49really, really painstaking about every detail.
0:30:49 > 0:30:55And I would often play a guitar part with different amplifiers,
0:30:55 > 0:30:59the same part, different guitars, the same thing over and over,
0:30:59 > 0:31:02and then he would sit down and do an assessment of which one he liked.
0:31:02 > 0:31:08And he was great. Once you played something that he liked, he knew right away.
0:31:08 > 0:31:14- # So never leave me lonely... # - WOMAN HARMONISES
0:31:14 > 0:31:19# Now that you love me only Yeah... #
0:31:21 > 0:31:26It was always an exciting moment when they rolled the tape
0:31:26 > 0:31:28because I would hear his,
0:31:28 > 0:31:31to me, glorious voice
0:31:31 > 0:31:36and I would be matching phrasing to a voice that was already there.
0:31:36 > 0:31:41And that was probably the most exciting backing vocals
0:31:41 > 0:31:45that I've ever done in my life, was singing with Gerry.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47# I just want to tell you
0:31:47 > 0:31:50# You still got that light... #
0:31:50 > 0:31:53I think he quite liked the way I played because it wasn't flashy.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56But it suited him really well.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00It was sensitive. (Shall we say?)
0:32:00 > 0:32:03# Oh, no, no, no
0:32:03 > 0:32:05# No, no
0:32:05 > 0:32:08# No, no, no... #
0:32:08 > 0:32:12You had to be very careful not to pick up Gerry's orange juice in the morning and drink it.
0:32:12 > 0:32:15Otherwise...you'd be drunk the whole day.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21When we were at Chipping Norton for a long time,
0:32:21 > 0:32:23Gerry would drink and drink and drink
0:32:23 > 0:32:26and his eyes would narrow and he'd look around the room
0:32:26 > 0:32:29and he'd just pick a victim and he'd launch into an attack.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32And it was really, really unpleasant,
0:32:32 > 0:32:36and most of the time the people just sat there and took it,
0:32:36 > 0:32:40and sometimes it would go on for 15 minutes, you know. It was awful.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52There's no point in over-gilding a lily, is there?
0:32:52 > 0:32:55You've got to face it - Gerry was really amusing,
0:32:55 > 0:32:57could be very sensitive,
0:32:57 > 0:33:00wrote sensitive songs and could be very kind,
0:33:00 > 0:33:03but he could also be very difficult and could be...when drink...
0:33:03 > 0:33:06Later on, when drink was taken it was a bit poisonous.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08Quiet, please. Playback.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14Sometimes it was all rather chaotic
0:33:14 > 0:33:19but I think this is one of the reasons why he worked so closely with Hugh Murphy,
0:33:19 > 0:33:22because Hugh was able, sometimes, I think,
0:33:22 > 0:33:28to be a conduit for Gerry's thoughts and intentions in the studio.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32He was also extremely acerbic.
0:33:32 > 0:33:37He had a quick mind and he could give back to Gerry as good as he got,
0:33:37 > 0:33:41so on both of those levels, it worked really well.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44Gerry had a broad vision. I think he had the songs
0:33:44 > 0:33:48and then Hugh was the person who put them into the landscape.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53It's what they call, nowadays, a bromance.
0:33:53 > 0:33:54Yes, it was.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57It was a bromance. It was a romance.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59They loved each other and I think...
0:33:59 > 0:34:04Hugh was really the only person that could put up with Gerry, for any length of time,
0:34:04 > 0:34:06because he was very calm and... you know.
0:34:06 > 0:34:08# And you don't get no relief
0:34:08 > 0:34:12# It's gonna be a long night
0:34:12 > 0:34:15# Waitin' for the first light
0:34:15 > 0:34:19# It's going to be a long night. #
0:34:19 > 0:34:22Don't you think he was really kind of fanciable, Gerry? He was very charming.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25Or did you not find that? No.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29- That was just me.- Because I was in love with Hugh, and Hugh was always there when Gerry...
0:34:29 > 0:34:32I was in love with Richard but it didn't stop me fancying Gerry.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36No, I was so in love with Hugh I couldn't fancy anybody else, so...
0:34:36 > 0:34:37Loser.
0:34:37 > 0:34:39# So good night
0:34:39 > 0:34:41# Yeah, good night
0:34:41 > 0:34:44# Good night train Is gonna carry me home... #
0:34:44 > 0:34:47And here's Hugh Murphy, Gerry's producer,
0:34:47 > 0:34:50supporting him on Dutch TV in 1978
0:34:50 > 0:34:53by pretending to play the harmonica.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04Hugh didn't have to be there at all. Gerry needed him there for moral support.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07There was no earthly reason why he needed to be sitting there,
0:35:07 > 0:35:10miming harmonica-playing, but...
0:35:10 > 0:35:14I think Gerry got really dependent on him in the end.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17Watching Hugh sucking and blowing away like that is very funny.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22It was Paul Jones of Manfred Mann who actually played
0:35:22 > 0:35:23the harmonica on the track.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25# Yeah, good night
0:35:25 > 0:35:28# Good night train Is gonna carry me home. #
0:35:30 > 0:35:33Promotional appearances of this kind were anathema to Gerry
0:35:33 > 0:35:38and eventually, he flatly refused to do any more.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40His preferred habitat was the recording studio
0:35:40 > 0:35:45and his main interest was in writing his songs.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49Generally...the melody will come first, the music will come first,
0:35:49 > 0:35:51and then I will attempt
0:35:51 > 0:35:55to wed a lyric to the melody, once it's complete.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58When I first started to write lyrics,
0:35:58 > 0:36:02that was the real hard work for me and it still is, in many ways.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05I just keep the lyrics as simple as possible
0:36:05 > 0:36:08because I never felt I had any way with words.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10That's...that's SO not true.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12It's SO not true, that.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16He had a great way with words. That was the thing - he was very, very deceptive.
0:36:16 > 0:36:21His words are just...are absolutely the right word for every song
0:36:21 > 0:36:24that he wrote, and the words are just perfect.
0:36:24 > 0:36:29# I just wanna say This is my way
0:36:29 > 0:36:36# Of telling you everything I could never say before... #
0:36:39 > 0:36:42Right Down The Line is already on my list for my funeral.
0:36:42 > 0:36:48I've always, always, always preferred songs written by men about women.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51The way women sing about men, they can be very bitter,
0:36:51 > 0:36:55and then a lot of songs where they do sing about how much they love them,
0:36:55 > 0:36:58it's in a needy way, or a kind of, "I'd give up anything for you,
0:36:58 > 0:37:01"even if you treat me badly" way, which I've never understood.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05Right Down The Line, it's just like basically saying... It's so simple
0:37:05 > 0:37:10but just... "Forever, I will always, always, always...
0:37:10 > 0:37:12"love you, and it's always been you."
0:37:12 > 0:37:15And imagine if somebody wrote that for you.
0:37:15 > 0:37:17Imagine! You know?
0:37:17 > 0:37:20I would try to write about my own personal experiences
0:37:20 > 0:37:23as much as I could. I trusted my intuition in that way.
0:37:23 > 0:37:29Um...and I wasn't afraid to...
0:37:29 > 0:37:32Not in every song - there were lots of songs that that wasn't the case
0:37:32 > 0:37:36but there was a fair number
0:37:36 > 0:37:39that were to do with my own inner world.
0:37:39 > 0:37:44I have sung Gerry Rafferty songs all my life,
0:37:44 > 0:37:46even when I was singing in folk clubs,
0:37:46 > 0:37:51so we're going back to the late-60s, early-70s,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53when I first met Gerry.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55As time went on, I've covered a lot of his songs.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57I did The Royal Mile.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01But I'm probably best known for singing The Right Moment.
0:38:01 > 0:38:06# Spinning on another wheel
0:38:06 > 0:38:14# Going round in slow motion
0:38:14 > 0:38:18# Caught up in another dream
0:38:18 > 0:38:25# Drifting on a blue ocean... #
0:38:25 > 0:38:28All of his songs have always spoken to me.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32There's something to do with the melodic structure
0:38:32 > 0:38:37and something very sad in the writing
0:38:37 > 0:38:43which has always appealed to me, but it's never sentimental.
0:38:45 > 0:38:50# You remember and then you forget
0:38:51 > 0:38:57# All along the way... #
0:39:03 > 0:39:05He doesn't use a lot of fancy, poetic terms.
0:39:05 > 0:39:10He doesn't cloak what he's saying in mystic mumbo-jumbo.
0:39:10 > 0:39:11He gets to the point
0:39:11 > 0:39:14and...I think almost uniquely,
0:39:14 > 0:39:18you could listen to the songs down the years and connect them
0:39:18 > 0:39:21with what you later find out was going on with his private life.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28# Out on the street I was talkin' to a man
0:39:28 > 0:39:30# He said There's so much of this life of mine
0:39:30 > 0:39:33# That I don't understand
0:39:33 > 0:39:36# You shouldn't worry I said, that ain't no crime
0:39:36 > 0:39:39# Cos if you get it wrong you'll get it right next time... #
0:39:39 > 0:39:45Gerry may have chosen to reveal aspects of his life in his songs
0:39:45 > 0:39:49but he did not want his life altered by the unwelcome personal attention
0:39:49 > 0:39:52that comes with being household name.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55Once you enter into the world of celebrity,
0:39:55 > 0:39:57you can no longer really be the observer in life.
0:39:57 > 0:40:02And I've always valued that highly. You become the observed.
0:40:02 > 0:40:07And other people... wallowed in that kind of...
0:40:08 > 0:40:12..acclamation and excess.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16Er... But it was like a drug to them. They couldn't stop.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19And it wasn't like a drug to him. It wasn't even like a...
0:40:19 > 0:40:23a bag of sweeties. It wasn't like anything.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25It was just...he didn't want to do it and he refused to.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28HE LAUGHS
0:40:30 > 0:40:32# And the sign says
0:40:32 > 0:40:34# Welcome to Hollywood... #
0:40:34 > 0:40:38Despite massive airplay and huge sales there,
0:40:38 > 0:40:42Gerry never played a single gig in the US.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46I have huge respect for Gerry for not ever pandering
0:40:46 > 0:40:50to the demands of record companies to promote work in a certain way.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54To go out and, as he probably saw it, prostitute himself live,
0:40:54 > 0:40:58playing gigs he didn't feel like playing, simply in order to shift product.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01And good for him for sticking two fingers up at the system
0:41:01 > 0:41:06and saying, "Actually, you don't have to do any of that and I'm not going to."
0:41:07 > 0:41:08# So sweet
0:41:12 > 0:41:14# They bring it all the way from... #
0:41:14 > 0:41:19I wanted success and fame and I got it, to a degree.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22Gerry...wanted respect.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24He wanted his talent to be respected.
0:41:24 > 0:41:30He wanted his songs to be respected and he certainly got that.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34Well there's a Japanese Zen saying.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38It states that if you get too famous, you'll go straight to hell.
0:41:38 > 0:41:45# I came to you when no-one could hear me
0:41:45 > 0:41:46# I'm sick and... #
0:41:46 > 0:41:49Linda Thompson sang backing vocals on Night Owl,
0:41:49 > 0:41:54and she and then-husband Richard toured with Gerry in the UK.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57In 1980, they were without a record deal
0:41:57 > 0:42:01and Gerry raised the finance and produced an album for them,
0:42:01 > 0:42:05the bootleg of which has come to be known as Rafferty's Folly.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09It never got released, that was the thing.
0:42:09 > 0:42:14We did it and Richard didn't like it because it was a little bit slick -
0:42:14 > 0:42:18in tune - and it was all the things that Gerry was,
0:42:18 > 0:42:22which was very perfectionist about the tempo
0:42:22 > 0:42:24and very perfectionist about the tuning
0:42:24 > 0:42:28and there was no Auto-Tune in those days, so you'd just do things over and over
0:42:28 > 0:42:31and Richard didn't like it very much so we redid it,
0:42:31 > 0:42:35but actually, it's a very good record. He did a great job.
0:42:40 > 0:42:45He was extremely funny and he was very romantic.
0:42:45 > 0:42:49He'd have these crushes on people and...
0:42:49 > 0:42:52when we were on tour, we decided to run away together.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54We were both married, mind you.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57And we got on the train and by the end of the train journey,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00we were looking at each other going, "This is not a good idea."
0:43:00 > 0:43:03I don't think anything ever came of these...
0:43:03 > 0:43:05crushes that he had on people.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08He'd say to people, "I love you," and blah-blah-blah,
0:43:08 > 0:43:13but it was just a fun, romantic thing, I think, for him, to do with the music, maybe.
0:43:14 > 0:43:16After the Richard and Linda experience,
0:43:16 > 0:43:21the only other artists Gerry ever produced were The Proclaimers.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25This is the original acoustic version of Letter From America.
0:43:27 > 0:43:28# When you go
0:43:28 > 0:43:31# Will you send back
0:43:31 > 0:43:35# A letter from America? #
0:43:35 > 0:43:38We initially did a demo down at Gerry's house,
0:43:38 > 0:43:41and a fantastic studio he had down there, and that's...
0:43:41 > 0:43:44That was the best studio we'd been in,
0:43:44 > 0:43:47and that was his home studio, you know, so it was pretty intimidating.
0:43:48 > 0:43:50# The other day
0:43:50 > 0:43:52# I spent the evening thinking about
0:43:52 > 0:43:54# All the blood that flowed away... #
0:43:54 > 0:43:59That was '87 and we'd been playing that song since about '84.
0:43:59 > 0:44:04So it's hard to really imagine it being any other way, you know?
0:44:04 > 0:44:08But the way he built the arrangement round the actual song itself,
0:44:08 > 0:44:12you could hear from the start that it would work.
0:44:12 > 0:44:16And it finished up a lot better than I think we'd imagined.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18# When you go
0:44:18 > 0:44:20# Will you send back
0:44:20 > 0:44:24# A letter from America?
0:44:24 > 0:44:26# Take a look
0:44:26 > 0:44:29# At the rail track
0:44:29 > 0:44:34# From Miami to Canada
0:44:36 > 0:44:39He took us aside at some point when we had a cup of tea and said,
0:44:39 > 0:44:42"Look, this is still your song."
0:44:42 > 0:44:47And we knew it - we didn't feel it had in any way been taken apart at all -
0:44:47 > 0:44:51it was just added to. There was an arrangement built around the song.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53The integrity of the song was maintained.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55# When you go
0:44:55 > 0:44:58# Will you send back
0:44:58 > 0:45:02# A letter from America? #
0:45:02 > 0:45:05I think the really interesting thing about Letter From America
0:45:05 > 0:45:10is how great the production is, that it's absolutely simple and direct.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14It's everything Leiber and Stoller brought to Stuck In The Middle With You,
0:45:14 > 0:45:17and which Gerry, in some ways, seemed unable to bring to bear
0:45:17 > 0:45:20on his own work because he felt he had to kind of
0:45:20 > 0:45:24live up to a reputation of making another Gerry Rafferty record
0:45:24 > 0:45:27that would be matched up with Baker Street, rather than cutting to the chase
0:45:27 > 0:45:30and getting to the essence of what the song was about
0:45:30 > 0:45:33and when he was producing another artist, I think he was able to do that,
0:45:33 > 0:45:37and see the folk tradition that came into it
0:45:37 > 0:45:41and the beautiful directness of that, and not spoil it, not clutter it up,
0:45:41 > 0:45:45not cover it in '80s synths or anything but just get to the song
0:45:45 > 0:45:48and, of course, he delivered them a massive, massive hit.
0:45:50 > 0:45:55Gerry Rafferty would never again have the commercial success of the late '70s
0:45:55 > 0:45:58but he kept on making his music his way.
0:45:58 > 0:46:04North And South, released in 1988 as his marriage to Carla was breaking down,
0:46:04 > 0:46:07is a window into his life at that time.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12That was an album that I remember
0:46:12 > 0:46:14just playing again and again and again,
0:46:14 > 0:46:17because it came out at a time when I was...
0:46:17 > 0:46:20coming to the end of a long relationship as well,
0:46:20 > 0:46:25and every track on that album seemed to me to say something about my life.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28I was living in exile down south,
0:46:28 > 0:46:31I was in a relationship where hearts were running dry,
0:46:31 > 0:46:35and it just felt like the soundtrack of my life at that point.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42# Moonlight and gold
0:46:43 > 0:46:48# Midsummer magic as the night
0:46:48 > 0:46:55# Turns to day and songbirds greet the dawn... #
0:46:55 > 0:46:59'Moonlight and gold is a recurring theme for him.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02'The metaphor of the day being life.'
0:47:02 > 0:47:09# You watch and wonder While the moon fades away
0:47:09 > 0:47:11# And one more day is born. #
0:47:11 > 0:47:14'These are the songs of a 40-year-old as opposed
0:47:14 > 0:47:16to 'the songs of a 25-year-old.'
0:47:24 > 0:47:28We spent hours, literally hours, on the phone.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31He'd split from his wife, and stuff like that.
0:47:31 > 0:47:36I think that was probably one of the big reasons for keeping in touch.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39Of course, I offered my services anyway,
0:47:39 > 0:47:42if he needs an ear to bend, or whatever.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46So the '90s were taken up, quite a lot of the '90s were taken up
0:47:46 > 0:47:49with Gerry phoning and talking away.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52But, of course, during the conversation,
0:47:52 > 0:47:56on many occasions he would be... he'd get really drunk.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00He was unable to continue the conversation.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03So... Here I go again. I don't want to speak about this.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05This stuff.
0:48:05 > 0:48:09I think the most interesting period of his post-Baker Street career
0:48:09 > 0:48:12was actually '92 to '94.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16Because he made two albums there which were a major return to form.
0:48:16 > 0:48:23And Life Goes On as a song was so important to him
0:48:23 > 0:48:26that he revisited it with his final album.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28He came back to that song and brought it back,
0:48:28 > 0:48:31because he felt it hadn't had the attention it deserved.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35It's clearly about Carla and it's clearly heartfelt.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37I think that's probably his strongest song.
0:48:37 > 0:48:41It's got the most gorgeous, powerful chorus that sweeps you up
0:48:41 > 0:48:43and carries you along.
0:48:43 > 0:48:48# And your life goes on... #
0:48:50 > 0:48:53And I think it took the break-up with his wife
0:48:53 > 0:48:59to put him into the idea that he had to get back down to brass tacks,
0:48:59 > 0:49:02he had to really roll his sleeves up and get back to what he was good at,
0:49:02 > 0:49:04and he got back with Joe Egan,
0:49:04 > 0:49:07and they made a couple of really, really strong albums there.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12# Every night's a lonely night
0:49:12 > 0:49:14# Since you went away
0:49:15 > 0:49:19# But you come back to haunt my memory... #
0:49:20 > 0:49:22Gerry installed a studio at his home
0:49:22 > 0:49:27and worked there with Hugh Murphy on the last two albums they made together.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31'Following his divorce, Gerry and I had the chance for the first time
0:49:31 > 0:49:35'to sort of spend a lot of time together at Tye Farm,'
0:49:35 > 0:49:38in Sussex, where he was living at that time.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41I used to go there every couple of weeks,
0:49:41 > 0:49:43and we'd spend a day writing.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47And...we actually spent a lot of the time laughing.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51I mean, we shared a sense of the ridiculous.
0:49:51 > 0:49:53We laughed like drains for much of the time.
0:49:53 > 0:49:55That's one of my prevailing memories of it.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04Over the years, Gerry played again and again
0:50:04 > 0:50:06with familiar old musical friends.
0:50:06 > 0:50:12Guitarist Hugh Burns enjoyed a long-standing creative relationship with him.
0:50:12 > 0:50:17Gerry understood and loved, at a very deep level, Scottish music.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21And many, many times, he would ask me to alter the harmonies
0:50:21 > 0:50:23to sound more Celtic, more Scottish.
0:50:23 > 0:50:29And I think that influenced his music quite a bit.
0:50:29 > 0:50:31And if you... HE STRUMS CHORD
0:50:31 > 0:50:33If you have the guitar in this kind of tuning,
0:50:33 > 0:50:37you can hear the influence, the influence of pipes,
0:50:37 > 0:50:39and the influence of that kind of...
0:50:39 > 0:50:42HE PLAYS CELTIC-STYLE RIFFS
0:50:59 > 0:51:03Of the relationships in Gerry's life forged in music,
0:51:03 > 0:51:06one of the most important, with Hugh Murphy,
0:51:06 > 0:51:10ended with Hugh's early death in 1998.
0:51:10 > 0:51:12'I think that was a great blow to Jerry.'
0:51:12 > 0:51:15Because they had such a long relationship,
0:51:15 > 0:51:19it was a unique working relationship, I think.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22And I think it took Gerry a little while to find somebody else
0:51:22 > 0:51:27to work with in that particular capacity, the engineering side, etc.
0:51:27 > 0:51:30And Giles came on board,
0:51:30 > 0:51:32and I thought it was a great moment for Gerry.
0:51:32 > 0:51:34Because I think he had found somebody
0:51:34 > 0:51:37who was incredibly supportive to what he was doing,
0:51:37 > 0:51:40and who was happy with his particular working methods.
0:51:49 > 0:51:54Together with Giles Twigg, Gerry travelled to Barbados, France,
0:51:54 > 0:51:59Tuscany and the North of Scotland with portable recording equipment.
0:51:59 > 0:52:04The result of this semi-nomadic period was the 2000 album Another World,
0:52:04 > 0:52:07which, as always, reflected his real life.
0:52:09 > 0:52:13# When Xavier and Honor were born... #
0:52:13 > 0:52:16Xavier And Honor is a song about Tilda Swinton
0:52:16 > 0:52:19and John Byrne's children.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21# Their reason for being
0:52:21 > 0:52:25# Was clear when they opened their eyes... #
0:52:25 > 0:52:29I would have to say, in all honesty, the one record,
0:52:29 > 0:52:32or the one main record that they made together,
0:52:32 > 0:52:40is perhaps the record of Gerry's I would be least likely to turn to as an album.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43Just simply because, I think,
0:52:43 > 0:52:50Giles did not have the same kind of dialogue with Gerry as Hugh had had.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54And the record is just slightly overworked,
0:52:54 > 0:52:57and there's not nearly enough heart left in it.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00# My girlfriend's in Albania
0:53:00 > 0:53:04# My ex-wife's in Tasmania
0:53:04 > 0:53:07# And I am in Transylvania
0:53:07 > 0:53:10# With the vampires all around... #
0:53:11 > 0:53:14The album, Another World, was originally
0:53:14 > 0:53:17only available through Gerry's website.
0:53:17 > 0:53:22Access to the internet allowed Gerry Rafferty fans to meet online.
0:53:22 > 0:53:28It's a very tight-knit group of real, real Gerry Rafferty fans.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31People who feel the same way as I do.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35It's generally talking about...
0:53:35 > 0:53:37obviously talking about his music,
0:53:37 > 0:53:42and discussing songs in great detail.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46And people trying to pick out their top 10 Gerry... which is an impossibility.
0:53:46 > 0:53:51You can't pick 10 Gerry Rafferty tracks, you have to have a top 50.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54I think once people kind of get his music,
0:53:54 > 0:53:57it stays with them their whole life.
0:53:57 > 0:53:59And I know that a lot of the fans,
0:53:59 > 0:54:01they speak about his music as having helped them
0:54:01 > 0:54:04through times of real trouble,
0:54:04 > 0:54:06their wife leaving them or something.
0:54:06 > 0:54:10It's his music, people relate to it.
0:54:10 > 0:54:11That meant a lot to him.
0:54:15 > 0:54:222009's Life Goes On demonstrates Gerry's continued interest in reworking his back catalogue.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32It also reflects his wide musical interests,
0:54:32 > 0:54:33from the Beatles and Mozart
0:54:33 > 0:54:38to Irish folksongs and Christmas carols.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41That was Gerry putting his house in order.
0:54:41 > 0:54:43He's taken all the songs that mattered to him,
0:54:43 > 0:54:47the themes, the cover versions of other things that were significant to him,
0:54:47 > 0:54:50and he's brought it together in a production...
0:54:50 > 0:54:54high production value package, where there's not a weak track in there.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58It's all beautifully produced, immaculately tended and cared for.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01And he was gathering together everything that mattered to him
0:55:01 > 0:55:05and putting it out there. Really, as a kind of goodbye.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08We didn't know it at the time, but I think he felt he had to make his mark
0:55:08 > 0:55:11and leave something behind of lasting value.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16# Kyrie eleison
0:55:16 > 0:55:21# Christie eleison... #
0:55:22 > 0:55:25We were linked by what we'd come through.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27Like, Catholic school and all that.
0:55:27 > 0:55:32We used to sing a lot of hymns in the car on the way to gigs.
0:55:32 > 0:55:33We used to love hymns.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36On his last album, just before he died,
0:55:36 > 0:55:38he had Kyrie Eleison,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41and I was on the phone to him
0:55:41 > 0:55:43and he said it was a Coptic Christian version.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52I think harmony was central to my dad,
0:55:52 > 0:55:57because of what it evoked in him as a human being.
0:55:57 > 0:56:03You know, it's... Harmony makes a person feel connected.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05Connected to the universe, and to what's around you,
0:56:05 > 0:56:08and it's the way that things all come together
0:56:08 > 0:56:10and create something of beauty.
0:56:11 > 0:56:16# Yeah
0:56:18 > 0:56:22# Night and day
0:56:22 > 0:56:24# And day... #
0:56:24 > 0:56:27'There are those who say that Gerry in his life,
0:56:27 > 0:56:29'and in his relationships,'
0:56:29 > 0:56:31perhaps didn't give enough of himself.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34I can understand why they say that, given the temperament he had.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38But since he died, I think I've come to the view
0:56:38 > 0:56:42that he gave us the music, and maybe that's legacy enough.
0:56:42 > 0:56:44That's how I feel about it now.
0:56:44 > 0:56:47Yes, he could be an absolute rascal, as everybody knows,
0:56:47 > 0:56:50but...he was our a rascal.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53When I think of him, I think of him laughing.
0:56:53 > 0:56:58Playing the guitar. Singing with Rab and me.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00Me singing on Whatever's Written In Your Heart.
0:57:02 > 0:57:07# At least we got our memories... #
0:57:07 > 0:57:10Just loving him. So much.
0:57:10 > 0:57:13# Whatever's written in your heart
0:57:13 > 0:57:16# That's all that matters... #
0:57:18 > 0:57:24It was a 40-year existence, really, of writing songs,
0:57:24 > 0:57:27and making music and making great records
0:57:27 > 0:57:31pretty much all of which are built to last.
0:57:33 > 0:57:37He used to say to me that once he couldn't sing any more,
0:57:37 > 0:57:40then that would be it.
0:57:40 > 0:57:42And actually, that was what happened.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47He went unafraid and sober.
0:57:47 > 0:57:49Yeah.
0:57:49 > 0:57:51And with a wonderful legacy.
0:57:51 > 0:57:55# We've played this game now for a long, long time... #
0:57:55 > 0:58:01I was texting memories and things, and he was laughing,
0:58:01 > 0:58:03and we laughed right up to the very end.
0:58:07 > 0:58:12And he knew it was time to go, and then he went.
0:58:16 > 0:58:20# Whatever's written in your heart
0:58:20 > 0:58:23# That's all that matters
0:58:23 > 0:58:30# Yeah
0:58:31 > 0:58:35# Night and day
0:58:35 > 0:58:39# Night and day
0:58:41 > 0:58:48# Yeah
0:58:48 > 0:58:53# Night and day
0:58:53 > 0:58:56# Night and day. #