Turn any radio dial and the jubilant saxophone passage of Baker Street will always be blaring from the speakers somewhere. This immortal song from 1978 was Scottish artist Gerry Rafferty's biggest hit. A chronic alcoholic, he died in 2011 at the age of 63. His last years seemed like a 'lost weekend' in which he was no longer in control of himself. Yet Rafferty always kept writing songs and in 2009
… he even released the album Life Goes On. For his first posthumous album Rest In Blue, Martha Rafferty isolated her father's voice from a collection of demos dating back to 2006. With a group of musicians who once worked closely with her father, she chose warm and organic soft rock arrangements that harken back to those heyday days of Baker Street and the album City To City (1978). Like Paul McCartney, Rafferty was a versatile songwriter with a pleasant singing voice, never shy of a catchy melody. It comes to fruition beautifully on this more than worthy and audibly lovingly crafted legacy. (MR)more
