ALREADY WE HAVE 2011's FIRST ROCK FATALITY...
...gawrsh, the new year ain't even a week old yet...
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I Heard it on the radio newscast today; Gerry Rafferty, the guy who had such a huge hit with the song "Baker Street", which described the pitfalls of the music business from an English point of view, died at age 63. Reportedly, he'd had some sort of alcohol problem, and now he's gone. I'm sure almost everyone's heard the song, "Stuck In The Middle With You"; he's the lead singer on that track, recorded when he was part of the group, "Stealer's Wheel". After that album, Rafferty and Joe Egan, both original group members, released the next Stealer's Wheel album as a Duo, and even though that effort, "Ferguslie Park" was given a lot of good reviews, the single from that album, "Star" didn't do so well and the Stealer's Wheel name was retired.
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Gerry Rafferty recorded several solo albums in the mid-to-later-1970's, among those, "Can I Have My Money Back" along with several others whose titles I can't remember. All of his music was well done, with intelligent lyrics, but somehow, didn't attract a whole lot of record buyers. That changed, though, with the release of "City To City" in 1978; that album featured "Baker Street", which fairly jumped out of the radio speakers with that really fantastic Saxophone part (The song contains a great guitar solo as well). Very Popular. #1 record, on the charts for a long, long time. This song had some well-thought-out lyrics, but usually people who play or listen to the hits don't care about all that, what they need is "ear-candy" and that "Baker St." saxophone riff really set the table for Mr. Rafferty.
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But, there were more hits to come from "City To City". "Right Down The Line" (which I thought was a little bit weak as far as the song's rhythm went) got radio play, as well as another song from that album, "Home And Dry", which I thought was his best song of all; it contains a thumping bass line which really drives the tune. Imagine that, three hits from one album; I'll bet he was happy with that. His next album, "Night Owl" wasn't quite as effective, but it did contain "Get It Right Next Time", a little R&B-flavored number that was really different-sounding from anything else on that album. So anyway, I was surprised to learn that he died; I'd always pictured him as someone who was very mild-mannered, but I guess we all have our demons and alcohol was his.
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I've become fairly accustomed to Old Rockers Dying...in the last few years we lost Denny Doherty, lead singer in the Mamas & Papas; James Brown passed away not long ago, Robert Palmer (the guy who sang "Addicted To Love") is no longer with us and Dan Fogelberg (author/singer of the huge hit "Longer", as well as "Language Of Love", "Part Of The Plan" and "Same Auld Lang Syne") bid us adieu a couple of years ago, and Arthur Lee, leader of the fabled '60s group "Love" succumbed to leukemia a few years back. Back in the old days, Rockers did dumb stuff that got 'em killed, whether by overdoses of drugs or alcohol, or in the case of Randy Rhoads, Ozzy Osborne's guitarist, who was killed when the small plane he and a few other people were in crashed after buzzing a school bus in which other band members were esconced. Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, who drowned in his swimming pool in 1969, officially died of "death by misadventure". But now, Rockers are getting old and dying from things that the rest of the population die from; old age, blood disorders, heart attacks, whatever. Rock and Roll deaths aren't as glamorous as they used to be.
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Speaking of Rockers no longer with us, I've listened to two Elvis Presley concert albums this evening, both of which feature close to twenty songs done in one hour. That's under three minutes per song, if you throw in stage patter. He sailed through many of his songs at breakneck speed, so fast that he has trouble fitting all the words in. Was it Drugs? Was he "speeding"? Sounds like it. On the other hand, I've got a bootleg DVD of Elvis in concert in 1977, in which he could barely talk; which put him on par with M-M-Mel Tillis, the country singer. Like Tillis, once Elvis began a song, he sounded just fine. But he really did look awful in his last year. My theory about Elvis is that the Only Place he felt comfortable and in control was On Stage. Which is why he kept touring instead of resting up. One final quote about Elvis: John Lennon once said that "Elvis began dying when he went in the Army" (in 1959). That's because Elvis' music became Extremely Mild-Mannered, compared to the material he did in the early-to-mid 1960's. I agree with Lennon on that.
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I must confess I'm Officially Really Out Of It. How do I know? I had never before seen or even heard of the artists who were featured on Dick Clark's most recent Rockin' New Years' Eve Party. I watched and listened, but didn't see or hear anything that was even close to Rock and Roll. On the other hand, 84-year-old Chuck Berry had to cut a gig short because he wasn't feeling well. My advice to Chuck? Rest up, buddy. We don't wanna lose you anytime soon.