Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
List Price:
Our Price: $7.94
You Save: $3.04 (28%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.01 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Artist: Gerry RaffertyEdition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 1999-05-24
Music Label: Disky Records
Soundtracks:
- Baker Street
- Right Down the Line
- City to City
- Waiting for the Day
- Get It Right Next Time
- Take the Money and Run
- Days Gone Down
- Why Won't You Talk to Me
- Royal Mile (Sweet Darlin')
- Wastin' Away
- Bring It All Home
- Don't Close the Door
- Sleepwalking
- Change of Heart
- On the Way
- Night Owl
Free Music Notes for Baker Street
Free Music Review: Baker Street is excellent.
Hit: 5 Stars
My comments regard only the songs that are found on the "City to City" album, including "Baker Street."
Of course I love Baker Street. There is a lot going on in that track, sophisticated and excellent. Comparing it with the (obscenely bad) Foo Fighters cover shows both the weaknesses of the Fighters' arrangement as well as the talent, polish, intelligence, and diligence of Rafferty's producer.
I personally don't like solo sax much and so it doesn't touch me as much as it seems to touch others, but even so I can see that the sax intro and other sax parts are electrifying. I respect this production choice because for so many people the sax is the only part of the song they identify and according to some reviews the sax bought most of that copious radio air-time in 1978. On the other hand, it's a shame to see this overstated sound overshadow the rest of the beautiful song in peoples' minds.
The swooping guitars are awesome and yet subtle and fill a crucial spot in the intro melody. The guitar solo is masterful. Much of the time in the solo is taken up with only a few sustained and repeated notes and the bulk of the solo is made up of bends, trills, swoops, dives, and inventive tremelos. Each note of the minimal note count speaks out to us in important ways. It reminds me of lyrics that say volumes with just a few words. It's one of my all time favorite guitar solos.
The two featured analog synthesizer sounds are way cool. The synth during the verse sounds like falling leaves or water. The bass synth sound that counterpoints the vocal during the chorous, again, is inventive: an interesting, unusual sound, delightful instrumental melodic counterpoint to the vocal, a melodic sound in this region of the bass territory is also unusual in pop. You usually have the bass drum and the bass guitar in the bass region and that's about it. This synth sound and melody is something like a `cello line, lending an orchestral feel while still using pop instruments.
The lyrics to Baker Street are good, but I wouldn't say great. They give an overall impression of loneliness, futility and yearning for something better in the future. What's there is good but it's not great because the song does not tell a complete story. The "City to City" album from which this song is taken is a concept album and every lyric addresses these issues of loneliness and itinerant living on the road. Considering the entire album's lyrics as a whole pushes them up a notch as ambitious, intelligent, very good, and maybe you could consider the whole as a complete story. They fall short of something blisteringly great like "Eleanor Rigby" (The Beatles) or "She Always a Woman" or "AllenTown" (Billy Joel).
Regarding the Foo Fighters' cover version: The Foo Fighters skip the swooping guitars during the intro melody and you can hear it as dead space, causing a drop in intensity there resulting in an undesirable volume pumping effect. The Fighters copy the guitar solo note for note, what's the point? We've heard that already, and much better, so why bother? Granted I'm not that familiar with post 1989 Pearl Jam clone musical styles so I might be missing something, but to me the Fighters' guitar version of the sax intro melody is just plain wrong. The rhythm is wrong and corny, the accents are in the wrong place, and the guitar sound is so anemic when compared to the sax. Why would a band of the Fighters' stature cover a song anyway? The whole thing is just wrong.
Folk Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Folk Music CDs
Sarah McLachlan - Rarities, B-Sides 2 And Other Stuff, Volume 2Release date: 2008-04-29; Music CD
Best price: $8.29
Price in other shops:
Teddy Thompson - A Piece of What You NeedRelease date: 2008-06-17; Music CD
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops:
Le Vent Du Nord - Dans les AirsRelease date: 2007-10-09; Music CD
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops:
John Hiatt - Same Old ManRelease date: 2008-05-27; Music CD
Best price: $10.47
Price in other shops:
Eddie Vedder - Music for the Motion Picture Into the WildRelease date: 2007-09-18; Music CD
Best price: $9.36
Price in other shops:
Colbie Caillat - CocoRelease date: 2007-07-17; Music CD
Best price: $7.24
Price in other shops:
Van Morrison - Keep It SimpleRelease date: 2008-04-01; Music CD
Best price: $7.41
Price in other shops:
Amos Lee - Last Days At the LodgeRelease date: 2008-06-24; Music CD
Best price: $8.75
Price in other shops:
Steve Winwood - Nine LivesRelease date: 2008-04-29; Music CD
Best price: $7.92
Price in other shops:
Raising SandRelease date: 2007-10-23; Music CD
Best price: $8.73
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper: The Best of Blue ?yster CultRelease date: 2000-02-08; Music CD
Best price: $6.48
Price in other shops:
Al Stewart - Al Stewart - Greatest HitsRelease date: 2004-05-25; Music CD
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops:
Boz Scaggs - Silk DegreesRelease date: 2007-02-27; Music CD
Best price: $6.63
Price in other shops:
Toto - The Essential TotoRelease date: 2003-09-30; Music CD
Best price: $5.51
Price in other shops:
Gary Wright - The Dream WeaverRelease date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $5.75
Price in other shops:
Stealers Wheel - The Hits Collection: Stuck in the Middle With YouRelease date: 2000-10-30; Music CD
Best price: $6.45
Price in other shops:
Gordon Lightfoot - Gordon Lightfoot - Complete Greatest HitsRelease date: 2002-04-02; Music CD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Gerry Rafferty - City To City / Night Owl (2-CD)Release date: 2007-01-30; Music CD
Best price: $9.85
Price in other shops:
Gerry Rafferty - Right Down the Line: The Best of Gerry Rafferty:Release date: 1991-02-01; Music CD
Best price: $7.13
Price in other shops:
Gerry Rafferty - City to CityRelease date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $3.62
Price in other shops: