TS: "Right Down The Line" vs "Baker Street"

The thread title's deliberately provocative, in the old ILM style; sorry if that wasn't clear. I wanted a Gerry Rafferty thread that didn't concentrate on "Baker Street."

City to City is a good album, better than I expected.

Aren't the songs on that comp rerecorded?

There are 3 or 4 minor remixes ("Baker Street" among them), but no rerecording as far as I can tell from the liners.

I wanted a Gerry Rafferty thread that didn't concentrate on "Baker Street."

Then let me mention that the two City to City follow-ups--Night Owl, Snakes & Ladders--are pretty damn good. (Says the guy who ranks City to City in his all-time Top 20, so apply many grains of salt as needed.)

"Home and Dry" is a very nice third single. The Night Owl singles aren't bad either.

RIP big man. TBH I'm amazed he made it to 2011.

Oh, that sucks. RIP

" In phases of renunciation, he smashed cases of superb wines into a stream on his land. "

Aw RIP. I have listened to his best of with pleasure so many times.

" In phases of renunciation, he smashed cases of superb wines into a stream on his land. "

worthy of Becker-Fagen.

What a moving story: comfortable with his millions yet always unhappy.

I think it's "Right Down the Line" for me, because sometimes the saxophone part grates on me in "Baker Street" after overexposure, and I love the harmonized chorus of "Right Down the Line".

I love the light disco groove of this minor American hit (but big UK hit):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vTnff0pkgs

Thanks to this thread, I finally listened to City to City (remembering the cover from the LP bins at the public library many years ago). I think I'd have to vote for "Baker Street" between these two songs, but is it strange to wonder if side 2 might actually be better than side 1? "Mattie's Rag" is the best McCartney song of 1978, "Home and Dry" shows he can do grandiosity without a sax, and "Waiting for the Day" has a lot more verve and momentum than you expect from "soft-rock". Al Stewart is like a sleepwalker in comparison.
It's sad that great records like this get forgotten because they don't fit people's narrative of what music in 1978 was about.

Funny this popped up... The other day while in the break room of the casino I work at, "Baker Street" was being piped in. I always heard that sax riff because, I mean... that sax riff. But for the first time I decided I would just pay my attention to the guitar and I am not a member of the guitar intelligentsia cabal but wow, that song has some subtly good guitar work and a solo that is perfect.

oh hell yeah that is some rippin guitar there. song is truly a “tour de force”

It is an absolutely perfect solo, and what's really remarkable is that because Rafferty wanted it to sound spontaneous, he didn't allow the session guitarist, Hugh Burns, to rehearse or experiment with different ideas. What you hear is a single take, played off the cuff. That's talent!

“Right Down the Line” is truly one of the best songs of the 70’s.

Is there a thread that covers a similar mood/vibe/genre to this song? I want to hear more in this vein, a few examples come to mind but they’re not close enough or they’re not as plenty as I want them to be. I just want a 1 hour+ playlist in this style to play while making a bbq.

Here’s some examples of songs which I think are close but not quite:

Steely Dan - only a fool would say that
Fleetwood Mac - Rihannon
Ned Doheny - get it up for love
Jeremy Spencer Band - travellin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUkyD7clZLw

First time I heard "Baker Street" was via The Simpsons having no idea what it was, and that sax riff sounded like a charming bit of cheese. I've heard it countless times since, and I've grown to intensely dislike it. Like right now, in this godforsaken drugstore piping it through their speakers.

I can't even remember "Right Down the Line" but I see Bonnie Raitt did a cover:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYp8lYT9Zhk

I love both songs, but "Right Down the Line" edges out "Baker Street." The Lucius cover really nails it.

The sax break is fine as part of the song, it's tiresome when removed from context as a signifier for "coked-out yacht rock corny awesomeness" etc.

I think I know what you mean. Rafferty's singing on "Baker Street" always sounded dull to me, which is unfortunate because I actually like what he's put into the song lyrically, or at least what he's trying to write about. When the sax comes in, as cheesy as it may be, it does pump a sudden burst of life into the record. I don't know, maybe it's supposed to evoke the sudden pleasure you get from taking in a drug (or a smoke or a drink)?

That actually makes hearing it in a pharmacy wrongly appropriate.

Do yourself a favor and listen to Star by Stealer's Wheel. That is the best Gerry Rafferty-related song. How that wasn't a major mega international hit is beyond me. Such a catchy song. makes Right On Down The Line sound like Faust.

Joe Egan's song!

I suddenly wondered whether "constant as a northern star" (in "Right Down The Line") originated with Joni, but it turns out Shakespeare put it in Julius Caesar.

This eccojam version of Baker St

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awAp5UGpncY