Gerry Rafferty's gone missing...and found well*

Very sad news indeed:

http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/42815

Fears grow for missing Gerry Rafferty
'Baker Street' singer has been AWOL since August

Feb 16, 2009

Fears are growing for the safety and whereabouts of Gerry Rafferty, who has been missing for over seven months.

Family and friends have not been in contact with Rafferty, who is most famous for his 1978 hit 'Baker Street', since he checked himself out of London's St Thomas's Hospital on August 1 last year.

The singer had checked himself into the hospital on July 25 in a bid to combat liver problems caused by alcohol abuse.

Rafferty formed in 1972, co-writing their 'Reservoir Dogs'-endorsed hit 'Stuck In The Middle With You'.

His former Stealers Wheel bandmate Tony Williams told the Daily Mail that police are keen to talk to the singer.

"It's absolutely tragic," Williams said. "If he has liver failure he obviously needs someone to look after him. If he is still alive, somebody must be caring for him."

Prior to checking in to St Thomas's Hospital, Rafferty was asked to leave London's Westbury Hotel after leaving his room in an unusable state.

Since his disappearance, there have been several blog posts stating that Rafferty is safe and well, although these are believed to be unsubstantiated. In October, one poster on the Eaten By Missionaries blog claimed that Rafferty was staying in a hotel in Bournemouth.

Rafferty, who still receives royalties for his hits, has a history of alcohol problems.

 

Very sad. I'm a fan of Gerry and it's pretty sad to see this happen to him. Hopefully he will turn up alive and well.

 

Wow! I hope he's okay!. Love his stuff...

 

How does someone "go missing" for the better part of seven months?

I suppose he has enough money to make his way to just about anywhere in the world, but he'd still need a passport to leave the UK, right?

Is there an official investigation ongoing?

 

When someone is in the depths of alcoholism, it's pretty easy to disappear. Rafferty might be the "bum on the street" that no one recognizes anymore.

Obviously, I hope I'm wrong.

 

I absolutely love his "Can I Have My Money Back?" album - an underrated singer/songwriter pop classic - very McCartneyesque.

I've heard he's always been difficult to track down for approvals for usage of his music, etc. - and I know he's been AWOL for a few months now...

I hope he's alright, too.

Jeff

 

Well, it's not really "news", is it? He's been missing since last summer and nothing - to my knowledge - has changed.

I've been checking in with Effing Peasants from time to time, if anything had come up, I feel certain the news would have been available there.

Strange coincidence, though. I just finished spinning the DCC City To Ciity CD over the weekend. It was every bit the great experience I remembered it to be. What a fantastic mastering, attaboy Steve.

 

This is sad news.

Stealer's Wheel remain a top pop experience for me, and their first two albums essential listening even today.

 

I hope he's okay. Very sad news.

 

If in the likely / unlikely event he's reading this, I hope he's safe and well and can muster the inner strength to call someone to get in touch with his loved ones, directly or indirectly.

 

As much as I dearly love Stealers Wheel and much of Can I Have My Money Back?, I have to say that I love Rafferty's work with The Humblebums even more.

There's a sincerity, a sensitivity and depth of feeling in many of those songs that never fails to move me...while others are just plain fun. Always, a great sense of melody and harmony. I never tire of listening to those two albums.

I can only hope that this story will somehow have a happy ending. It seems very tragic right now.

 

He's done nothing illegal. At most it's a missing persons report.

Maybe he skipped off to Asia/Africa/South America several months ago. Can't find him now if he doesn't pass through formal travel channels.

He COULD have bought a new liver in a foreign country IF he wanted a new lease on life.

 

Very sad indeed. The Right Moment (also brilliantly covered by Olivia Newton-John) is one of the most beautiful songs ever. The guy is a great talent, hope he's OK.

 

That's my favorite Rafferty album too, though I love all the Stealers Wheel LPs as well.

I remember reading he'd "gone missing" last year. I guess nothing has changed, unfortunately. I hope he can get some help somehow.

 

Wherever he is, I wish him well.

 

Speaking of your avatar, don't forget "Mary Skeffington"

 

Sad to hear this. I have been reading about his alcohol problems and his behavior in that hotel room, but this piece of news takes the sad story even further.

I'm a big fan of his work, not only his early solo albums and the Stealer's Wheel records, but also his work after CTC. Albums like Night owl, Snakes and ladders, North and south and even his latest album Another world are very good IMO.

He has always been kind of reclusive, but his name seems to be connected with bad news ever since his divorce, circa 1990, and certainly since the disappearance of his web site in 2006.

I sincerely hope he can get the help he needs and that it's not too late for him to get back on track.

 

This article dated today says he's living in hiding in the south of England and being taken care of by a friend.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/17/gerry-rafferty-in-hiding

 

Was that ever released on cd with its original cover art?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Can-Have-My-M...=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1234863053&sr=1-3

 

He supposedly still makes £80,000 a year on royalties.

 

Hope he's ok, sad news.

 

WOW Gerry

Sad news indeed. Alcoholism can be arrested anytime the person decides to stop. Fatal but totally arrestable. Hard with that
Scots Irish pub tradition.

I'm listening to his first solo album from 71 called
Can I have my money back. BRILLIANT!

This is two years before Stealers Wheel with STuck In The Middle.
I can dig that he had those big seventies hits like BAker Street.
That stuff is very polished but a little tame for me. I thought his songs were better than the production.

The first album he's a little free with a little more of
a Stealers Wheels early CSN vibe

Very cool I mean really.

He has a last album from 2000 called Another World.

The thing I learned listening to all of it. I recognze his sense
of melody better now. O recognize his sound more. He does have
a very distinct signature as a writer and singer. This had been lost on me because all I had heard were those slick, Tame arrangements from 78-79

very talented guy. Check out the first album

 

I hope he's O.K. and that he is able to recover.