Night Owl (1979)

1. Days Gone Down (Still Got the Light in Your Eyes) 2. Night Owl 3. Way That You Do It 4. Why Won't You Talk to Me? 5. Get It Right Next Time 6. Take the Money and Run 7. Family Tree 8. Already Gone 9. Tourist 10. It's Gonna Be a Long Night

It's been a while since I've listened to this one. Night Owl was a hard one to find for me. I bought a lot of compilations to get songs like "Days Gone Down" and "Get it Right Next Time" two of my favourite songs by Mister Rafferty.

This was a bit of an odd duck for me back in '79. Coming off the heals of City to City this one should have been huge. The pop numbers were great - but I can only guess that most of the disco pop people who liked "Baker Street" didn't quite know what to think of the rest of the folk pop oriented tunes. This was different than most of what passed for pop. So I can only guess that when Night Owl came out people were a little wary.

It's too bad, because there were some great accessible hits. "Days Gone Down" got a lot or radio play when I was younger, and "Get it Right Next Time" did as well. But the album has a lot of hidden gems as well. It's an odd thing listening to this coming on 30 years after its release. I'm older now, and this music hasn't aged at all. You can't say that about a lot of music that was out in 1979.

After all these years few artists are able to warm the cockles of my heart like Gerry Rafferty.

This is a tough disc to find, but you can find it as a two for deal with City to City at a great price.

Reviewed January 5, 2007

Snakes and Ladders (1980 EMI)

Tracks: The Royal Mile / I Was A Boy Scout / Welcome To Hollywood / Wastin' Away / Look At The Moon / Bring It All Home / The Garden Of England / Johnny's Song / Didn't I / Syncopatin' Sandy / Cafe Le Cabotin / Don't Close The Door

I finally managed to snag this one on CD. I nearly had it a couple of years ago, but I was told it was out of print. Snakes and Ladders is probably the most overlooked of Gerry's albums, which is too bad. "The Royal Mile" is a great tune and was the reason I kept looking for this on CD. I'm not saying this is the only good song, there are a lot of very good songs here. Gerry's voice in one of the best in the business. There is something undeniably appealing about the guy.

Funny how as time goes by, the better good music without gimmicks sounds.

Reviewed February 17, 2002

Sleepwalking (1982 / 2000 EMI)

The songs: Standing At The Gates / Good Intentions / A Change Of Heart / On The Way / Sleepwalking / Cat And Mouse / The Right Moment / As Wise As A Serpent

Hard to imagine twenty years has slipped away. Finally re-issued as part of The Originals series on EMI it features lots of extra packaging, but no extra notes - I guess they blew the budget on the fancy pointless boxes. But I shouldn't complain, I finally have this on disc. It sounds pretty good too, except for a hardly noticable flaw (wear and tear on the old masters?) on the first song.

Sleepwalking still ranks as one the best albums I ever bought. It is also without a doubt the finest effort Gerry ever produced. Sure he had some catchy hits, but on this one it all came together. Gerry manages to hit some very poignant high marks both musically and lyrically. Containing only eight songs, which by today’s technology seems very short, was enough to meet the 22 minutes a side rule of the time. It’s hard to describe the music; it’s pop but not dated. The sounds hold up very well, and of course Gerry’s voice is amazing. It’s hard to pick favourite songs on this one, but I still get chills when I hear The Right Moment. This is probably the most overlooked album in his catalog, which is a real shame.

Reviewed March 6, 2002

Another World (©2000 Icon Music)

the songs: All Souls / The Land of the Chosen Few / Sweet Surrender / Whose House Is It Anyway / Conscious Love / La Fenetre / Everytime I Wake Up / Xavier & Honor / You Put Something Better Inside of Me / Metanois / Children of the Sun / Another World

Gerry Rafferty is one of my favourite singers, and over the years has put out some absolutely brilliant songs. After years of being under the company thumb, Another World was self released, and is available only from Gerry's site.

He obviously had a lot of fun making this record and his voice sounds as good as ever. He tried some new things this time out. There are some very good songs here, and some annoying clunkers too - witness "Whose House Is It Anyway". Of course there's a nod to his past with a nice version of You "Put Something Better Inside of Me". As always the musicians are top shelf with appearances by Mark Knopfler (guitar), Mo Foster (bass) and Bryn Haworth (an amazing slide player - his solo albums are brilliant).

If you're a fan you'll want to seek this one out. Even a less than brilliant Gerry Rafferty album is cause for celebration.

Reviewed November 28, 2001