It was ten years ago this month that Paisley lost one of its most loved and iconic sons, Gerry Rafferty.
The singer-songwriter was 63 when he died at his home in Dorset with his daughter Martha by his side.
But he will never be forgotten in Paisley as he left behind an incredible legacy of iconic music.
Gerry was born in Underwood Lane, Paisley, on April 16, 1947, to his mother Mary Skeffington and his father, Joseph, an Irish-born miner.
A pupil of St Mary’s Primary School and later St Mirin’s Academy, he was heavily involved in music from his early teens. In 1969, he joined Billy Connolly and Tam Harvie in folk/rock combo The Humblebums.
The following year, Gerry married hairdresser Carla Ventilla but the pair divorced in 1990. They had a daughter, Martha.
Joe Egan and Rafferty went on to form Stealers Wheel in 1972 and took the charts by storm with Stuck In The Middle With You, which later courted retrospective fame in the cult classic film, Reservoir Dogs.
Gerry went solo in the late 1970s and the release of the album City To City was hailed as a musical masterpiece and featured arguably his finest and most famous work, Baker Street, which included a haunting saxophone intro.
The notoriously private musician moved to London and began to live the life of a recluse.
It was reported he had been battling alcohol addiction for a number of years and had stopped performing for some time before he died.
Gerry made a rare visit to his beloved hometown in June 2000 for the opening of an exhibition of one of his pals – Ferguslie Park-born artist John
Byrne.
He was admitted to hospital in Bournemouth in November 2010 suffering from liver failure and died just a few weeks later at his home in January 2011.
His funeral took place in Paisley’s St Mirin’s Cathedral and was attended by his closest friends and family as well as the great and the good of Scotland’s music scene including The Proclaimers and Barbara Dickson.
Paisley has never forgotten Gerry and his music played a key part of a day of action to support Paisley’s bid to become the UK City of Culture
2021.
In April 2017, 25 saxophonists were joined by a live band to play the iconic saxophone solo from Baker Street live to mark the week of what would have been his 70th birthday.
There is also a striking mural of Gerry at the entrance to Brown’s Lane in the town.
And it was announced by Martha earlier this month that a string of new releases from her dad were in the pipeline for later this year.
Two singles from an upcoming album, which has been delayed due to the pandemic, will be available in April while later in the year, the album of original material and covers of some of his favourite tunes will hit the
shelves.
Although ten years may have passed since he died, it’s clear that Gerry Rafferty will continue to entertain and inspire music fans across Paisley and beyond for many years to come.
