City to City
| City to City | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Gerry Rafferty | ||||
| Released | 20 January 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 1977, Chipping Norton Recording Studios | |||
| Genre | Rock, folk rock, soft rock | |||
| Length | 51:12 | |||
| Label | United Artists | |||
| Producer | Hugh Murphy and Gerry Rafferty | |||
| Gerry Rafferty chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from City to City | ||||
| ||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | B−[2] |
| Rolling Stone | (not rated)[3] |
City to City is a 1978 album and the second studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. It was Rafferty's first solo release in six years—and first release of any kind since 1975—due to his tenure in the band Stealers Wheel and subsequent legal proceedings which prevented Rafferty from releasing any new solo recordings for the next three years. The album was strongly received, peaking at No. 1 in the US and going Platinum,[4] as well as reaching No. 6 in the UK and achieving Gold status. "Baker Street", "Right Down the Line" and "Home and Dry" were successfully released as singles. By October 2010, "Baker Street" had reached 5 million plays on British radio.
Track listing
All tracks written by Gerry Rafferty.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Ark" | 5:36 |
| 2. | "Baker Street" | 6:01 |
| 3. | "Right Down the Line" | 4:28[5] |
| 4. | "City to City" | 4:51 |
| 5. | "Stealin’ Time" | 5:39 |
| 6. | "Mattie’s Rag" | 3:28 |
| 7. | "Whatever’s Written in Your Heart" | 6:30 |
| 8. | "Home and Dry" | 4:52 |
| 9. | "Island" | 5:04 |
| 10. | "Waiting for the Day" | 5:26 |
Singles
Baker Street
United Artists wanted to use "City to City" as the lead single from the album, but Rafferty felt that "Baker Street" would be a better choice and eventually the latter song became the first single in most countries (see "City to City" single release below). Released on 3 February 1978, "Baker Street" peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and spent four weeks at No. 1 in Canada. It reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, spending six weeks in this position, and two weeks at No. 1 on the US Cash Box Top 100. The B-side of "Baker Street" was "Big Change in the Weather".
Right Down the Line
"Right Down the Line" reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaked for two weeks at number eight on the Cash Box Top 100, and spent four non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart in the US in 1978,[6] the only Rafferty song to reach number one on this chart. Bonnie Raitt covered the song in 2012, including it in her Slipstream album.
Home and Dry
"Home and Dry" was the third single from the album in the United States, but did not have a UK release. It peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking a third consecutive Top 40 hit for Rafferty on that chart. It reached No. 23 in Canada.[7] The B-side featured the sixth track from City to City, "Mattie's Rag".
City to City
The title track had releases in Belgium (1977) and the Netherlands (1978). The B-side featured an extended version of "Mattie's Rag".[8]
The Ark
"The Ark" was released as a single in the Netherlands and Germany in 1978. The Dutch single featured "Waiting for the Day" as the B-side, while the German single used "Whatever's Written in Your Heart". Both B-sides were from the album, used as the tenth and seventh tracks respectively.[9]
Whatever's Written in Your Heart
"Whatever's Written in Your Heart" was only released on a-side as a promotional single in the United Kingdom in 1978. "Waiting for the Day" was used as the B-side.[10]
Personnel
- Gerry Rafferty – piano, acoustic guitar, vocals, backing vocals
- Tommy Eyre – piano, electric piano, grand piano, Moog synthesizer, organ, keyboards, brass arrangements
- Jerry Donahue – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, electric guitar on track 1
- Hugh Burns – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar on tracks 2–5, 8–10
- Nigel Jenkins – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, electric guitar on tracks 2, 8
- Andy Fairweather-Low – rhythm guitar, electric guitar on track 10
- Micky Moody – acoustic guitar on track 5
- Brian Cole – steel guitar, dobro on tracks 3–6, 9
- Gary Taylor – bass, backing vocals on tracks 1–6, 8–10
- Graham Preskett – fiddle, mandolin, synthesizer, string machine, string, brass, arrangements on tracks 1–2, 4–6, 8, 10
- Henry Spinetti – drums on tracks 1–6, 8, 10
- Glen LeFleur – drums, percussion, tambourine on tracks 1–3, 5, 9–10
Additional personnel
- Barbara Dickson – backing vocals on tracks 1 and 7
- Raphael Ravenscroft – saxophone on tracks 2 and 9
- Roger Brown – backing vocals on track 4
- Vivian McAuliff – backing vocals on track 4
- John McBurnie – backing vocals on track 4
- Rab Noakes – backing vocals on track 4
- Paul Jones – harmonica on track 4
- Hugh Murphy – tambourine on track 4
- Willy Ray – accordion on tracks 6 and 9
- Joanna Carlin – backing vocals on track 7
Australian bush band The Bushwackers featured on track 1 "The Ark", playing the introductory piece on fiddle, concertina and bodhran. This piece was also used under the guitar solo in the middle of the song. Their fee was 25 pounds for the session and were never paid.
Charts
Album
| Chart (1978) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Billboard 200[11] | 1 |
| Kent Music Report | 3 |
| UK Albums Chart[12] | 6 |
Single
| Song | Chart (1978) | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| "Baker Street" | Billboard Easy Listening[13] | 4 |
| "Baker Street" | Billboard Hot 100[13] | 2 |
| "Baker Street" | Canada RPM | 1 |
| "Baker Street" | UK Singles Chart[12] | 3 |
| "Right Down the Line" | Billboard Easy Listening[13] | 1 |
| "Right Down the Line" | Billboard Hot 100[13] | 12 |
| "Right Down the Line" | Canada RPM | 5 |
| "Home and Dry" | Billboard Hot 100[13] | 28 |
Certifications
| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| RIAA – US[4] | Gold | 26 May 1978 |
| BPI – UK[14] | Gold | 31 May 1978 |
| RIAA – US[4] | Platinum | 20 June 1978 |
References
- ↑ Stone, Doug. City to City at AllMusic
- ↑ Robert Christgau review
- ↑ Rolling Stone review
- 1 2 3 "RIAA Gold and Platinum". Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
- ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/city-to-city/id693606397
- ↑ http://www.last.fm/music/Gerry+Rafferty/_/Right+Down+The+Line
- ↑ http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.0103a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.0103a.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.0103a
- ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Gerry-Rafferty-City-To-City/master/272477
- ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Gerry-Rafferty-The-Ark/master/281305
- ↑ http://www.discogs.com/Gerry-Rafferty-Whatevers-Written-In-Your-Heart/release/2100125
- ↑ "allmusic (((City to City > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums)))". Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- 1 2 "UK Top 40 Hit Database". Archived from the original on 18 July 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "allmusic (((City to City > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles)))". Retrieved 2008-07-09.
- ↑ "BPI Certified Awards". Retrieved 2008-07-09.
- Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition (Billboard Publications)
External links
- City to City at Discogs (list of releases)
| Preceded by Saturday Night Fever (soundtrack) by Various artists |
Billboard 200 number-one album 8–14 July 1978 |
Succeeded by Some Girls by The Rolling Stones |