Raphael Ravenscroft, who played saxophone solo on Gerry Rafferty’s ‘Baker Street,’ dies at 60
Posted Oct 22, 2014 02:15:02 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LONDON – Musician Raphael Ravenscroft, who played one of the most famous saxophone solos of all time on Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street,” has died. He was 60.
Ravenscroft’s family says he died Sunday at a hospital in Exeter, southwest England.
The haunting sax break helped make Rafferty’s 1978 song a hit. It reached No. 3 in Britain and No. 2 in the U.S., and still receives considerable airplay.
But in a 2011 radio interview, Ravenscroft said “Baker Street” irritated him — because his solo was flat.
Ravenscroft went on to work with musicians including Pink Floyd, ABBA and Marvin Gaye, and wrote instruction manual “The Complete Saxophone Player.”
His daughter, artist Scarlett Raven, told the BBC her father was actually “very proud of ‘Baker Street’ and that it made people feel good.”
