Gerry Rafferty - BBC Sessions, Volume 3: In Concert, Edinburgh Playhouse, Edinburgh, Britain, 2-25-1993

Here is the third and presumably final BBC album from singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. The first two were studio sessions collections, but this one is a full concert.

Rafferty was pretty reclusive, and rarely went on tour. I'm only aware of three times he toured as a solo artist, in 1978, 1980, and 1993. I've already posted a concert from him that's very similar to this one. It took place in Hamburg, Germany, earlier the same month as this one. However, while the set lists are almost the same, there are differences. Most importantly, this has one more cover version at the end, of the classic soul song "Stand by Me."

This concert has been widely bootlegged. However, every version I've seen is only 55 minutes long. But this one has an additional 43 minutes! That's thanks to Progsprog, who gave me his version. Somehow, he keeps coming out with extra long versions of BBC concerts, so all thanks to him. Even better, the sound quality is excellent all the way through, and there were no problems to fix. 

This album is an hour and 38 minutes long. 

01 Waiting for the Day (Gerry Rafferty)
02 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
03 Your Heart's Desire (Gerry Rafferty)
04 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
05 Get Out of My Life Woman (Gerry Rafferty)
06 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
07 Right Down the Line (Gerry Rafferty)
08 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
09 Does He Know What He's Taken On (Gerry Rafferty)
10 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
11 Moonlight and Gold (Gerry Rafferty)
12 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
13 Don't Give Up on Me (Gerry Rafferty)
14 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
15 Stuck in the Middle with You (Gerry Rafferty)
16 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
17 It's Easy to Talk (Gerry Rafferty)
18 The Right Moment (Gerry Rafferty)
19 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
20 Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty)
21 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
22 Late Again (Gerry Rafferty)
23 Get It Right Next Time (Gerry Rafferty)
24 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
25 It Makes No Difference (Gerry Rafferty)
26 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
27 A Mess of Blues (Gerry Rafferty)
28 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
29 Stand by Me (Gerry Rafferty)
30 talk (Gerry Rafferty)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/svRZdWLj

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/j94QBKNsawN1Ijk/file

The cover photo is from a concert in Utrecht, Netherlands on February 17, 1993.

Gerry Rafferty with Stealers Wheel - BBC Sessions, Volume 2: 1972-1978

Here's a second BBC album for Gerry Rafferty. Some of the songs are from when he was part of the band Stealers Wheel, and some not.

Stealers Wheel only existed for a short time, late 1971 until 1975, but they had a complicated history. The two main band members were Rafferty and Joe Egan, with both of them writing and singing songs. They had a bit hit from their first album released in 1972, "Stuck in the Middle with You." Unfortunately, I couldn't find any BBC version of this song. In fact, I couldn't find any decent version of the song, other than the famous studio version. I did find one live version from the time period, but the sound quality was atrocious, so I didn't include it.

After a second album, the band broke up again. For a while, Rafferty left and Egan led the band. Then the band reformed, including Rafferty again. They released a third album in 1975, only for the band to break up for good after that. That's why there are some Stealers Wheel songs here, then some Rafferty solo ones, then more Stealers Wheel songs. And it could be that some of the Stealers Wheel ones don't have Raffery on them, I don't know. Maybe someone else can clarify that.

Everything here is unreleased. The first two songs are from a Stealers Wheel appearance on the "Old Grey Whistle Test BBC" TV show, in 1972. I believe they made a second appearance on the show later, but it seems no known versions are publicly available (if any survived at all). Tracks 3 and 4 are from the "Top of the Pops" BBC radio show (not the TV show of the same name) in early 1973. Tracks 5, 6, and 7 are from the "Top Gear" BBC radio show. Strangely, that was a Rafferty solo appearance, despite taking place less than two weeks after the "Top of the Pops" appearance. Perhaps that's when they broke up for the first time? Tracks 8 through 10 are from another "Top Gear" radio show, this time in 1975, when they briefly reunited for their third and final album.

After Stealers Wheel broke up for good in 1975, Rafferty was unable to release a solo album for three years, due to lingering legal issues. When he finally released his second solo album, "City to City," in 1978, it was a massive hit, selling over five million copies. That was due to the presence of two huge hit singles from the album, "Right Down the Line," and "Baker Street."

It seems that Rafferty toured at least in 1978 and 1980, but I can't find any concert bootlegs from that era at all. (Does anyone know of any?!) However, I did find some videos of him playing five songs for an unknown European TV show in 1978. I've included those, even though they're not from the BBC, since any live recordings from him are so hard to find. Happily, that includes "Baker Street," but frustratingly, no "Right Down the Line." That's a real shame, since it's my favorite song by him.

I have one more BBC album to post from him, a 1993 concert. Look for that here soon. 

This album is 56 minutes long. 

01 I Get By (Stealers Wheel)
02 Late Again (Stealers Wheel)
03 Outside Looking In (Stealers Wheel)
04 You Put Something Better Inside Me (Stealers Wheel)
05 Over My Head (Gerry Rafferty)
06 Don't Get Me Wrong (Gerry Rafferty)
07 My Singing Bird (Gerry Rafferty)
08 Wishbone [Edit] (Stealers Wheel)
09 This Morning (Stealers Wheel)
10 Monday Morning (Stealers Wheel)
11 Johnny’s Song (Gerry Rafferty)
12 High Fashion Queen (Gerry Rafferty)
13 Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty)
14 The Ark (Gerry Rafferty)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/7K9CcY8r

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/IemyOxyMpOjGu7g/file

The cover photo is from a concert in Antwerp, Belgium, on June 24, 1978. 

Gerry Rafferty (with the Humblebums and Stealers Wheel) - BBC Sessions, Volume 1: 1970-1972

Here's a collection of BBC studio sessions by singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. During this time, he was in two bands, the Humblebums and Stealers Wheel, while also putting out music as a solo artist. So this includes material from all of those bands.

Today, Rafferty is best known for the songs "Stuck in the Middle with You," "Right Down the Line," and "Baker Street." (You might not recognize the title "Baker Street," since it's only mentioned once in the song, but I'll bet you recognize the saxophone riff. Weirdly, the song didn't reach Number One in the U.S. despite being a massive hit in 1978, but it stayed at Number Two for six weeks!) But he was a very talented singer and songwriter who deserves to be known for a lot more than just those three songs. (I use the past tense, because he died in 2011 at the age of 63.)

 In 1969, Rafferty joined the band the Humblebums. The band had already existed for a few years, and was led by Billy Connolly. Connolly wouldn't have great success as a musician, but he would transition to becoming a world famous comedian and actor. When Rafferty joined, the Humblebums split between songs written and sung by Connolly and songs written and sung by Rafferty. The songs here generally are the Rafferty ones. By Connolly's own admission, Rafferty was leagues ahead of him musically, while Connolly excelled in comedic stage banter, which is missing here.

The Humblebums split in 1971. That same year, Rafferty put out his first solo album, "Can I Have My Money Back?" It was largely ignored due to poor record company support, but got good reviews. However, by the end of 1971, Rafferty joined another band, Stealers Wheel. This was a collaboration with singer-songwriter Joe Egan, with both of them writing and singing songs. I'll have more songs from Stealers Wheel in Volume 2. But for now, that band is represented by the last seven songs on this album.

The songs here come from a variety of BBC sources, all of them unreleased. The first nine songs come from four different BBC radio shows in 1970. Four of those songs have "[Edit]" in their titles due to the common problem of BBC DJs talking over the music. As I usually do, I used the UVR5 program to wipe the talking while keeping the music.

Track 10, "Can I Have My Money Back," is from an appearance on the "Old Grey Whistle Test" in 1971. Tracks 11, 12, and 13 are from an appearance by Stealers Wheel on a BBC "In Concert" radio show, though they only performed these three songs. Then the last four tracks are from an appearance on the "Top Gear" BBC radio show in early 1972.

Two songs, "A Little of Your Time" and "Oh No," have been bumped down to mere bonus track status, due to poor sound quality. Both of those are from the same BBC studio session in 1970.

This album is 54 minutes long, not including the bonus tracks.

UPDATE: On December 5, 2025, only about a week after I first posted this album, I updated the mp3 download file. A person named Alick who downloaded it noticed that it was missing a BBC session, and sent that session to me. That makes up tracks 11, 12, and 13. 

01 Rick Rack [Edit] (Humblebums)
02 Everybody Knows That [Edit] (Humblebums)
03 Mother [Edit] (Humblebums)
04 Please Sing a Song for Us [Edit] (Humblebums)
05 Mary of the Mountains (Humblebums)
06 Cruising (Gerry Rafferty)
07 Keep It to Yourself (Gerry Rafferty)
08 My Singing Bird (Gerry Rafferty)
09 All the Best People Do It (Humblebums)
10 Can I Have My Money Back (Gerry Rafferty)
11 I Get By (Stealers Wheel)
12 Please Sing a Song for Us (Stealers Wheel)
13 Steamboat Row (Stealers Wheel)
14 We're on the Right Track (Stealers Wheel)
15 Jose (Stealers Wheel)
16 Mary Skeffington (Stealers Wheel)
17 I Get By (Stealers Wheel)

A Little of Your Time (Humblebums)
Oh No (Humblebums)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/94k7gsff

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/lpYbzyUDi14ovYR/file

The cover photo was taken in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1972. The original was in black and white, but I colorized it with the use of the Kolorize program.

Gerry Rafferty - Musikhalle, Hamburg, Germany, 2-12-1993

Today, British singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty is best known for his 1978 mega-hit "Baker Street," which in turn is best known for its iconic saxophone riff. But he's written other great songs, including the hits "Stuck in the Middle with You" (when he was part of the duo Stealers Wheel) and "Right Down the Line." 

In my opinion, he isn't as famous as he should be. One reason is that he suffered from alcoholism and depression most of his life. Perhaps related to that, he generally avoided doing the things stars need to do to become more famous, such as promotional work. That included doing very little touring. As far as I can tell, he toured some in the 1960s and 1970s, but after that the only major tour he did was in 1993. He died of liver failure in 2011 at the age of 63.

Due to how rare he toured, there are almost no live recordings of him publicly available, including nothing that's been officially released. When it comes to bootlegs, I've only been able to find one. Luckily, it's a very good one, a soundboard with excellent sound quality. Naturally, I'm speaking of the one I'm presenting here. (He did take part in some BBC sessions in the 1970s, and I hope to post an album of those eventually.)

There was only one problem with this recording, in my opinion, and that was that his lead vocals were rather low in the mix. That could have been intentional, as it would seem to fit in with his low-profile nature. (A very limited amount of banter between songs is another example of that.) Be that as it may, I boosted his vocals using the audio editing program X-Minus, and I think it sounds considerably better this way.

In terms of song selection, he chose to play songs from most phases of his career, including a couple from his Stealers Wheels days. He had released an album in late 1992, "On a Wing and a Prayer," so naturally he played about five songs from that. But luckily it was a critically well received album, though its sales were low. Three of the songs in the concert are covers: "Get Out of My Life Woman," "It Makes No Difference," and "A Mess of Blues."

This album is an hour and 35 minutes long. 

01 Instrumental (Gerry Rafferty)
02 Waiting for the Day (Gerry Rafferty)
03 Your Heart's Desire (Gerry Rafferty)
04 Right Down the Line (Gerry Rafferty)
05 Get Out of My Life Woman (Gerry Rafferty)
06 Does He Know What He's Taken On (Gerry Rafferty)
07 Moonlight and Gold (Gerry Rafferty)
08 Don't Give Up on Me (Gerry Rafferty)
09 Hearts Run Dry (Gerry Rafferty)
10 Stuck in the Middle with You (Gerry Rafferty)
11 It's Easy to Talk (Gerry Rafferty)
12 Standing at the Gates (Gerry Rafferty)
13 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
14 The Right Moment (Gerry Rafferty)
15 Baker Street (Gerry Rafferty)
16 Late Again (Gerry Rafferty)
17 Get It Right Next Time (Gerry Rafferty)
18 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
19 It Makes No Difference (Gerry Rafferty)
20 talk (Gerry Rafferty)
21 A Mess of Blues (Gerry Rafferty)

https://www.imagenetz.de/mdEwU

alternate:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/GRrUVeMC

second alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/DoDOUnsope8TZqk/file 

The cover photo is of Rafferty in concert in London in 1993.