Gerry Rafferty - Sleepwalking

Sleepwalking is one of my favourite albums ever. Released in 1982 Sleepwalking was a marked departure from his previous album Snakes and Ladders, and the ones before that. So many people think of Gerry as a one hit wonder with "Baker Street" from 1978s City to City, and I suppose depending on where you were, this was sort of true but I remember a number of songs from his first few records on the radio when I was a much younger man.

I was on a train in 1982 travelling back from a youth conference or something when my friend Gerry, who had (he may still have) great taste in music, had a cassette copy of Sleepwalking and insisted I listen to it because it was awesome. Being a fan already I listened to the first few songs, and gone were the folk elements, instead the songs were laden with synthesisers (English spelling) but it wasn't like he was trying to be Trio or Gary Numan this was still unmistakably Gerry Rafferty. It was indeed awesome. I think I said it quite loudly too as I was wearing headphones.

A couple years after that fateful trip I was out on a date, and before we went to the movies to see Gremlins I took her to the mall. We popped into a record store, as you do when you are on a date, and there in the cutout bin was Sleepwalking. It was something I'd long wanted so I picked it up. She was a great girl but as history would have it, the thing that lasted was the record. True it has been through some hard times, what with surviving the crawlspace flood and then being stored in a box for over twenty five years.

Years and years later I was finally able to get a CD copy. It may look like they went all deluxe with packaging and stuff, but they didn't. No booklet, no lyrics, no credits. Still, it was awesome to have a copy I could play.

So why then am I in the basement sitting with a beat up water stained lyric sheet listening to my old vinyl? Because I can, and the vinyl, unlike the jacket, is still in pristine shape. I'm not objective enough to tell if this is dated or not because to me this is vintage Gerry Rafferty. His choice to accompany the more modern sound of the keyboard and synths with real drums, bass, and guitar give this a timelessness (there are computer drums here and there).

The record features some amazing musicians, Liam Genockey on drums from Steeleye Span (a band I only discovered in the last few years),  Mo Foster on bass, Hugh Burns on guitar (what a tasty player) and Alan Clark and Pick Withers from Dire Straits guest on a couple of tracks. The album was produced by Christopher Neil and Gerry Rafftery, which was a departure from the previous albums that had been helmed by Hugh Murphy.

I know history hasn't been kind to this album, and to a lot of people it would seem like each release after City to City was an exercise in diminishing returns. Not knowing how that side of the equation worked I simply liked Gerry's music, and loved his voice and bought his records when they came out. Each of his records has something I love, but for me Sleepwalking is his crowning achievement. It is as haunting and beautiful a record as I've ever heard.

Meanwhile back in the music business the best goes on and on
I sell my soul to the company man, when there's nothing else to lean upon

Gerry was an artist who passed away in 2011 at the age of 63. His posthumous release Rest in Blue that came out in 2021 should be in your collection as well. Actually you should just get them all. Just remember to give Sleepwalking some love. It's a masterpiece.