- City to City
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For the song by Ratt, see Reach for the Sky (Ratt album).
City to City 
Studio album by Gerry Rafferty Released 20 January 1978 Recorded 1977 Genre Rock Length 51:12 Label United Artists Producer Hugh Murphy Gerry Rafferty chronology Can I Have My Money Back
(1971)City to City
(1978)Night Owl
(1979)Singles from City to City - "City to City (Belgium and Holland only)"
Released: 1977 - "Baker Street"
Released: 1978 - "Right Down the Line"
Released: 1978 - "Home and Dry (US only)"
Released: 1978 - "The Ark (Holland and Germany only)"
Released: 1978 - "Whatever's Written in Your Heart (UK promo only)"
Released: 1978
Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic 
[1]Robert Christgau (B-) [2] Rolling Stone (not rated) [3] City to City is an 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 Stealer's 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 #1 in the US and going Platinum[4], as well as reaching #6 in the UK and achieving Gold status. "Baker Street", "Right Down the Line" and "Home and Dry" were successfully released as singles. "Baker Street" is widely perceived as Rafferty's signature song and by October 2010 had reached 5 million plays on British radio.
Contents
Track listing
All songs written by Gerry Rafferty. [5]
- "The Ark" – 5:36
- "Baker Street" – 6:01
- "Right Down the Line" – 4:20
- "City to City" – 4:51
- "Stealin' Time" – 5:39
- "Mattie's Rag" – 3:28
- "Whatever's Written in Your Heart" – 6:30
- "Home and Dry" – 4:52
- "Island" – 5:04
- "Waiting for the Day" – 5:26
Singles
Baker Street
Main article: Baker Street (song)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 February 3 1978, "Baker Street" became hugely popular, peaking at #3 in the UK Singles Chart and at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The song greatly aided its parent album in reaching the top of the Billboard 200 Album Chart for one week in the summer of 1978. The b-side of "Baker Street" featured "Big Change in the Weather", a rare song that, until the album's reissue in 2011, had yet to appear on any other Rafferty recording.
Right Down the Line
"Right Down the Line" reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and spent four non-consecutive weeks at #1 on the Easy Listening chart in the U.S., making this the only Rafferty song to ever reach #1 on any US chart.
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 #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, marking a third consecutive Top 40 hit for Rafferty on that chart. The b-side featured the fifth track from City to City, "Mattie's Rag".
City to City
The title track had releases in Belgium (1977) and Holland (1978). The b-side featured an extended version of "Mattie's Rag".[6]
The Ark
"The Ark" was released as a single in Holland 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.[7]
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. [8]
Personnel
- Gerry Rafferty – vocals, acoustic guitar 1 4 5, backing vocals 1 7, piano 10
- Gary Taylor – bass 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10, backing vocals 4
- Henry Spinetti – drums 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 10
- Hugh Burns – guitar 2 3 4 5 8 9 10
- Tommy Eyre – piano 1 3 6 7 8, electric piano 5 9 10, grand piano 5, Moog synthesizer 2 5 7 8, organ 3 9 10, keyboards 2 4, brass arrangements 10
- Graham Preskett – fiddles 1 4 6 10, string arrangements 2 6 8, string machine 5 6, brass arrangements 6, mandolin 1
Additional personnel
- Jerry Donahue – guitar 1
- Glen LeFleur – tambourine 1 5, percussion 2 3 10, drums 9
- Barbara Dickson – backing vocals 1 7
- Nigel Jenkins – guitar 2 8
- Raphael Ravenscroft – saxophone 2 9
- Brian Cole – steel guitar 3 4 5 9, dobro 6
- Roger Brown – backing vocals 4
- Vivian McAuliff – backing vocals 4
- John McBurnie – backing vocals 4
- Rab Noakes – backing vocals 4
- Paul Jones – harmonica 4
- Hugh Murphy – tambourine 4
- Micky Moody – acoustic guitar 5
- Willy Ray – accordion 6 9
- Joanna Carlin – backing vocals 7
- Andy Fairweather-Low – rhythm guitar 10
Charts
Album
Year Chart Peak
Position1978 Billboard 200 1 [9] 1978 UK Albums Chart 6 [10] Single
Year Song Chart Peak
position1978 "Baker Street" Billboard Easy Listening 4 [11] 1978 "Baker Street" Billboard Hot 100 2 [11] 1978 "Baker Street" UK Singles Chart 3 [10] 1978 "Right Down the Line" Billboard Easy Listening 1 [11] 1978 "Right Down the Line" Billboard Hot 100 12 [11] 1978 "Home and Dry" Billboard Hot 100 28 [11] Certifications
Organization Level Date RIAA – U.S. Gold May 26, 1978 [4] BPI – UK Gold 31 May 1978 [12] RIAA – U.S. Platinum June 20, 1978 [4] References
- ^ Stone, Doug. City to City at Allmusic
- ^ Robert Christgau review
- ^ Rolling Stone review
- ^ a b c "RIAA Gold and Platinum". http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
- ^ Gerry Rafferty. City to City (United Artists Records, 1978).
- ^ 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)))". http://www.allmusic.com/album/r16032. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
- ^ a b "UK Top 40 Hit Database". http://www.everyhit.com. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
- ^ a b c d e "allmusic (((City to City > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles)))". http://www.allmusic.com/album/r16032. Retrieved 2008-07-09.
- ^ "BPI Certified Awards". http://www.bpi.co.uk/. 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 artistsBillboard 200 number-one album
July 8 - July 14, 1978Succeeded by
Some Girls by The Rolling StonesCategories:- Gerry Rafferty albums
- 1978 albums
- United Artists Records albums
- 1970s rock album stubs
- "City to City (Belgium and Holland only)"
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