Raphael Ravenscroft, Baker Street saxophonist, dies aged 60

The musician behind one of the most recognisable saxophone solos – on Gerry Rafferty’s hit Baker Street – has died aged 60. Raphael Ravenscroft, who found fame almost overnight following the release of the 1978 track, went on to work with music icons including Pink Floyd, Abba and Marvin Gaye. More recently he worked as a session musician for pop artists Daft Punk and Duffy.

He died following a suspected heart attack early on Sunday.

Ravenscroft is reported to have been paid £27 for the Baker Street session in the form of a cheque that bounced. The hit reached No 3 in the UK charts and No 2 in the US, and Rafferty was said to have earned £80,000 a year from royalties.

In a radio interview in 2011, Ravenscroft said hearing the song annoyed him. “I’m irritated because it’s out of tune. Yeah, it’s flat. By enough of a degree that it irritates me at best.”

He had previously appeared on one disco album by Maxine Nightingale, called Right Back Where We Started From, in 1976, as an arranger but emerged as one of pop rock’s most prominent sax players.

In 1990 Ravenscroft, a former tutor of music at York College, published a successful instruction book, The Complete Saxophone Player.

In 2011, he recorded a tribute for Rafferty’s funeral, called Forgiveness, which combined his saxophone playing with the voices of Grammy-nominated choir Tenebrae.

This summer, Ravenscroft, of Exeter, Devon, organised a charity gala concert in memory of a local schoolgirl who died after falling from a wall in May this year.

Source: The Guardian