Gerry Rafferty

Short of a double-CD set, this is the most comprehensive look at Gerry Rafferty's career, covering Rafferty's evolution from folky to folk-rocker to McCartney-esque pop-rocker over a period of 12 years. Highlights include "Please Sing a Song for Us" and "Blood & Glory" by the Humblebums, "Can I Have My Money Back" from Rafferty's first solo LP, and the inevitable "Stuck in the Middle With You" and "Baker Street" from Stealers Wheel and Rafferty's post-1978 solo career. At 78 minutes running time, this 21-track compilation is ample without being overloaded, and it offers better sound than some of the American CD editions of the same music. What's more, the essay by John Tobler is probably the best account to date of Rafferty's recording career. Fans of the Humblebums or Stealers Wheel will likely prefer the various collections specifically devoted to their work, with fuller accounts of each group's output, but this disc gives a good overview of a dozen very productive years in Rafferty's career, and the music -- especially the 1978-1982 material -- is all melodic and memorable. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide