City to City



City to City is a 1978 album and the second studio 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 Stealers 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 No. 1 in the US and going Platinum, as well as reaching No. 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"
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 3 February 1978, "Baker Street" peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and spent four weeks at No. 1 in Canada. It reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, spending six weeks in this position, and two weeks at No. 1 on the US Cash Box Top 100. The B-side of "Baker Street" was "Big Change in the Weather".

"Right Down the Line"
"Right Down the Line" reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaked for two weeks at number eight on the Cash Box Top 100, and spent four non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Easy Listening chart in the US in 1978, the only Rafferty song to reach number one on this chart. Bonnie Raitt covered the song in 2012, including it in her Slipstream album.

"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 No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking a third consecutive Top 40 hit for Rafferty on that chart. It reached No. 23 in Canada. The B-side featured the sixth track from City to City, "Mattie's Rag". It reached No. 26 on the U.S. Easy Listening chart, doing best on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart, where it reached No. 7.

"City to City"
The title track had releases in Belgium (1977) and the Netherlands (1978). The B-side featured an extended version of "Mattie's Rag".

"The Ark"
"The Ark" was released as a single in the Netherlands 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.

"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.

Personnel

 * Gerry Rafferty – piano, acoustic guitar, vocals, backing vocals
 * Tommy Eyre – piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizer, Hammond organ, ARP, keyboards, brass arrangements
 * Jerry Donahue – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, electric guitar on track 1
 * Hugh Burns – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar on tracks 2–5, 8–10
 * Nigel Jenkins – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, electric guitar on tracks 2, 8
 * Andy Fairweather-Low – rhythm guitar, electric guitar on track 10
 * Micky Moody – acoustic guitar on track 5
 * B.J. Cole – steel guitar, dobro on tracks 3–6, 9
 * Gary Taylor – bass guitar, backing vocals on tracks 1–6, 8–10
 * Graham Preskett – fiddle, mandolin, ARP, synthesizer, string machine, string, brass, arrangements on tracks 1–2, 4–6, 8, 10
 * Henry Spinetti – drums on tracks 1–6, 8, 10
 * Glen LeFleur – drums, percussion, tambourine on tracks 1–3, 5, 9–10
 * Barbara Dickson – backing vocals on tracks 1 and 7
 * Raphael Ravenscroft – saxophone on tracks 2 and 9
 * Roger Brown – backing vocals on track 4
 * Vivienne McAuliffe – backing vocals on track 4
 * John McBurnie – backing vocals on track 4
 * Rab Noakes – backing vocals on track 4
 * Paul Jones – harmonica on track 4
 * Hugh Murphy – tambourine on track 4
 * Willy Ray – accordion on tracks 6 and 9
 * Joanna Carlin – backing vocals on track 7

Australian bush band The Bushwackers featured on track 1 "The Ark", playing the introductory piece on fiddle, concertina and bodhran. This piece was also used under the guitar solo in the middle of the song.

Charts
Album Single