“The vocal was so outstanding, he loved traditional music and sang it so well. I wanted it to sound the way I remember him which was around the table singing with some of his friends or with family.”
—Martha Rafferty on emphasizing the vocals on her father's cover of "Dirty Old Town" for Rest in Blue.[1]
Rest in Blue is a 2021 album from Scottish soft rock musician Gerry Rafferty, compiled from recordings made shortly before his death.
Recording
Raffery began work on an album in 2006, alongside 2009's Life Goes On, but did not complete it prior to his 2011 death. His daughter Martha took the recordings her father made and combined them with some demos going back to the 1970s to compile this release.[2] The younger Rafferty chose to complete this album as a tribute to her father and emphasized traditional music for this collection,[1] while also including a majority of the tracks the elder Rafferty intended for his follow-up album.[3]
Reception
David Quantick of Louder Sound scored this album 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "a wide-ranging final chapter two" and "a suitable memorial to a much-missed talent".[4] Another 4 out of 5 stars came from James McNair of Mojo, writing that "Rafferty sounds better than ever" with his clear vocals on this recording, in contrast to more overproduced recordings in his lifetime.[5]The Scotsman's Fiona Shepherd again gave 4 out of 5 stars to Rest in Blue, stating that it is "no dusty relic, rather it is a timeless treasure which confirms there was much more left in the tank, from symphonic pop to country gospel".[6] In Uncut, Mark Beaumont gave this work a 7 out of 10 for being "a revelation" and "evidence that his melodic powers were undiminished even as he down-spiralled into tormented addiction".[7]
Track listing
All songs written by Gerry Rafferty, except where noted.
