Raphael Ravenscroft - wikipedia Raphael Ravenscroft This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( October 2014 ) Raphael Ravenscroft Ravenscroft in 2014 Background information ( 1954 - 06 - 04 ) 4 June 1954 Stoke - on - Trent, Staffordshire, England 19 October 2014 ( 2014 - 10 - 19 ) ( aged 60 ) Exeter, Devon, England Genres Rock jazz Occupation ( s ) Musician composer author Instruments Saxophone Associated acts Gerry Rafferty Raphael Ravenscroft ( 4 June 1954 -- 19 October 2014 ) was a British musician, composer and author. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Gerry Rafferty & `` Baker Street '' 2.2 Other work 3 Personal life and death 4 References 5 External links Early life While his place of birth is disputed, the England and Wales Birth Index places it at Stoke - on - Trent. He spent much of his young life in Dumfries, where his father lived. Career Gerry Rafferty & `` Baker Street '' In January 1978, Scottish singer - musician Gerry Rafferty released his first solo material since 1972 and first material of any kind since the demise of Stealers Wheel in 1975. A then unheralded session musician, Raphael Ravenscroft was asked to play the saxophone on the album City to City ( 1978 ). Ravenscroft 's contribution included the sax riff on the best - known song from the album and of Rafferty 's career, `` Baker Street ''. The song was an international hit, charting at number 3 in the UK and number 2 in the US. `` Baker Street '' was reported in 2010 as having received 5 million air plays worldwide to date. City to City reached number 1 in the US album charts and went platinum. In the UK the album reached number 6 and went gold. Ravenscroft told the BBC 's The One Show in 2010 that he was only paid £ 27.50 for the `` Baker Street '' session, which was the Musicians ' Union rate at the time. It has been ( falsely ) reported that the cheque bounced and that it was kept on the wall of Ravenscroft 's solicitors ; by contrast the song is said to have earned Rafferty £ 80,000 a year in royalties. In a radio interview in 2011, Ravenscroft said the song annoyed him. `` I 'm irritated because it 's out of tune, '' he said. `` Yeah, it 's flat. By enough of a degree that it irritates me at best. '' Ravenscroft mostly refused to play `` Baker Street '' during interviews. The last time Ravenscroft played `` Baker Street '' was in the summer of 2014 when he organised a charity gala concert in Exeter for Nicole Hartup, the 12 - year - old city schoolgirl who died in a fall. The saxophone break on `` Baker Street '' has been described as `` the most famous saxophone solo of all time '', `` the most recognizable sax riff in pop music history '', and `` one of the most recognisable saxophone solos of all time ''. Ravenscroft worked with Rafferty from 1977 to 1982. As well as the songs he worked on for City to City he contributed to Rafferty 's next two albums, Night Owl ( 1979 ) and Snakes and Ladders ( 1980 ). In 2011, he recorded a tribute to commemorate the funeral of Gerry Rafferty called `` Forgiveness '', which combined his saxophone playing with the voices of Grammy - nominated choir Tenebrae. Other work From his breakthrough with `` Baker Street '' he went on to perform with Pink Floyd ( The Final Cut, 1983 ), ABBA and Marvin Gaye. Other Ravenscroft performing credits include work with America, Maxine Nightingale, Daft Punk, Kim Carnes, Mike Oldfield, Chris Rea, Robert Plant, Brand X, Hazel O'Connor and Bonnie Tyler. In 1979, he released the solo album Her Father Did n't Like Me, Anyway ( CBS Portrait JR 35683 ). In 1983, Ravenscroft released the track `` Maxine '' which gained airplay, but performed poorly on the charts. In 1987, he was credited, along with Max Early and Johnny Patrick for the new theme to the Central Television soap opera Crossroads. His track `` A Whole Lot of Something Going On '' was sampled by producer Heavy D on the track `` Feel It in the Air '', by Beanie Sigel. In 2010, Ravenscroft played on albums and on sessions with Duffy, Mary Hopkin and Jamie Hartman. In 2011 - 12, Ravenscroft contributed to the album Propeller by Grice. Ravenscroft wrote several books on saxophone technique including the instruction book, The Complete Saxophone Player ( 1990 ). In 2012, Ravenscroft created the music for a series of films featuring photographer Don McCullin and, during 2011 - 2012, composed for several major advertising campaigns around the world. In summer 2012 he took a break due to ill health and moved back to Devon. In 2014, Ravenscroft went to Belgium to set up a saxophone project with the company Adolphe Sax & Cie. Personal life and death He married and divorced twice and separated from his third wife in 2009. His daughter is the artist Scarlett Raven. Ravenscroft died on 19 October 2014 at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, aged 60, of a suspected heart attack. References Jump up ^ Place of birth disputed, heraldscotland.com ; accessed 22 October 2014. Jump up ^ Notice of death of Ravenscroft, scotsman.com ; accessed 22 October 2014. ^ Jump up to : `` Raphael Ravenscroft, Baker Street saxophonist, dies aged 60 ''. The Guardian. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014. Jump up ^ `` GRO : SEP 1954 9b 746 STOKE, Raphael G. Ravenscroft, mmn = Johnson ''. ONS GRO Birth Index of England and Wales. Retrieved 10 January 2016. Jump up ^ Raphael Ravenscroft obituary, itv.com, 20 October 2014 ; accessed 22 October 2014. Jump up ^ `` Raphael Ravenscroft BBC THE Ofty SHOW 2010 ''. Youtube. BBC. 2010. 3 : 08 minutes in. Retrieved 23 October 2014. Jump up ^ `` Simon Mayo Drivetime ( 9 February 2012 ) ''. BBC Radio 2. Retrieved 21 October 2014. Jump up ^ Chilton, Martin ( 21 October 2014 ). `` ' I was paid £ 27 for Baker Street sax solo ' ''. Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 21 October 2014. Jump up ^ Staff ( 21 October 2014 ). `` Baker Street saxophone player Raphael Ravenscroft dies ''. BBC News. Retrieved 21 October 2014. Jump up ^ Byrne, Mike ( 2014 - 08 - 01 ). `` Top musician organises fundraising concert for funeral of Exeter 's tragic Nicole ''. Exeter Express and Echo. Retrieved 2017 - 02 - 13. Jump up ^ Notice of death of Raphael Ravenscroft, independent.co.uk ; accessed 22 October 2014. Jump up ^ Notice of death of Raphael Ravenscroft, billboard.com ; accessed 22 October 2014. Jump up ^ Notice of death of Raphael Ravenscroft, huffingtonpost.co.uk, 21 October 2014 ; accessed 22 October 2014. Jump up ^ https://www.linkedin.com/pub/raphael-ravenscroft/22/718/544?csrfToken=ajax%3A2768005940144401735&domainCountryName=United+Kingdom&domainCountryCode=gb Jump up ^ Notice of death of Raphael Ravenscroft, westernmorningnews.co.uk ; accessed 22 October 2014. Jump up ^ Maconie, Stuart ( 2004 ). Cider With Roadies ( 1st ed. ). London, UK : Random House. p. 256. ISBN 0 - 09 - 189115 - 9. Jump up ^ Profile allmusic.com ; accessed 20 October 2014. Jump up ^ http://www.adolphesax.co.uk/raphael-ravenscroft/ Jump up ^ `` Testimonies ''. Scarlettraven.com. Retrieved 22 October 2014. External links Raphael Ravenscroft on IMDb Raphael Ravenscroft on Myspace LinkedIn profile VIAF : 220169901 LCCN : no90013683 GND : 135167760 MusicBrainz : 9448f73f - 1594 - 44a2 - b33b - f73eda297b23 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raphael_Ravenscroft&oldid=777343460 '' Categories : 1954 births 2014 deaths English rock saxophonists English male writers People from Stoke - on - Trent People from Dumfries Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from October 2014 All articles needing additional references Articles with hCards All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from October 2014 Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Čeština Dansk Deutsch Español Français Italiano ქართული Nederlands Norsk nynorsk Русский Simple English Edit links This page was last edited on 26 April 2017, at 16 : 45. 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Question: who did play the sax solo on gerry rafferty's baker street
Answer: Raphael Ravenscroft