{"id":4958,"date":"2026-10-10T01:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T01:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/radar\/?p=4958"},"modified":"2026-10-09T08:38:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T08:38:54","slug":"who-played-the-saxophone-on-baker-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/radar\/who-played-the-saxophone-on-baker-street\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Played the Saxophone on \u201cBaker Street\u201d?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Raphael Ravenscroft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not Bob Holness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let&#8217;s remove that myth immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">British saxophonist Raphael Ravenscroft played the famous saxophone line on Gerry Rafferty&#8217;s 1978 hit \u201cBaker Street\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The idea that Blockbusters presenter Bob Holness played the part began as a joke and somehow escaped into the world as \u201cfact\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ravenscroft was the real musician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The argument over who actually wrote the riff is slightly more complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who was Raphael Ravenscroft?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A British session saxophonist who was still relatively unknown when he worked on Rafferty&#8217;s City to City album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He would later record or perform with major artists including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pink Floyd-related musicians<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Robert Plant<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chris Rea<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But one short saxophone melody became permanently attached to his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not a bad legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Did Ravenscroft write the \u201cBaker Street\u201d riff?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depends who you ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ravenscroft at times suggested he improvised or substantially created the famous phrase from blues-based material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rafferty disagreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rafferty said the melodic line was already his and that he communicated it to Ravenscroft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The safest account is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rafferty had the musical idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ravenscroft&#8217;s performance turned it into the sound everyone remembers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Authorship arguments become particularly messy when a session player&#8217;s tone and phrasing are inseparable from a written melodic concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Was the riff originally supposed to be guitar?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rafferty had imagined the instrumental space differently during the song&#8217;s development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several accounts describe the team experimenting before deciding the section needed saxophone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That decision transformed the recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rafferty later said he wanted a lonely big-city sound and that the saxophone delivered it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is \u201cBaker Street\u201d about?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Urban loneliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rafferty had been trapped in years of legal problems following the break-up of Stealers Wheel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those disputes prevented him from releasing new music normally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He frequently travelled between Scotland and London for meetings with lawyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When in London, he sometimes stayed with a friend near Baker Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The city became associated with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">exhaustion<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">legal frustration<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">drinking<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">waiting<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">wanting to go home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That experience became the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Is Baker Street a real place?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Very real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It runs through Marylebone in London and is famously associated with fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rafferty was not writing about Sherlock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For him, the location represented a period of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Long journeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Being stuck somewhere he didn&#8217;t particularly want to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why does the song feel so lonely?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lyrics describe a city full of people that somehow still lacks connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is one of urban life&#8217;s great contradictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can be surrounded by millions of people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Know almost nobody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The saxophone becomes almost another voice expressing what Rafferty&#8217;s restrained singing does not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It sounds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">open<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">large<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">lonely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rafferty himself connected the saxophone with the feeling of isolation in a big city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who is the friend in the second part of the song?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rafferty draws a portrait of somebody dreaming of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">leaving<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">buying land<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">settling down<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">stopping drinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the narrator doubts he will ever actually stop moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The character reflects the larger theme:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">happiness always exists one more year away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just get through this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then everything will be fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then another year passes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Was Rafferty writing about himself too?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He described the song broadly as being about alienation in London while wanting to return to his wife and child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The contractual dispute had placed him in an exhausting holding pattern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When those problems finally resolved, the ending carries more hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He can leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why did \u201cBaker Street\u201d become such a huge hit?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because it manages to be sophisticated and immediate simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The verses take their time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The vocal is subdued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then the saxophone arrives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instant identification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can recognise \u201cBaker Street\u201d without hearing Gerry Rafferty sing a single word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That is extraordinarily valuable in pop music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A signature hook becomes a logo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Was Ravenscroft paid much?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was a session musician rather than a featured star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Accounts often cite a modest flat session payment for his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The exact figure has become part of music folklore, but the broader point is true:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">one of the most famous saxophone performances in popular music was initially just another session job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nobody walked into the studio knowing people would still be discussing those notes almost 50 years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why did people think Bob Holness played the saxophone?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Music journalist Stuart Maconie helped spread the false claim as a humorous piece of trivia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Somehow the humour detached from its context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People repeated it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Quiz culture embraced it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eventually a significant portion of Britain genuinely believed the host of Blockbusters played saxophone on \u201cBaker Street\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pre-internet misinformation was slower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still very effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What genre is \u201cBaker Street\u201d?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Soft rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Singer-songwriter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pop rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are jazz-influenced elements, most obviously through the saxophone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The song belongs naturally beside late-1970s records by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Steely Dan<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dire Straits<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fleetwood Mac<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supertramp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Radar&#8217;s \u201cHotel California\u201d explainer already recommends \u201cBaker Street\u201d, making a direct internal link useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Songs like \u201cBaker Street\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gerry Rafferty \u2013 Right Down the Line<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Steely Dan \u2013 Deacon Blues<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dire Straits \u2013 Sultans of Swing<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supertramp \u2013 The Logical Song<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fleetwood Mac \u2013 Hypnotized<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Al Stewart \u2013 Year of the Cat<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Boz Scaggs \u2013 Lowdown<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eagles \u2013 I Can\u2019t Tell You Why<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who played the saxophone on \u201cBaker Street\u201d?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Raphael Ravenscroft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What is the song about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Feeling stuck and lonely in London while trying to escape a miserable period of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did Bob Holness play the solo?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Please tell somebody&#8217;s dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This rumour has had enough time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Raphael Ravenscroft. Not Bob Holness. Let&#8217;s remove that myth immediately. British saxophonist Raphael Ravenscroft played the famous saxophone line on Gerry Rafferty&#8217;s 1978 hit \u201cBaker Street\u201d. The idea that Blockbusters presenter Bob Holness played the part began as a joke and somehow escaped into the world as \u201cfact\u201d. Ravenscroft was the real musician. The argument over who actually wrote the riff is slightly more complicated. Who was Raphael Ravenscroft? A British session saxophonist who was still relatively unknown when he worked on Rafferty&#8217;s City to City album. He would later record or perform with major artists including: Pink Floyd-related musicians&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3041,3043,3042],"coauthors":[2],"class_list":["post-4958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-baker-street","tag-bob-holness","tag-raphael-ravenscroft"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Who Played the Saxophone on \u201cBaker Street\u201d? - RouteNote - Radar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/routenote.com\/radar\/who-played-the-saxophone-on-baker-street\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who Played the Saxophone on \u201cBaker Street\u201d? - RouteNote - Radar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Raphael Ravenscroft. Not Bob Holness. Let&#8217;s remove that myth immediately. British saxophonist Raphael Ravenscroft played the famous saxophone line on Gerry Rafferty&#8217;s 1978 hit \u201cBaker Street\u201d. The idea that Blockbusters presenter Bob Holness played the part began as a joke and somehow escaped into the world as \u201cfact\u201d. Ravenscroft was the real musician. The argument over who actually wrote the riff is slightly more complicated. Who was Raphael Ravenscroft? A British session saxophonist who was still relatively unknown when he worked on Rafferty&#8217;s City to City album. 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Not Bob Holness. Let&#8217;s remove that myth immediately. British saxophonist Raphael Ravenscroft played the famous saxophone line on Gerry Rafferty&#8217;s 1978 hit \u201cBaker Street\u201d. The idea that Blockbusters presenter Bob Holness played the part began as a joke and somehow escaped into the world as \u201cfact\u201d. Ravenscroft was the real musician. The argument over who actually wrote the riff is slightly more complicated. Who was Raphael Ravenscroft? A British session saxophonist who was still relatively unknown when he worked on Rafferty&#8217;s City to City album. 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