In Memory 2011: Gerry Rafferty

Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty has died at the age of 63 after suffering a long illness.

His career high came in the 1970s and included the anthemic Baker Street and Stuck in the Middle with You, recorded with his band Stealers Wheel.

Rafferty had battled a drink problem and spent time in hospital in Bournemouth with liver failure.

He was born in Paisley and began his musical career as a busker on the London Underground.

Rafferty died peacefully at home, with his daughter Martha at his bedside.

Rafferty had recorded and toured with Billy Connolly as part of the Humblebums, before forming Stealers Wheel with his friend Joe Egan in 1972.

Stuck in the Middle with You was a hit in the early 70s and also appeared on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's debut film Reservoir Dogs in 1992.

 Baker Street charted in the UK and US in 1978 after Rafferty began his solo career and still achieves airplay on radio stations around the world.

Music journalist and BBC Radio 2 presenter Paul Gambaccini said it was a cruel irony that Baker Street, about Rafferty's unhappiness with being a star, brought him more of the fame he hated.

Gambaccini said: "He just wasn't of the constitution to deal with the music business, or to respect it.

"And thus he found fame and artistic success incompatible, and he became a wanderer, a lonely man, allegedly a drinker. And now we have this unhappy end."

Musician and BBC 6 Music presenter Tom Robinson said Rafferty would be greatly missed.

"I'm deeply saddened to hear that Gerry has lost the battle with his failing health," he said.

"His early work with Stealers Wheel was an inspiration to a whole generation of songwriters in the 70s, including me.

"Many of us had hoped his recent album Life Goes On in 2009 would lead to a full-time return to writing and performing for a lyrical and highly gifted artist."

In Memory 2011 Jerry Leiber

Jerry was born in 1933 in the U.S. And with his co writer Miller Stoller, had been responsible for some of the greatest records of all time. Some of his classics re-entered the charts in the 1970s after the death of Elvis. Some hits were REAL 1970s hits too.

Elvis died in 1977, and many of his singles hit the charts again, including this masterpiece written in 1952, but it was not until Elvis got hold of it in 1956, that it became a huge international hit.

"On July 2, 1956, Elvis went into RCA's NYC studios to record "Hound Dog." It was the first song on which the vocal talents of the Jordanaires were used. Take #31 was selected by RCA for release. "Hound Dog" had a 28-week stay on Billboard's Top 100 chart, peaking at #2 for three weeks. The Platters' "My Prayer" and then Elvis' "Don't Be Cruel" kept "Hound Dog" from the top spot. The song was number one for three weeks on the Country Juke Box chart and number one for one week on the rhythm & blues chart. Sales in 1956 alone exceeded six million copies."