Right Down the Line

"Right Down the Line"
Single by Gerry Rafferty
from the album City to City
B-side	"Waiting for the Day"
Released	27 July 1978 (US) 22 September 1978 (UK) [1]
Recorded	1977, Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Oxfordshire, England
Genre	Soft rock
Length	4:28 (album version) 3:33 (single version)
Label	United Artists
Songwriter(s)	Gerry Rafferty
Producer(s)	Hugh Murphy, Gerry Rafferty
Gerry Rafferty singles chronology
"Baker Street" (1978) "Right Down the Line" (1978) "Home and Dry" (1978)

"Right Down the Line" is a song written and recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. Released as a single in the US in July 1978, it was the follow-up to his first major hit as a solo artist, "Baker Street", and reached No. 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100, ^[2] No. 8 on Cash Box ^[3] and No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary charts. ^[4]

In Canada, the song reached No. 5 on both the Pop singles and Adult Contemporary charts.

Personnel

• Gerry Rafferty – vocals and rhythm guitar
• Hugh Burns – lead guitar
• Tommy Eyre – organ and piano
• Gary Taylor – bass
• BJ Cole – steel guitar
• Liam Genockey – drums
• Glen Le Fleur – tambourine and clave

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1978) Peak position Argentina [5] 3 Australia (KMR) [6] 93 Canada Top Singles (RPM) 5 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM) [7] 5 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [8] 33 South Africa (Springbok Radio) [9] 17 US Billboard Hot 100 [2] 12 US Billboard Adult Contemporary [4] 1 US Cash Box Top 100 [3] 8 US Record World 9 Chart (2022) Peak position US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs ( Billboard ) [10] 16

Year-end charts Chart (1978) Rank Canada [11] 71 US (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual) [12] 91 US Cash Box [13] 57 US Opus 92

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [14]	Silver	200,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

• Bonnie Raitt covered the song in 2012, including it in her Slipstream album. The track reached No. 17 on the US Adult Alternative Songs chart. ^[15]

References

1. "Music Week" (PDF). p. 63.
2. "Billboard > Artists / Gerry Rafferty > Chart History > The Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
3. "Cash Box Top 100 10/28/78". Tropicalglen.com. 28 October 1978. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
4. "Adult Contemporary Music Chart". Billboard.
5. "Record World - International Best Sellers" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. Record World. 14 July 1979. p. 61.
6. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 245. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
7. Canada, Library and Archives (17 July 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly". Bac-lac.gc.ca.
8. "Gerry Rafferty – Right Down the Line". Top 40 Singles.
9. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989" . Retrieved 1 September 2018.
10. "Gerry Rafferty Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
11. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
12. Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN   0-89820-142-X.
13. "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1978". Tropicalglen.com. 30 December 1978. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
14. "British single certifications – Gerry Rafferty – Right Down the Line". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 26 June 2023.
15. "Bonnie Raitt - Chart History - Adult Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 2 September 2016.

External links

• Gerry Rafferty - Right Down the Line on YouTube
• Bonnie Raitt - Right Down the Line on YouTube