I was looking for bio info on Stealer's Wheel and came across this,
via a blog [bigrab.wordpress.com], posted yesterday:

"The Scots singer/songwriter is an alcoholic but in recent times his
consumption has gone into overdrive. A couple of weeks ago his old
sidekick (they performed together as the Humblebums) Billy Connolly
is believed to have arranged rehab for him in the Republic of Ireland
only for Rafferty to check himself out after only a few hours and fly
to London where he booked into a Mayfair Hotel. After a few days of
intensive boozing, he left the room in need of complete redecoration.
The hotel refused to let him stay any longer and he was admitted to
St Thomas Hospital with liver failure. He has since disappeared from
the hospital and is the subject of a missing persons search."

Humblebums? Never knew of them, but here's a nifty Humblebums tune
written by Rafferty called Shoeshine Boy.

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEx_HF6QLVI

And a detailed article of a troubled life from The Scotsman:

   http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/Stuck-in-a-battle-with.4352529.jp

Many times I've thought that the anonymity of the Brill Bldg and
Bubblegum eras is what saved so many of those pop music creators.
Not having to be up front & on stage.

  - Michael