Who's better than Mark Knopfler??

[bamamick]

Just watched the 11 minute long video of 'Sultans' with Eric Clapton playing rythm and it was wonderful.

I have always felt that Dire Straits was underappreciated. They still get a lot of air time on our local alt rock station. I bought the just released compilation 'Private Investigations' to keep me company on my trip to New Orleans the other day and 'Telegraph Road' blew me out of the water right off the bat. Oh man, I love that song.

I called a radio station here locally about 20 years ago and requested 'Telegraph Road'. It was about 3am and I was at work. The dj (a young lady) looked at the album jacket and said 'this song lasts 15 minutes. If my boss finds out he'll fire me'. I figured that was the end of it. A few minutes later she plays it. At the end of the song she came on and said thanks to the guys at the chemical plant for requesting that song. She said that she may not ever play it again, but that she would buy the album and play it at the house.

I love Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler.

Oh yeah. How about the soundtrack to 'Local Hero'? Great stuff.

Mickey Lake

[Tar Devil]

Hmmmm...?

Joe Walsh, perhaps?

Actually, I'm definitely a Mark Knopfler fan. Been posting his lyrics sporadically in this forum for a while.

Later,

Phil

[Popeye]

Bo Bice

i've made my choice and i am sticking to it

[Wild Dingo]

Dick Dale... purely guitar playing right?? ;)

[Popeye]

" Mean Town Blues"

and " It's My Own Fault "

Johnny Winter

[capt jake]

I also love Mark's work! smile.gif being appreciative of multiple styles, I also like Lee Rittenouer (SP?). His older stuff is incredible.

[pipefitter]

Have any of you heard the Mark Knopfler/Chet Atkins CD? Been out forever. Neck and Neck. Totally awesome to hear those two play together talking back and forth during exchanging guitar solos. Sure you Knopfler fans probably have.Not so much the Dire Straits sound but it's in there ofcourse. The only song I ever heard from that CD on the radio was "Poor Boy Blues".Love his style of playing. Love the sound of that guitar and Paul Franklin on the dobro was one that actually made me a fan of the dobro.Since that era I had discovered Jerry Douglas as well. I could go as far as to say that Mark Knopfler was one artist that had greatly opened my mind to different styles of music beyond hard rock.
"I wouldn't wanna trade my yackety axe,even for a t-bone"

[ 12-19-2005, 12:04 PM: Message edited by: pipefitter ]

[Venchka]

Originally posted by pipefitter:
Have any of you heard the Mark Knopfler/Chet Atkins CD?I ran across it when we were packing the house in New Orleans. It's been in the car CD player ever since. Mark filled in for Eric Clapton's regular guitar player on E.C.'s 25th Anniversary Tour. Not too shabby to have Mark as your back up guitar player.

Micky-Telegraph Road is AWESOME! A live version is on Money for Nothing. I play it a lot.

Wayne
In Texas. :D

[peb]

Dire Straits is probably my favorite band. I would rather listen to Dire Straits than the Beatles.

[Bill Thompson]

I can see my copy of the Neck and Neck CD from where I am sitting typing this - nice album. Especially like Tahitian Skies when I need a little quieting down.
I lived in Tennessee for 15 years - 6 in Memphis and 9 in Nashville. My wife and I moved to the Puget Sound in late 1997 'cause this is the part of the world that we wanted to live in but, I have to say that I still miss both cities. Memphis, in particular, is a tough place to live but it has its raggiedy charm and strength.

[pipefitter]

Can you imagine,starting out in the rock and roll biz..maintaining your idols until you become one yourself and to then find yourself playing along side of one of them...one could finally say without a doubt that their dream/career had come full circle. You can almost hear it in that album by the way they are talking. Made me wonder what must have been going on in Knopfler's head at the time. The album didnt sound like..."ok..lets make some $"

Alot of artists become so commercialized after the fact and it shows in their music. Or to have thrown something together in the name of contract obligations.

That album Neck and Neck sounded like it might have been fun for them to do..maybe it's just me or maybe I look further into things than was intended by the artists or the lack of. I guess this is probably why I still listen to alot of the older stuff.

I'm not huge on gospel music but I like bluegrass and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Circle one and two being a collection of great pickers with the likes of Ricky Skaggs,Randy Scruggs,Doc Watson....Merle Travis...Just about anyone imagineable of that realm. I had no idea that NGDB had that kind of ties to that because of the lack of what the radio played. And not to forget Vince Gill...So when it comes to say who is better or worse than ,it still comes down to just good and better.

[epoxyboy]

The very first record (aye son, that be vinyl) I ever bought with my own money was a 45 with Dire Straights Tunnel of Love......half on one side and half on the other LMAO. How times have changed. I was hooked at age 12. Telegraph Road is still one of my all time faves.
Old Springsteen - Racing in the Streets is pretty cool too. And almost anything by Pink Floyd.

Pete

[Lion]

Michael Bloomfield.

Listen to Dylans 'Maggies Farm' from the '65 Newport Festival.Those riffs are to die for.

Lion.

[Jagermeister]

Peter Green's playing on Supernatural , from A Hard Road, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers

Carlos Santana on Europa , from Moonflower

That said, I admire Knopfler more, because he really seems to care about music as art, and not just as a way to make a buck. Tahitian Skies is one of my favorites too.

[ 12-20-2005, 04:16 AM: Message edited by: Jagermeister ]

[Karl A. Hilbert]

SRV

[Memphis Mike]

I've always liked Dire Straits.

I learned recently to play a little of their music.

Down To The Waterline, Six Blade Knife and Wild West End.

[Karl A. Hilbert]

MM I like Water of Love off of that album. He is smooth.

[Tom M.]

Nobody's better than Mark Knopfler. He has a lot of peers, but nobody's better.

[John Gearing]

Geez, it's been a long time since I've heard anyone but myself reference the movie "Local Hero". Great flick -- much underappreciated, IMHO. There is another film...by the same director...called "Comfort and Joy" where the music seems pretty innocuous until a scene where the hero makes a turn in his BMW cabrio that will change his life...and suddenly you hear a 5 strum riff that can only come from the guitar of Mark Knopfler. Great stuff.

"Comfort and Joy" is a pretty decent Christmas movie in its own right. Set in Glasgow (IIRC) just before Christmas, it's about the pain of love lost, and the struggle the hero goes through to change his life for the better in the aftermath. It's a light comedy, so there is a neurotic psychiatrist, and a war between two ice-cream mafia families. And of of the most droll lines, as a couple of mechanics look over the hero's bashed-in Bimmer...."So, is it really 'the ultimate drivin' machine?". Two thumbs up.

[Popeye]

Originally posted by Tom M.:
Nobody's better than Mark Knopfler. He has a lot of peers, but nobody's better.pfft
:rolleyes:

[Donn]

Beck Bogert Appice
Black Cat Moan
1973

[24hacker]

I spend about 3 hours commuting to and back from work daily - EVERY STREET - is by far the best Dire Straights CD for road music.

[Popeye]

you realize he's playing country music , do you ..

[Rick Tyler]

So, Popeye, here's my theory (ah-hem) about country music. In 1970ish -- country music was country music. In 2005, popular music has become hip-hop and similar sort of, well, stuff. Country music has slid into the ecological niche formerly occupied by guitar rock (1955-1978, RIP), complete with Stratocasters, cute girls and minimal odd 17th-century instruments. (Rick looks over his shoulder to make sure no one is watching him type.) I like some country songs.

Knopfler and a handful of others do their music and are practically immune to categorization. Paul Simon is another one who pursues his muse and hasn't lived in one category for his whole career.

Besides that, well, I like Mozart and Bach (to be topical with today's subjects) and Alan Jackson and Smash Mouth and Linda Ronstadt and the Stones and Dire Straits and Vince Guaraldi and Spyro Gira and Paul Simon and Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin and Mary Chapin Carpenter. So, even if Knopfler plays country, that's all right by me. Eee-hah.

(No boots, no pickup, no hat, no cattle -- I'm just a poser, I guess. I do have a plaid flannel shirt, but it's covered in boat epoxy crusted with sawdust, so I don't think it counts.)

[Willin']

Originally posted by Donn:
Beck Bogert Appice
Black Cat Moan
1973Add Livin' Alone from the same album to the list! I thought I was the only person left alive that remembered those guys. Saw them in Hollywood Forida about 1973 opening for Blue Oyster Cult.

Carmine Appice is still one of the alltime great rock drummers. I gave him and his chick a ride in my golfcart once when we lived in Avalon. Never washed the seat again!

[Donn]

I didn't remember them, but was reminded when Black Cat Moan came around on the cable rock station. I was stuffing dirt into a small space, and my right foot started to wander off.

Jeff Beck is a name that doesn't come up often, but a remarkable talent. I saw him and SRV at MSG several years ago. Sitting up in the smoking seats, suffering through the exhaust of hundreds of joints, while Beck did a set, followed by one by Stevie, then one wif bofe 'em. Quite a night!

[ 12-21-2005, 03:22 PM: Message edited by: Donn ]

[Tom M.]

Originally posted by popeye:
you realize he's playing country music , do you ..Funny thing happens when a guy just listens to music: The categories disappear. This affliction occurs most often in musicians, although its not exclusive to them.

Listening is a real skill.

Its kind of like the boatbuilder that knows good building from bad building, no matter who the designer was.

Donn, I'd give my left nut to go back in time to see Jeff Beck and Stevie. I heard that tour was something else. You're a lucky man!

[troutman]

Local Here. Only watch it every 5 years sos not to wear it out. Got the soundtrack in the car. He also wrote the music to a sad little Irish movie, Cal. Very nice but the closing theme from Local Hero gets you pumping.

[Venchka]

Originally posted by Willin':
...Carmine Appice is still one of the alltime great rock drummers. I gave him and his chick a ride in my golfcart once when we lived in Avalon. Never washed the seat again!No kidding! Who's got the Rod Stewart albums with Carmine on drums? "Footloose & Fancy Free", side 2 is great! OOPS, that's the vinyl version. Tracks 5-8 on the CD. Not to be missed.

Holy cow, Batman! Vanilla Fudge is available on CD. I learn something new everyday.

Sorry about the mild highjacking. I'll be quiet now.

Wayne
In Texas. :D