Get Lucky (Reprise), Mark Knopfler

Ex Dire Straits each release mastermind Mark Knopfler secures his rep as a classic songwriter at the expense of his ranking as a guitarist.
Knopfler's sixth solo effort, Get Lucky, is his best in terms of his material, yet it's his weakest fret board effort. It's a tradeoff that many will accept given the cinematic language in the song "So Far From the Clyde," which details the ship-breaking of a vessel forged in Glasgow, Scotland (along the River Clyde): "They swarm on her carcass / with torches and axes / Like a whale on the bloody shoreline."
Other great songs about Knopfler's hardscrabble youth include "Border Reiver," a sketch of the work of a lorry driver, and "Before Gas and TV," which eulogizes the way people entertained themselves, with a simple guitar and a fireplace, prior to 20th century comforts that mean we no longer have to learn how to sing music.
It's simplistic to say Get Lucky is Knopfler's working class paean, but it's not inaccurate. For him, the past was better; folks cared for what they built with their hands, whether it was an archtop guitar ("Monteleone") or a Ford Cobra ("The Car Was the One"). This idea is hard to accept in our Disposable Age, but Knopfler puts it all to pleasing music that's rich in instrumentation (flutes, whistles, strings).
As the album art (photos of Las Vegas neon) suggests, life is opportunity; only workmanship gives us control.

Picking Dudeness - Unabashed Chicken

Don Henley’s in a version “Boys of Summer” on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, the country star Brad Paisley started his last and longest guitar solo of the night. He took long steps toward stage right, scurried down a ramp and ambled down an aisle on the arena floor, playing all the way.
During his victory walk — it was his first show at the Garden — he didn’t high-five anyone, though everyone within reaching distance seemed to move into position to do so. He bent his knees and dodged and mugged, lifting his Fender Telecaster up and away from his body when he bent notes. And his solo-to-end-all-solos flashed the same strategies that he had been using all night: fast runs, licks heavy on chicken-picking, a high-definition channeling of James Burton, Don Rich and Mark Knopfler.
He made it to the middle of the arena, then returned to the microphone, still soloing. It was an achievement, but a cold one, no better or worse than any other solo he’d played.
Mr. Paisley is a guitar geek posing as a dry wit. His pose is terrific; it just doesn’t adequately conceal the geek. Lots of us put on a blithe and blasé front to hide our inner compulsions, and for a good reason: not because they’re embarrassing, but because they’re dull. Over two hours, Mr. Paisley’s guitar playing — fast, fluid and voluminous — lost its flavor completely. There was just so much of it (mostly on the Telecaster; Mr. Paisley’s style is a monument to that instrument’s lean, percussive sound and country-music tradition) that it stole power from the lyrics.
His lyrics are the opposite of the guitar solos: enlightened winks, usually counterintuitive, mixing base and noble instincts. In them, he’s figured how to put his masculinity in quotation marks while keeping country-music credibility. He’s a scientist about craft, and he’s fascinated and horrified by modern culture. It’s possible to imagine him writing a television sitcom.
On Wednesday, unabashed dudeness got its own trilogy: “I’m Still a Guy,” which proposes that he’s genetically disposed to like fishing; “Catch All the Fish,” which proposes that he voluntarily enjoys fishing; and “I’m Gonna Miss Her,” which proposes that fishing supersedes romance. And then Mr. Paisley wisely moved on. Soon he was playing an instrumental while a video screen showed a cartoon he’d crudely animated himself of a Paisley superhero rescuing other country singers from harm. (Earlier stars with art hobbies — Tony Bennett and Jerry Garcia, say — have known better than to force fans to look at their work.)
Mr. Paisley’s real art is in brinksmanship with an impending cliché, the more maudlin the better. “Welcome to the Future,” “Waiting on a Woman” and “Letter to Me”— all strong moments on Wednesday — are full of long-view naïveté, either look-how-far-we’ve-come or who-knows-where-we’re-going.
But the lonely insight and the self deprecating boast aren’t stadium moves. Running between four microphones spaced hundreds of yards apart, and playing thousand-noted solos: these are stadium moves. This tough reality poses a problem, though it’s hard to imagine Mr. Paisley seeing a problem as anything but an chance.

Mark Knopfler declines Dire Straits tour and album

Former Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler has scuppered the chances of the band reuniting.

According to bassist John Illsley, Knopfler is the stumbling block in plans for the group to reunite for a tour and new album, as he is concentrating on his own musical projects.

The group's last studio album was 1991's 'On Every Street'.

Illsley - who releases solo album 'Beautiful You' on October 13 - told BBC News that he had attempted to instigate a reunion, only to be rebuffed by his former bandmate.

"I think we've definitely got one more tour left in us, and probably another record too," Illsley said. "[But] he's [Knopfler] doing different kinds of music now.

"He's doing incredibly well as a solo artist, so hats off to him. He's having a perfectly good time doing what he's doing."

Mark Knopfler has had success as a solo artist since the official break-up of Dire Straits in 1995. He released his latest studio album, 'Kill To Get Crimson', last year.

Mark Knopfler Get Lucky

Track list:

Border Reiver

Hard Shoulder

You Can’t Beat The House

Before Gas & TV

Monteleone

Cleaning My Gun

The Car Was The One

Remembrance DayGet Lucky

So Far From The Clyde

Piper To The End

And before you ask, a 'reiver' was someone who carried out raids over the northern English/Scottish border to plunder and steal cattle, i.e. a border raider.

A bonus track not on the CD, Early Bird, can be downloaded from iTunes. Early Bird and another non-album track, Time In The Sun, can be downloaded from amazon.com These tracks are available in the US only at the monent but they will be made available outside of the US within the next few weeks.

Knopfler to play at the LG

Dire Straits legend Mark Knopfler has announced details of a solo UK tour, including a gig at the LG Arena at The NEC, Birmingham, on May 23, 2010.

The run of dates will be the singer songwriters first UK tour in two years, and he’s looking forward to hitting the road once again.

“It’s like being captain of a little fighting ship really, and I enjoy the team thing of being on the road, I enjoy being with the crew,” he says.

“I suppose one of the reasons I like it so much is that I know it’s not going to be a year-long thing.”

Knopfler’s new album Get Lucky, is released next week and fans coming to the show can expect to hear tracks from the record, as well as a mix of his solo back catalogue and classic Dire Straits songs

Mark Knopfler - Get Lucky Tour

Get Lucky Tour - Norway and Poland

The next dates confirmed for Mark's 2010 Get Lucky tour are in Poland and Norway. Once again, MarkKnopfler.com will be offering the best seats in the house in our members-only ticket presale. Log into your account on September 8 to take part. More dates will be announced soon. Don't forget, you can also visit the Tour map for regular updates.

In addition to these, our presales for Mark's concerts in the UK, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Portugal are still going strong. Check the Tickets section of the Store for a full list of what's available.

All Mark knopfler Tickets are available on The Online Ticket Shop.

Best of Mark Knopfler

• All the Roadrunning
• Boom, Like That
• Brothers in Arms
• Calling Elvis
• Darling Pretty
• Going Home
• Love Over Gold
• Money For Nothing
• On Every Street
• Private Investigations
• Romeo and Juliet
• Sailing to Philadelphia
• So Far Away
• Sultans of Swing
• Telegraph Road
• The Long Road (Theme from "Cal")
• The Trawlerman's Song
• Tunnel of Love
• Walk of Life
• What It Is
• Why Aye Man
• Your Latest Trick

Mark Knopfler as a producer

Infidels (1983) by Bob Dylan. Although Mark renounced the reworked version of the album as launched, his manufactured is still noticeable. Left off the album, but later released on The Bootleg Series, is the critically acclaimed "Blind Willie McTell", featuring only Dylan, singing and playing piano, accompanied by Mark Knopfler on auditory guitar.
Knife (1984) by Aztec Camera, a Scottish indie/new wave group, which was mostly a vehicle for the work of Roddy Frame, much as Dire Straits only ever recorded Mark Knopfler compositions.
Miracle (1987) by Willy DeVille, was dedicated to Mark and his wife 'for their support which was nothing short of a Miracle in a time of Dire Straits.' The album ends with the ballad "Storybook Love", the theme from The Princess Bride movie.
Land of Dreams (1988) by Randy Newman, includes the single "It's Money that Matters" which unabashedly revisits the Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing".

Mark Knopfler Ticket Sellers

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• Ticket Master
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Mark Knopfler Tickets are on sale now

Mark has recently released his fifth solo studio-album Kill to Get Crimson 2007. The album was released on September 14, 2007 in Germany, September 17 in the UK and September 18 in the USA. Besides the standard CD edition, a special 'Deluxe Edition' with an extra DVD is also on sale. Knopfler will also be commencing a world tour to support the album, starting in late 2009 and continuing in to 2010.
All Mark knopfler Tickets are available on The Online Ticket Shop.
Mark Knopfler Summary

21/5/2010 - Mark Knopfler The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Center (SECC) Tickets - Glasgow, United Kingdom
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Mark Knopfler Discography

Solo albums

Golden Heart

• Released: 26 March 1996
• Format: CD
• Label: Vertigo Records, Warner Bros. Records (USA)
• Producer: Mark Knopfler, Chuck Ainlay
• Singles: "Darling Pretty", "Cannibals", "Rüdiger", "Golden Heart" (promo), "Imelda" (promo), "Don't You Get It" (promo)

Sailing to Philadelphia

• Released: 26 September 2000
• Format: CD
• Label: Mercury, Vertigo, Warner Bros.
• Producer: Mark Knopfler, Chuck Ainlay
• Singles: "What It Is", "Sailing to Philadelphia", "Silvertown Blues"

The Ragpicker's Dream

• Released: 30 September 2002
• Format: CD & LP
• Label: Mercury
• Producer: Mark Knopfler, Chuck Ainlay
• Singles: "Why Aye Man", "Quality Shoe" (promo), "Devil Baby" (promo), "Hill Farmer Blues" (promo), "You Don't Know You're Born" (promo)

Shangri-La

• Released: 28 September 2004
• Format: CD & LP
• Label: Mercury
• Producer: Mark Knopfler, Chuck Ainlay
• Singles: "Boom, Like That", "The Trawlerman's Song"

One Take Radio Sessions

• Released: 21 June 2005
• Format: CD
• Label: Warner Bros. Records
• Producer: Mark Knopfler, Chuck Ainlay

The Trawlerman's Song EP

• Released: 2005
• Format: CD
• Label: Mercury
• Producer: Mark Knopfler
• Tracks: "The Trawlerman's Song", "Back to Tupelo", "Song for Sonny Liston", "Boom, Like That", "Donegan's Gone", "Stand Up Guy"

The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations

• Released: 2005
• Format: CD & LP
• Label: Mercury
• Singles: "All The Roadrunning" (promo), "This Is Us" (promo), "Beachcombing" (promo)

Kill to Get Crimson

• Released: 17 September 2007
• Format: CD & LP
• Label: Mercury
• Singles: "True Love Will Never Fade", "Punish The Monkey"

Get Lucky

• Released: 14 September 2009
• Format: CD
• Label: Mercury

Soundtrack albums

Local Hero

• Released: March, 1983
• Label: Warner Bros. Records
• Producer: Mark Knopfler

Music from 'Cal'

• Released: 1984

Comfort and Joy

• Released: 1984

The Princess Bride

• Released: 1987

Last Exit to Brooklyn

• Released: 1989

Screenplaying

• Released: 1993
• Label: Phonogram

Metroland

• Released: 1998

Wag the Dog

• Released: 1998

A Shot at Glory

• Released: 2001

Other albums

• Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time (The Notting Hillbillies) (1990)
• Neck and Neck (with Chet Atkins) (1990)
• The Booze Brothers (with Brewers Droop) (1973/1989)
• All the Roadrunning (with Emmylou Harris, April 2006)
• Real Live Roadrunning (with Emmylou Harris, November 2006)

Knopfler's Awards and Nominations

Awards and acclaim

• The Edison Award was awarded to Mark Knopfler for Outstanding Achievements in the Music Industry, the highest award for musicians in the Netherlands.
• Grammy Awards 1986 - Best Country Instrumental Performance with Chet Atkins (for Cosmic Square Dance)
• Grammy Awards 1991 - Best Country Vocal Collaboration with Chet Atkins (for Poor Boy Blues')
• Grammy Awards 1991 - Best Country Instrumental Performance with Chet Atkins (for So Soft, Your Goodbye)
• In 1993, Knopfler was made an honorary Doctor of Music at Newcastle University.
• In 1999, Knopfler was made an OBE.
• In Summer 1995, Knopfler was made an honorary Doctor of Music at the University of Leeds.
• In 2001 The Masiakasaurus knopfleri (a species of dinosaur) was named after him.
• On 11 July 2007, Knopfler was made an honorary Doctor of Music at Sunderland University.
• Knopfler along with his band Dire Straits won the 1986 Grammy award for "Best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal" for their song "Money for Nothing."
• In February 2009, Knopfler's British Grove Studios was the winner of the Music Producers Guild Award for 'Best Studio'.

Nominations

• Grammy Awards 1986 - Song of the Year (songwriter) (for 'Money for Nothing')
• Grammy Awards 1992 - Best Country Instrumental Performance with Chet Atkins (for 'Neck and Neck')
• Grammy Awards 2007 - Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album with Emmylou Harris (for 'All the Roadrunning')

Knopfler's influence and Live Performance

Live performance

• Knopfler has been known to sip tea on stage during live performances. Richard Bennett, who has been attending Knopfler's tours since 1996, has also joined in drinking tea with him on stage. photo. On 31 July 2005, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, BC, the tea was replaced with whiskey in respect of ritual "last show of tour" sort of joke.

Knopfler's influence

• Played together with Dire Straits' drummer Pick Withers on Bob Dylan's studio album Slow Train Coming, which was recorded in May 1979 and released 20 August; providing Dylan with what Dylan considered his best guitar backing since the days of Mike Bloomfield and Robbie Robertson. Knopfler also played in and co-produced Dylan's 1983 album Infidels.

• British author and humorist Douglas Adams said about Knopfler, in his book So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish: "Mark Knopfler has an extraordinary ability to make a Schecter Custom Stratocaster hoot and sing like angels on a Saturday night, exhausted from being good all week and needing a stiff beer."

• The dinosaur species Masiakasaurus knopfleri was named after Knopfler. The paleontologists were listening to Dire Straits recordings when they discovered the species.

• On "Weird Al" Yankovic's parody of "Money for Nothing", "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*", Knopfler played guitar in the song, recreating the memorable guitar riff from the original song.

• Knopfler's song "Going Home" from the soundtrack to Local Hero is played before kick-off at Newcastle United's home matches at St James' Park.

• "Going Home" is also the theme music for John Stanley on Sydney radio station 2UE.

• According to director Rob Reiner, Knopfler agreed to write the music for Reiner's The Princess Bride on one condition: Reiner had to put the hat that he wore in This Is Spinal Tap in Princess Bride, "somewhere in evidence", as homage to the rock mockumentary. The hat makes its appearance in Princess Bride in the Grandson's (Fred Savage) bedroom.

• Indian cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar is a fan of Mark Knopfler. They once had a joint interview on cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle's show Harsha Online.

• The 2008 stage production Celtic Thunder has covers of multiple Mark Knopfler songs. "Brothers in Arms", written by Mark Knopfler and performed originally by Dire Straits, is performed by Ryan Kelly. As well, the song "Irish Boy" (from Cal) and "Going Home" (from Local Hero) are performed together as an instrumental, entitled "Cal/Local Hero".

Mark Knopfler Amplifiers

Knopfler has often used many different combinations of amplifiers and cabinets to create his desired sounds.

Crate VC5212 amplifier Crate 2x12 cabinet Fender Concert Fender Vibrolux Fender Twin Reverb

Gallien & Krueger amplifier Jim Kelley combo Jim Kelley heads Marshall JTM heads Marshall 4x12 cabinet

Mesa Boogie heads Music Man HD 130 Soldano SLO 100 Roland Jazz Chorus Vox AC30

Mark Knopfler Effects

Throughout his career Knopfler has been known to use a wide selection of effect pedals in the studio and during live performances. Here is a list of some of his effects:

Alesis Quadraverb BOSS BF-2 Flanger BOSS CE-2 Chorus BOSS CE-300 Chorus BOSS CS-2 Compressor BOSS DM-2 Delay MXR Micro Amp

BOSS OC-2 Octaver BOSS PH-2 Phaser DeltaLab Digital Delay Ibanez UE 303 Multi Effect Lexicon 300 Reverb Mantec Preamp Master Room Reverb

Morley Volume Pedal Mic-Mix Dyna-Flanger MXR Analog Delay Roland Graphic Equalizer Roland SRE 555 Chorus/Echo Yamaha REV 5 Zoom Multieffect 9010

Mark Knopfler Guitars

Knopfler has approximated that he now owns "around 70 guitars".They include:

• Pensa Custom MKII A custom Pensa Guitar given to Knopfler by his friend, Rudy Pensa, in 2005.
• Fender Stratocasters including a Fiesta Red '62 and a 1954 sunburst (one of the first ever produced) which he has named "Jurassic Strat"
• Fender 1952 Telecaster.
• Red-painted (Stratocaster style) Melancon Pro Artist.
• Gibson Les Pauls several different including two from the 1950s.
• Danelectro 59-DCs
• Pensa custom-built solid body guitars, the model MK-1 MK-2 & MK-80, are named in honor of Knopfler.
• Schecter Telecaster and Stratocaster models.
• National Style 0 Resonator guitar, from 1937 as used on "Romeo and Juliet". A replica of which is now available from National Resophonic Guitars.
• Ramirez Spanish Guitar, used on "Postcard from Paraguay"
• C. F. Martin & Company Martin Acoustics, Model HD-40MK and 000-40S Mark Knopfler, he also used a Martin 00028 on "Brothers in Arms".

Mark Knopfler Picture Gallery

Introduction to Mark Knopfler

Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE as born in August 12, 1949, Glasgow, Scotland. He is a Scottish guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was around seven years old when the Knopfler family shifted to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the North-East of England. Mark be present at Gosforth Grammar School. He is well-known as the guide guitarist and vocalist for the band Dire Straits (1977 - 1995), but has also made albums as a solo performer and played in other bands (such as the Notting Hillbillies). He has also achieved on work by other artists, such as Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Chet Atkins, and produced albums for artists such as Tina Turner, Randy Newman, and (again) Bob Dylan. In addition, he has scored the music to several films, including Local Hero, The Princess Bride, Comfort and Joy, Cal, Last Exit to Brooklyn and Wag the Dog.


After Knopfler broken up Dire Straits in 1995, he launched straight into a solo career with ‘Golden Heart’ (1996) - a mixture of his various music stylings that appeared throughout Dire Straits’ career.
‘Sailing to Philadelphia’ (2000) was the breakthrough album for his solo career. With stars such as James Taylor and Van Morrison, ‘Sailing to Philadelphia’ was one of his most successful albums to date.
His next album ‘The Ragpicker’s Dream’ (2002) saw Knopfler move to the ‘story telling theme’. The single ‘Why Aye Man’ was used as the theme tune for the third series of ‘Auf Wiedersehen, Pet’ in 2002.