Chris De Burgh (part I)

BIOGRAPHY

Taken from the official Chris De Burgh website

CHRIS DE BURGH CAREER OVERVIEW
Few artists can lay claim to international success spanning three decades but, beginning with his very first release, Chris de Burgh has achieved precisely that.

The foundations for a remarkable and durable career were laid back in 1975 with the release of Chris’s debut album, ‘Far Beyond These Castle Walls’, featuring a single, ‘Flying’, which spent 17 weeks at No. 1 in Brazil.

Subsequent records, almost in turn, continued to steadily draw in audiences around the world; Scandinavia was early to embrace the vivid story-telling that is Chris’s unique talent, South Africa quickly tuned in to his power as a live performer, North America even demanded its own specially compiled ‘greatest hits’ collection, ‘Best Moves’. In the United States, meanwhile, relentless touring with his management stablemates Supertramp was beginning to establish Chris as a gritty, charismatic stage presence.

Indeed, by 1980, Chris’s global profile had already mushroomed to the point where that year’s album, ‘Eastern Wind’, became one of the biggest-selling albums of all time in Norway. A year later, its follow-up, ‘Man On The Line’, was a Top 30 album in the UK, the US and 20 other countries, while producing the single ‘High On Emotion’, which went to No. 1 in ten European countries.

In many respects, it was this album that opened the door to the enormous success which was to follow and scale new heights with the arrival of Chris’s 1986 album ‘Into The Light’. Chris, by his own estimation, had shrewdly perceived this record to be one which could place him fully centre stage as an artist and, indeed, it featured the song which finally established him as a known singer-songwriter around the world. ‘The Lady In Red’, now undeniably an evergreen classic, achieved No. 1 status in 25 countries, including the UK, went to No. 2 in America – and has now sold in excess of 8 million copies. To this day, it remains one of the most played songs on the planet; in America alone, it has subsequently been the recipient of six annual ASCAP (Association of Composers and Publishers) Awards, presented to acknowledge the track as one of the Top 20 most played records in the United States in a period of 12 months.
By now, Chris’s stature had reached true superstar status in many territories – particularly in Germany, where his sell-out tours were grossing more than any other artist on the road.

Come 1990, Chris’s German popularity was such that he was the only international artist personally invited by then Chancellor Kohl to perform at the historic public celebrations marking the re-unification of East and West Germany. This momentous privilege immediately followed sell-out tours of Australia and Japan.

In the intervening years, and on the eve of the Millennium, Chris continued to add new audiences to his vast fan base – from Moscow to Malta, from Singapore to Sarajevo – and, always, to find and embrace new challenges for himself as a musician and a performer. Specifically, his 1995 album, ‘Beautiful Dreams’, realised a long-held ambition to have his music (both new material and selected highlights from his previous repertoire) recorded in a classical style – with a full, 32-piece orchestra.
Not only did this album breathe new life into Chris artistically, but it also enabled him to embark on a series of open-air shows in some of the UK’s finest palaces and stately homes.

His 1999 album ‘Quiet Revolution’ featured a band for the first time since his ‘This Way Up’ LP, five years earlier. Road-tested as players via tours of Germany, South Africa, the Eastern Bloc, Middle East and South East Asia, a solid line-up of musicians once again invigorated Chris’s approach to making music in a group scenario, a philosophy still very much in evidence on his next studio album, ‘Timing Is Everything’, released in 2002.

In every sense, the record was a current statement of Chris’s craft, easily placing all of the several trademarks he had made his own – vivid story-telling, powerful anthems and heartfelt ballads – against an undeniably contemporary backdrop.

“It was a modern-sounding record, within the parameter of me as a songwriter, because I write in the classic vein. I’m writing in that old-fashioned way, but I think we brought a very new and dynamic sound to it.”

Musically and lyrically, his 16th studio album moved with the times, but on his terms; as always, Chris was content to pursue his own, personal and unique path. It has proven to be the successful route to longevity which, across three decades, has won him a devoted, worldwide following.

All eleven new songs presented on the album were instantly in tune with this international acclaim, reputation and credibility. Each was written and recorded with uncommon ease and speed, factors which infected both the vocal performance and the overall mood of the album. “I found that writing the songs was not a grind and a chore; they came out very easily. I felt so good about the album that I actually recorded four or five full, finished, vocals in an afternoon. That’s unheard of for me! Another day I recorded vocals for four other songs; I just thought ‘Well, I’m in the voice for it – why don’t I just do them?’ It was like I was saying ‘There’s no big deal about this…’

“The speed with which we recorded reflected the fun we were having. That was a big part of it all. When making records previously, there had always been that slightly freaky thing of saying to myself ‘Today I’m doing a lead vocal’. In the past, I have been aware of the need to get my singing, my vocal performance, absolutely right in the studio – because what is recorded there stays with you forever. It’s like taking a penalty in an important football match; you’ve got to get it right.”

There were, and will be, many interpretations concerning the meaning of ‘The Road To Freedom’, the title given to his 17th album, released in 2004.

For Chris, the album name openly identified his enthusiasm about not only producing an intensely individual record but, also, for choosing to be at liberty to make it available on his own, Ferryman Records, label; having been signed to a major record company for almost 30 years, the time had come to do things on his own. For listeners, the album presented a vibrant and emotionally uplifting journey along a path filled with insight, inspiration and, as ever, colourful imagination. And it did so with a lyrical diversity married perfectly against a musical backdrop of truly international appeal; Spanish, Celtic, North American and Eastern European melodies are instantly apparent.

Equally, it was a record which tackled a wide spread of subject matter; the bittersweet life of Queen Elizabeth the First (‘Rose Of England’), a rallying, heartfelt plea for people to make something of their lives (‘Read My Name’), a moving tribute to the late Eva Cassidy (‘Songbird’) and – possibly most intriguingly – a song called ‘Five Past Dreams’, the ‘what happened next?’ follow-up to Chris’s biggest career hit, and one of the most romantic ballads of all time, ‘The Lady In Red’.

Each of the songs, and the other seven original compositions featured on the album, were written with a quite specific aim in mind; the desire within Chris to be able to play them all in the context of solo concert performance, without the need to embellish every track with any accompaniment beyond his guitar or piano. An extensive World Tour, with dates across Europe, the UK and North America, followed to support the album and that intent. ‘The Road To Freedom’ presented an up-beat, positive and hopeful over-view of the world as Chris de Burgh then saw it, viewed in the cinematic proportions which have become one of his unique abilities.

By now recording and releasing albums with more regular frequency than at almost any other point in his career, Chris delivered his next – and most current – studio LP, ‘The Storyman’, in 2006. Its title alone aptly summed up Chris; imaginative story-making has, after all, always been at the very core of his worldwide success.

Whether his lyrical – and musical – themes have tackled love and loss or been set against imaginative backdrops created from the past, present or future, the telling of tales is his special gift.

Across more than three decades by now, Chris’s extensive repertoire of songs has taken his audience on travels through continents, cultures and centuries - in cinematic proportion – and such was the inspiration behind the concept of ‘The Storyman’.

Each one of the songs was accompanied by stories – also written by Chris and printed in the CD booklet – which set the scene and expand upon the lyrics with detail, colour and atmosphere.

In order to win a place on his new album, Chris de Burgh selected the songs he recorded by applying three critical principles: he had to love them, have sung them many times before – and, perhaps most relevantly, they had to have inspired him.

As a result, and by any measure, the 13 ‘covers’ on ‘Footsteps’ represent a deeply personal and candid appraisal by Chris of songs which have influenced and affected the way he has crafted his own particular musical imprint.

There is little doubt that these songs and songwriters provided solid cornerstones for him to build upon. Equally, there is no attempt by Chris to disguise, in his selection, the creative models and ideals he aspired to – and still does.

“Listening to the great songwriters was the inspiration for me to try and become a good songwriter myself,” he readily admits. “I’m talking about the likes of Lennon & McCartney and Bob Dylan; people as good as that just don’t seem to exist any more. I learned my trade, my craft, almost at the feet of the Great Masters. And that is my musical journey. Those songs are my footsteps.”

Two new pieces, ‘First Steps’ and ‘Footsteps’, explain in greater depth his musical journey, his dreams and aspirations, and his sense of achievement from hopeful beginnings to the success of today.
The process of short-listing the songs which potentially ‘qualified’ for inclusion on the album was an involved one.

“There were hundreds and hundreds of titles, which all got narrowed down to the ones I recorded. They are all, in my opinion, great songs – and each one has a resonance with me for a very particular reason.
“When I was growing up in my father’s castle/hotel, I would sing a lot of these songs, to the guests. For example, ‘The Long And Winding Road’, ‘Sealed With A Kiss’, ‘Where Have All The Flowes Gone?’, ‘All Along The Watchtower’...

‘American Pie’, for me, used to be the one that, when I was singing in a restaurant, would make people stop eating and clap along. I still enjoy performing it, to this day. ‘Corinna, Corinna’ is a song I frequently sing in my soundcheck, as I do ‘The Last Thing On My Mind’. ‘Polly Von’, the song by Peter, Paul and Mary, is one that, probably, gave me some indications about writing story songs. ‘Spanish Train’, ‘The Tower’...many of those songs from my early days owe something to ‘Polly Von’.”
Once the songs were chosen, recording them took no time at all, perhaps surprisingly so, given the necessary vocal range; from low notes to high, requiring both subtlety and strength.

“I like to wear a song like I’m wearing a coat and wanted to to fit into each one of these songs,” Chris explains, “and a lot of them are singer’s songs - they really stretch the singer - but we made the album very quickly. It was all recorded live in the studio, with me singing together with the orchestra or together with the band. It took us eight days – and that’s including all of the vocals and all of the backing vocals. All in all, it was a real pleasure, a complete thrill.”

Chris feels that the process of paying homage to his influences may be far from over. “I have to stress that to nail it down to just the songs recorded was extremely difficult. There are so many other great writers; Jackson Browne and Paul Simon, to name but two. However, I didn’t believe that certain songs would work on this record. So I might come back with longer footsteps, another time...”

And so the ever-changing musical journey that has been Chris’s career continues to evolve, adapt and develop. It’s all light years away from the 12th Century Irish castle (converted into a hotel by his parents) where Chris first performed to guests and, certainly, more than the young man who gained a degree in French and English at Trinity College, Dublin, could ever have dreamed for.

But, at the end of the day, the facts speak for themselves; a career encompassing 17 studio albums, approaching 3,000 concerts worldwide, plaudits and landmarks too numerous to mention – with LP sales in excess of 45 million…and counting

DISCOGRAPHY

Studio albums
Footsteps
The Storyman
The Road To Freedom
Timing Is Everything
Quiet Revolution
Beautiful Dreams
This Way Up
The Power Of Ten
Flying Colours
Into The Light
Man On The Line
The Getaway
Eastern Wind
Crusader
At The End Of A Perfect Day
Spanish Train And Other Stories
Far Beyond These Castle Walls

Live albums
Chris de Burgh Live
Live In Dortmund
The River Sessions
High On Emotion -Live From Dublin
Live In South Africa

Compilation albums
The Best Of Chris de Burgh (Green Series)
Now And Then(incl. 1 new track)
Colour Collection
Silver Collection
Much More Than This(incl. 18 rare und unreleased tracks)
GOLD (Canada)
The Very Best Of Chris de Burgh (Netherlands)
High On Emotion (Germany)
The Ultimate Collection
The Chris de Burgh Collection
20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection (USA)
20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection (Canada)
Chris de Burgh Gold (South Africa)
Missing You: The Collection (UK)
Star Boulevard (Germany)
Megastar (Germany)
Notes From Planet Earth (incl. 1 new track)
The Ultimate Collection
The Collection (UK)
The Lady In Red - The Very Best Of
The Love Songs (incl. 3 new tracks)
Spark To A Flame - The Very Best Of (incl. 2 new tracks)
The Very Best Of (Telstar)
Best Moves(incl. 2 new tracks)

Vinyl LPs
This Way Up
The Power Of Ten
High On Emotion - Live From Dublin
Spark To A Flame
Flying Colours
Into The Light
The Very Best Of (Telstar)
Man On The Line
The Getaway
Best Moves
Eastern Wind
Live In South Africa
Crusader
At The End Of A Perfect Day
Lonely Sky And Other Stories
Spanish Train And Other Stories
Far Beyond These Castle Walls

Other albums on which Chris de Burgh appears
The Reel Burt Bacharach
The Power Of Peace
Glory Of Gershwin
Jetzt - by Vicky Leandros
Friends Forevermore - The Aravon School Choir
Arthur 2 - On The Rocks
Best Of Pop
Celtic Myst 3
Forgotten Angels
Live For Ireland
Merry Christmas From
Working Girl Soundtrack
Billboard Top Hits 1987
The Power Of Love V
The Night Of The Proms 2001
Men Only
WDR 200
Now! The Christmas Album
Celtic Myst - The Christmas Collection
Celtic Myst 4
Coronation Street - The Official 40th Anniversary
Sound Minds
Bling When You're Mingin'
Comme Ca - by Marie-Elaine Thibert
Bi To Ba To - by Arian
Christmas Stars
50 Jahre Rock! Love Songs
The Very Best Of School Disco.com
Love Bites & School Nites
Worlds Best Mum
Love - The Ultimate Collection
Die Ultimative Chartshow - Rockballaden
Die Ultimative Chartshow - Singer-Songwriter
Ein Kuss Im Kornfeld
Duettino

Mark Knopfler (part II)

BIOGRAPHY (part II)

Taken from Wikipedia website

Country music

In addition to his work in Dire Straits and solo, Mark Knopfler has made several contributions to country music. In 1988 he formed country-focused band The Notting Hillbillies,[6] with Guy Fletcher, Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. The Notting Hillbillies sole studio album, Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time was released in 1990 and featured the minor hit single "Your Own Sweet Way". Knopfler further emphasised his country music influences with his collaboration with Chet Atkins, Neck and Neck, which was also released in 1990. "Poor Boy Blues", taken from that collaboration, peaked at #92.

Knopfler's other contributions include writing and playing guitar on John Anderson's 1992 single "When It Comes to You" (from his album Seminole Wind). In 1993 Mary Chapin Carpenter also released a cover of the Dire Straits song "The Bug". Randy Travis released another of Knopfler's songs, "Are We In Trouble Now", in 1996. In that same year, Knopfler's solo single "Darling Pretty" reached a peak of #87.

Knopfler is featured on Kris Kristofferson's album "The Austin Sessions", (on the track "Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends") released in 1999 by Atlantic Records.

In 2006 Knopfler and Emmylou Harris made a country album together titled All the Roadrunning. Knopfler also charted two singles on the Canadian country music singles chart.

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

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."[40]

The dinosaur species Masiakasaurus knopfleri was named after Knopfler. The palaeontologists were listening to Dire Straits recordings when they discovered the species.[41]

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.[42]

"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.[43]

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.[44]

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".

DISCOGRAPHY

Taken from Wikipedia website

Dire Straits Studio Albums

1978 - Dire Straits
1979 - Communiqué
1980 - Making Movies
1982 - Love over Gold
1985 - Brothers in Arms
1991 - On Every Street

Dire Straits Live Albums

1984 - Alchemy
1993 - On the Night
1995 - Live at the BBC

Dire Straits Compilation Albums

1988 - Money for Nothing
1998 - Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits
2005 - The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations

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"

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 & LP
Label: Mercury
Singles: "Border Reiver", "Remembrance Day"

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 Color of Money
Released: 1986
Label: MCA Records (MK's only song is "Two Brothers And A Stranger")

The Princess Bride
Released: 1987

Last Exit to Brooklyn
Released: 1989

Screenplaying
Released: 1993

Label: Phonogram

Wag the Dog
Released: 1998

Metroland
Released: 1999

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) (1973/1989/1990)
All the Roadrunning (with Emmylou Harris, April 2006)
Real Live Roadrunning (with Emmylou Harris, November 2006)

Mark as a producer

Infidels (1983) by Bob Dylan. Although Mark disowned the reworked version of the album as released,[45] his production 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 acoustic guitar.

Knife (1984) by Aztec Camera, a Scottish indie/new wave band, 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 (part I)

BIOGRAPHY

Taken from Wikipedia website

Mark Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer.

Mark Knopfler is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977 with his brother David. After Dire Straits disbanded in 1995, Knopfler continued to record and produce albums as a solo artist under his own name. Knopfler has played in other groups occasionally, such as the The Notting Hillbillies, and has guested on works by other artists, including Joan Armatrading, Chet Atkins, the Chieftains, Eric Clapton, The Dandy Warhols, Bob Dylan, Bryan Ferry, John Fogerty, Emmylou Harris, Jeff Healey, Jools Holland, Sonny Landreth, Phil Lynott, Van Morrison, Gerry Rafferty and Steely Dan. He has produced albums for artists such as Tina Turner, Willy DeVille, Randy Newman, Bob Dylan and even "Weird Al" Yankovic.

His musical scores include Metroland, Local Hero, Cal, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Wag the Dog, and Rob Reiner's classic, The Princess Bride.[2]

He is one of the most respected fingerstyle guitarists of the modern rock era and was ranked #27 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."[3]

Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits have sold in excess of 120 million albums to date.[4][5]

(1949–1976) Childhood and early life
Knopfler was born in Glasgow, Scotland to an English mother and a Hungarian Jewish father, an architect whose communist sympathies forced him to flee the regime of his native Hungary.[citation needed] The family first moved to Scotland, but then settled in Knopfler's mother's home town of Blyth in the north-east of England when he was around 7 years old. There, he and his younger brother David attended Gosforth Grammar School, where he was inspired by his uncle Kingsley's harmonica and boogie-woogie piano playing. Later, in his teens, he wanted to buy an expensive Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster just like Hank Marvin's, but had to settle for a £50 twin-pick-up Höfner Super Solid.[6] During the 1960s he formed and joined anonymous schoolboy bands, and listened to singers such as Elvis Presley and guitarists Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore, B.B King, Django Reinhardt, Hank Marvin and James Burton. At age 16, he made a local TV appearance as half of a harmony duo along with a friend from school named Sue Hercombe.[6]

In 1967, having displayed a flair for English,[6] Knopfler studied journalism for a year at Harlow Technical College.[7] At the end of the course he secured a job in Leeds as a junior reporter on the Yorkshire Evening Post.[8] Two years later, he decided to further his studies and eventually went on to graduate with a degree in English at the University of Leeds.[9] He left his job as a reporter, and, hoping to pursue a career in music, performed with pub bands around town. He worked as a part-time lecturer at Loughton College and played with mates in a band called the Café Racers,[10] during this period. He also played in a few bands such as the Silver Heels and a duo with long-time associate UK bluesman Steve Phillips who was later to be a member of The Notting Hillbillies. It was also in Pudsey, Leeds, that in 1974 Knopfler recorded a "demo" tape of an original (but unreleased) song; "Summer's Coming My Way".

Knopfler later moved to London and joined a High Wycombe-based band called Brewers Droop, appearing on the album "The Booze Brothers". One night while spending some time with friends, the only guitar available was an old acoustic with a badly warped neck that had been strung with extra-light strings to make it playable. Even so, he found it impossible to play unless he finger-picked it. He said in a later interview, "That was where I found my 'voice' on guitar." Mark joined brother David in a band under the name Café Racers but also found himself another musical partner in David's flatmate, John Illsley, initially a guitarist who changed over to bass guitar and became the only other member of Dire Straits to figure throughout the band's career.

(1977–1995) The Dire Straits years
Dire Straits' first demos were done in three sessions during 1977, with Pick Withers as drummer and John Illsley on bass guitar. On 27 July 1977 they recorded the now famous demo tapes of five songs – "Wild West End", "Sultans of Swing", "Down To The Waterline", "Sacred Loving" (a David Knopfler song) and "Water of Love". In what was probably October they recorded "Southbound Again", "In The Gallery" and "Six Blade Knife" for BBC Radio London and, finally, on the 9th of November demo tapes were made of "Setting Me Up", "Eastbound Train" and "Real Girl". Many of these songs reflected Mark's experiences in Newcastle, Leeds and London, and were to be featured on their first album, the self-titled Dire Straits which was released in the following year: "Down To The Waterline" recalled images of life in Newcastle; "In The Gallery" is a tribute to a Leeds sculptor/artist named Harry Phillips, (father of Steve Phillips); and "Lions", "Wild West End" and "Eastbound Train" were all drawn from Mark's early days in the capital.

Initially on its release, Dire Straits received little fanfare in the UK, but when "Sultans of Swing" was released as a single it became a chart hit in The Netherlands and album sales took off across Europe and then in the United States and Canada, and finally the UK. The group's second album, Communiqué, produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, followed in 1979, reaching number one in France while the first album was still at number three.

There were frequent personnel changes within Dire Straits after the release of their third album Making Movies, with Mark Knopfler increasingly the driving force behind the group. Released in 1980, Making Movies marked a move towards more complex arrangements and production which continued for the remainder of the group's career. The album contained many of Mark Knopfler's most personal compositions, with the song "Romeo and Juliet", about a failed love affair becoming what critics call his best-loved song; with a trademark he developed keeping personal songs under fictitious names.[2] Dire Straits' fourth album, Love over Gold followed in 1982 and included the UK #2 hit "Private Investigations", "Telegraph Road", "Industrial Disease" and "It Never Rains" as well as the title track to that album.

With Love Over Gold still in the albums charts, the band released a four-song EP titled ExtendedancEPlay in early 1983. Featuring the hit single "Twisting By the Pool", this was the first output by the band that featured new drummer Terry Williams, (formerly of Rockpile), who had replaced Pick Withers in November 1982. A world tour called Alchemy: Dire Straits Live followed later in 1983, and a double-LP of the recordings of two live shows in Hammersmith Odeon in London was released in March 1984, selling over 500,000 albums.

At this time Mark Knopfler was also involved with other projects, including writing the soundtrack album Local Hero was a large success, and it was followed in 1984 by his scores for the films Cal and Comfort and Joy.

Dire Straits' biggest studio album by far was their fifth, Brothers in Arms, released in 1985. It became an international hit and spawned several chart singles including the US # 1 hit "Money for Nothing", which was the first video ever to be played on MTV in Britain. It was also the first compact disc to sell a million copies and is largely credited for launching the CD format as it was also one of the first DDD[11] CDs ever released. Other successful singles were "So Far Away", "Walk of Life", and the album's title track. The band's 1985–86 world tour of over 230[6] shows was immensely successful.

After the Brothers in Arms tour Dire Straits went on a lengthy hiatus, with Knopfler concentrating mainly on film soundtracks. Knopfler joined the charity ensemble Ferry Aid on "Let It Be" in the wake of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster. The song reached #1 on the UK singles chart in March 1987. Knopfler wrote the music score for the film The Princess Bride which was released at the end of 1987.

Mark Knopfler also took part in a comedy skit titled "The Easy Guitar Book Sketch" with comedian Rowland Rivron and fellow British musicians David Gilmour, Lemmy from Motorhead, Mark King from Level 42, and Gary Moore. Guitar tech Phil Taylor explained in an interview that Knopfler used Gilmour's guitar rig and managed to sound like himself when performing in the skit.[12]

Dire Straits regrouped in 1988 for the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium, in which they were the headline act, and were accompanied by Elton John and Eric Clapton,[13] who by this time had developed a strong friendship with Knopfler. Shortly after this, drummer Terry Williams left the band.

Additionally in 1988, Knopfler formed The Notting Hillbillies,[6] a more country-focused band whose line-up featured keyboardist Guy Fletcher, with Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. The Notting Hillbillies sole studio album, Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time was released in 1990, and Knopfler then toured with the Notting Hillbillies for the remainder of that year. He further emphasised his country music influences with his 1990s collaboration with Chet Atkins, Neck and Neck.

In 1990 Knopfler, John Illsley, and Alan Clark performed as Dire Straits at the Knebworth gig, joined by Eric Clapton, Ray Cooper, and guitarist Phil Palmer (who was at that time playing in Eric Clapton's band). When Knopfler, John Illsley, Alan Clark, and Guy Fletcher set about recording what turned out to be their final studio album, they were accompanied by several part-time sidesmen, including Phil Palmer, percussionist Danny Cummings, and Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro.

The eagerly awaited follow-up to Brothers In Arms was finally released in September 1991. On Every Street was nowhere near as popular as its predecessor, and met with a mixed critical reaction, with some reviewers regarding the album as an underwhelming comeback after a six year break. Nonetheless, the album sold well and reached #1 in the UK. A gruelling world tour to accompany the album followed, which lasted until the end of 1992. This was to be Dire Straits' final world tour; it was not as well received as the previous Brothers In Arms tour, and by this time Mark Knopfler had had enough of such massive operations. This drove the band into the ground, and ultimately led to the group's dissolution in 1995.[14]

Two live albums were released after On Every Street. Released in 1993, On the Night documented Dire Straits' final world tour. In 1995, following the release of Live at the BBC, Mark Knopfler quietly laid Dire Straits to rest and launched his solo career.

Since the break up of Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler has shown no interest in reforming the group, however keyboardist Guy Fletcher has been associated with almost every piece of Knopfler's solo material to date, and Danny Cummings has made frequent appearances, including one on Knopfler's 2007 solo album, Kill to Get Crimson. In October 2008 Knopfler declined a suggestion by John Illsley that they should reform. Illsley said that a reunion would be "entirely up to Mark", while Knopfler is quoted as saying "Oh, I don't know whether to start getting all that stuff back together again", and that the global fame that came his way in the 1980s "just got too big".[15]

(1996–present) As a solo artist

Mark Knopfler's first solo album, Golden Heart, featuring the UK single "Darling Pretty", was released in March 1996. During the recording sessions for the album the main line-up of Knopfler's backing band, also known as "The 96ers," was formed, featuring Knopfler's old bandmate Guy Fletcher on keyboards, and has lasted much longer than any Dire Straits line-up.
Also in 1996, Mark Knopfler recorded guitar for Ted Christopher's Dunblane massacre tribute cover of Knocking on Heaven's Door

In 1997 Knopfler recorded the soundtrack for the movie Wag the Dog. During that same year Rolling Stone magazine listed "Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll", which included "Sultans of Swing", Dire Straits' first hit. 2000 saw the release of Knopfler's next solo album, Sailing to Philadelphia. This has been his most successful to date, possible helped by the number of collaborators on the album like Van Morrison.

In 2002 Mark Knopfler gave four charity concerts with former Dire Straits members John Illsley, Chris White, Danny Cummings and Guy Fletcher, playing old material from the Dire Straits years. The concerts also featured The Notting Hillbillies with Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. At these four concerts (three of the four were at the Shepherd's Bush, the fourth at Beaulieu on the south coast) they were joined by Jimmy Nail, who provided backing vocals for Knopfler's 2002 composition "Why Aye Man".

Also in 2002 Knopfler released his third solo album, The Ragpicker's Dream. However, in March 2003 he was involved in a motorbike crash in Grosvenor Road, Belgravia and suffered a broken collarbone, broken shoulder blade and seven broken ribs.[16] The planned Ragpicker's Dream tour was subsequently cancelled, but Knopfler recovered and was able to return to the stage in 2004 for his fourth album, Shangri-La.

Shangri-La was recorded at the Shangri-La Studio in Malibu, California in 2004, where The Band made recordings years before for their documentary/movie, The Last Waltz. In the promo for "Shangri-La" on his official website he said that his current line-up of Glenn Worf (bass), Guy Fletcher (keyboards), Chad Cromwell (drums), Richard Bennett (guitar) and Matt Rollings (piano) "play Dire Straits songs better than Dire Straits did." The "Shangri-La" tour took Mark to countries like India and the United Arab Emirates for the first time. In India, his concerts at The Curry Inn and Bangalore were very well received, with over 20,000 fans gathering at each concert to listen to a legend many thought would never visit their country.

In November 2005 a compilation, The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations was released, consisting of material from most of Dire Straits' studio albums and Mark Knopfler's solo and soundtrack material. The album was made available in two editions: a single CD (with a grey cover) and also as double CD (with the cover in blue), and was well-received. The only previously unreleased track on the album is "All the Roadrunning", a duet with country music singer Emmylou Harris, which was followed in 2006 by an album of duets of the same name.

Released in April 2006, All the Roadrunning reached #1 in Denmark and Switzerland, #2 in Norway and Sweden, #3 in Germany, Holland and Italy, #8 in Austria and UK, #9 in Spain, #17 in the United States (Billboard Top 200 Chart), #25 in Ireland and #41 in Australia. All the Roadrunning was nominated for "Best Folk Rock/Americana Album" at the 49th Grammy Awards (11 February 2007) but lost out to Bob Dylan's nomination for Modern Times.

Joined by Emmylou Harris, Knopfler supported All the Roadrunning with a limited – 15 gigs in Europe, 1 in Canada and 8 in the USA – but highly successful tour of Europe and N America. Selections from the duo's 28 June performance at the Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, California, were released as a DVD entitled Real Live Roadrunning on 14 November 2006. In addition to several of the compositions that Harris and Knopfler recorded together in the studio, Real Live Roadrunning features solo hits from both members of the duo, as well as three tracks from Knopfler's days with Dire Straits.

A charity event in 2007 went wrong. A Fender Stratocaster guitar signed by Knopfler, Clapton, Brian May, and Jimmy Page was to be auctioned for £20,000 (or $40,000) to raise the money for a children's hospice, was lost when being shipped. It "vanished after being posted from London to Leicestershire, England." Parcelforce, the company responsible, has agreed to pay $30,000 for its loss.[17]

Knopfler released his fifth solo studio-album Kill to Get Crimson on 14 September 2007 in Germany, 17 September in the UK and 18 September in the United States. During the autumn of 2007 he played a series of intimate 'showcases' in various European cities to promote the album. A tour of Europe and North America followed in 2008.

Continuing a pattern of high productivity through his solo career, Knopfler began work on his next studio album, entitled Get Lucky, in September 2008 with long-time band mate Guy Fletcher, who again compiled a pictorial diary of the making of the album on his website.[18] The album was released on September 14 the following year and Knopfler is currently on an extensive tour across Europe and America.[19]

Knopfler is a member of the Garrick Club in London and played an intimate solo gig there in February 2009.

... to be continued

J.J.Cale (part II)

BIOGRAPHY
Taken from Wikipedia website

JJ Cale (also J.J. Cale), born John Weldon Cale on December 5, 1938, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,[1] is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and musician. Cale is one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz influences. Cale's personal style has often been described as "laid back".

The only U.S. hit single recorded by Cale, Crazy Mama, peaked at #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972. During the 2006 documentary film To Tulsa and Back Cale recounts the story of being offerred the opportunity to appear on Dick Clark's American Bandstand to promote the song, which would have moved the song higher on the charts. Cale declined when told he could not bring his band to the taping and would be required to lip-sync the words to the song.

His songs have been covered by a number of other musicians; "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton, "Bringing It Back" by Kansas, "Call Me the Breeze" and "I Got the Same Old Blues" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, and "Travelin' Light" by Widespread Panic are among the best-known.


Career
Cale is one of the originators of the Tulsa Sound, a very loose genre drawing on blues, rockabilly, country, and jazz influences. Cale's personal style has often been described as "laid back", and is characterized by shuffle rhythms, simple chord changes, understated vocals, and clever, incisive lyrics. Cale is also a very distinctive and idiosyncratic guitarist, incorporating both Travis-like fingerpicking and gentle, meandering electric solos. His recordings also reflect his stripped-down, laid-back ethos; his album versions are usually quite succinct and often recorded entirely by Cale alone, using drum machines for rhythm accompaniment. Live, however, as evidenced on his 2001 Live album and 2006 To Tulsa And Back film, he and his band regularly stretch the songs out and improvise heavily.

Cale is also well known for his longstanding aversion to stardom, extensive touring, and even continual recording. He has happily remained a relatively obscure cult artist for the last 35 years.

The release of his album, To Tulsa and Back in 2004, his appearance at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, and the 2006 release of the film documentary, To Tulsa and Back: On Tour with J.J. Cale, have brought his understated discography and songwriting to a new audience. This mainstream exposure continued into late 2006 with the release of a collaborative album with Eric Clapton, The Road to Escondido, which won Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 50th Grammy Awards in 2008. February 2009 saw the release of his 23rd album, Roll On, including the previously unreleased title track recorded with Eric Clapton.

Early on he was known for playing a heavily modified Harmony H162 guitar. He is currently playing a Casio PG380 MIDI guitar from ca. 1980.

DISCOGRAPHY

Taken from Wikipedia website

Singles
1958 - Shock Hop/Sneaky [45 - as Johnny Cale][3]
1960 - Troubles, Troubles/Purple Onion [45 - as Johnny Cale Quintet] [4]
1961 - Ain't That Lovin You Baby/She's My Desire [45 - as Johnny Cale Quintet] [5]
1971 - Crazy Mama [45 as J.J. Cale], from the album Naturally, peaked at #22 on the U.S. single charts on April 8, 1972.

Albums
1966 A Trip Down The Sunset Strip (with the Leathercoated Minds)
1971 Naturally
1972 Really
1974 Okie
1976 Troubadour
1979 5
1981 Shades
1982 Grasshopper
1983 #8
1984 Special Edition (a compilation of hits from previous albums)
1990 Travel Log
1992 Number 10
1994 Closer to You
1996 Guitar Man
1997 Anyway the Wind Blows
1998 The Very Best of J.J. Cale
2000 Universal Masters Collection
2001 Live
2004 To Tulsa and Back
2006 Collected (with bonus tracks) (Dutch release only)
2006 The Road to Escondido
2007 Rewind: The Unreleased Recordings
2009 Roll On

J.J.Cale (part I)

BIOGRAPHY

Taken from the official J.J.Cale website

Rock & roll is an unforgiving profession. We eat our young, disregard the old and always want more of everything. Aging gracefully while remaining relevant in the rock game is the hardest trick of all, and JJ Cale might be doing it better than anyone.

"I remember when I made my first album [1972's Naturally], I was 32 or 33-years-old and I thought I was way too old then," laughs Cale. "When I see myself doing this at 70, I go, ‘What am I doing, I should be layin' down in a hammock.'"

For some, music is a hobby, or if they're lucky a job or a passion; for JJ Cale it's not even a choice: music is all he's ever known. He's a lifer. Born John Weldon Cale in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and engineer has been doing this for over fifty years and on February 24, 2009, Rounder Records will release Roll On, Cale's sixteenth album. Comprised of 12 new songs, including the previously unreleased title track recorded with Eric Clapton, Roll On is Cale's first batch of new solo material since 2004's To Tulsa and Back and comes on the heels of his gold selling (platinum overseas) 2006 collaboration with Eric Clapton, The Road to Escondido, which also earned Cale his first Grammy®.

In addition to the always appealing notion of another Cale record, what makes Roll On special is that it actually breaks new ground. Parts of this album sound like classic Cale and could have come out 30 years ago while other songs find him traveling in completely new directions. The banjo picking and earthy feel of "Strange Days," along with the pedal steel of "Leaving In The Morning," sound like they could have come off the Naturally sessions, while the crunching guitar on "Where The Sun Don't Shine" is in the vein of "Cocaine," and the gypsy funk of "Fonda-Lina" could be the sophisticated cousin of "Travelin' Light" from 1976's Troubadour.

You want proof that Cale still has a few tricks up his sleeve? Just press play on the new record and all of a sudden there's JJ Cale jazz-scatting for the first time ever on disc opener "Who Knew," and later he's loping along behind a restrained jazz piano on "Former Me." So, where did this new inspiration come from? "When I'm singing in the bathtub I usually do that [scat]," says Cale. "When I got through with [‘Who Knew'] it made me laugh, so I went, ‘Well that's good.' Me doing the scatting is kinda funny."

The recording process for Roll On followed the same general path Cale has used throughout his career. He starts by reviving old songs from previous sessions, writes some new ones and lays down way more material than he can put out. Then he whittles it all down to the strongest set of songs. The albums are generally cut spontaneously with little attention to concept, mood or story. Three of the album's tracks were done at his old friend David Teegarden's Natural Digital Recording Studios in Tulsa, and the rest (except "Roll On") in his home studio, where he eventually takes all the material and truly works his magic, carefully crafting that "Classic JJ Cale Sound."

But what's truly remarkable and often overlooked about Cale is that he does the majority of this on his own. A few of the songs, specifically the ones cut in Tulsa, feature Cale's old cronies backing him, but the majority of the album is just Cale "screwing with electronics." The new CD finds Cale playing guitars, pedal steel, bass, drums, synthesizers, singing lead, backup, harmonizing with himself and then producing and engineering the whole thing. After all these years Cale is still in love with making music, passionately creating future-classics that he'll one day tuck into his very own chapter of the Great American Songbook.

Cale was "do it yourself" before DIY was even a term and he was using drum machines long before it was made fashionable by hip-hop producers. Posted next to his long list of song credits and album accolades ought to be a section on Cale's pioneering work in music technology, which has had a major impact on his sound. In classic Cale fashion, it's his role as engineer and co-producer of The Road to Escondido that he takes the greatest pride in regarding the Grammy® win, perhaps even more than his work as the artist.

"I think it goes back to me being a recording mixer and engineer. Because of all the technology now you can make music yourself and a lot of people are doing that now," reflects Cale. "I started out doing that a long time ago and I found when I did that I came up with a unique sound."

That sound came to life when Cale created Naturally. "[In addition to vocals and guitar] I'm playing piano and bass; and I'm playing bass on ‘Cocaine.' On ‘Crazy Mama' and ‘Call Me The Breeze,' those were electric drum machines and that was the first album I made back in 1971. I first started out doing that because of the economics; I didn't have enough money to hire a band. Now that I have enough money to hire a band I still like that; it's kind of an art form in itself."

All of this - the drum machines, the synthesizers, the homemade records, the one-man band - all of it plays into Cale's vintage front-porch style. Often called the "Tulsa Sound," there's an enchanting aspect to Cale's music; the boogie-rhythm guitar barreling over the hushed, hypnotic vocals with subtle influences leaking in from the blues, country, rockabilly and jazz. For all the talk of Cale's music being "laid-back," it's remarkable how much work goes into making it sound so loose and relaxed. There's a real duality to Cale. He says he's just a guitar player or an engineer, yet he's penned some of the most indelible songs of the past 40 years. His tracks are simple, well constructed and homegrown, but to achieve that natural esthetic he takes the material into his studio and messes with it obsessively, using all types of technology to mold it into his trademark sound. He's like that when he speaks, too. He's polite and kind, generous even. But, there's also some deeper mystery that seems to glow underneath his unassuming nature. He refuses to attribute too much of his success to any one thing (other than luck) and he rarely reveals himself through song. That is if you can even hear the vocals buried in the mix, which is exactly where Cale likes them.

"I consciously do that. I actually have the vocals up more in my later years. They used to be really low," says Cale. "I never considered myself a singer. I always considered myself a songwriter, so my singing got on my nerves so I'd always pull my vocals back. I guess in the last ten or fifteen years I've pushed the vocals up a bit, but not to where it was uncomfortable for me."

Considering the vast influence Cale has had in developing an original style of music, it's ironic that he refuses to take credit as the architect of an entire sub-genre. "Basically, I'm just a guitar player that figured out I wasn't ever gonna be able to buy dinner with my guitar playing so I got into songwriting, which is a little more profitable business," says the always self-effacing Cale.

Guitar player, songwriter, singer, engineer, technician, legend, icon, call him what you will, but Eric Clapton calls him a "master" and it was Clapton who jump started Cale's career and may have saved him from obscurity. When Clapton cut Cale's "After Midnight" in 1970, a song Cale put down in the mid-60s, everything changed. "I had already given up on the business part of the record business and had moved back to Tulsa and had gotten me a job playing with some friends of mine," remembers Cale. "When Eric cut that song it opened up a bunch of doors and I drove over to Nashville and that's when Naturally was done."

Since then it's been a slow, steady climb to the top. In addition to "After Midnight," Clapton went on to record Cale's "Cocaine," "Travelin' Light" and "I'll Make Love To You Anytime." Lynyrd Skynyrd made "Call Me The Breeze" famous, and diverse artist such as Santana, The Allman Brothers, Johnny Cash, The Band, Chet Atkins, Freddie King, Maria Muldaur and Captain Beefheart have all covered his songs. Cale even found inroads to a younger generation of rock fans with jam band heroes Widespread Panic and moe. performing extended versions of lesser known gems like "Ride Me High," "Cajun Moon" and the aforementioned "Travelin' Light." In addition to those who play Cale's songs, landmark artists such as Neil Young, Mark Knopfler and Bryan Ferry cite Cale as a major influence. And the great state of Oklahoma has even nominated "After Midnight" to potentially be the Official State Rock Song.

People like Cale, Young, Clapton and Cash have known something the rest of us don't. They're tapped into the cosmos and have found that universal switch inside our beings, turning us on, creating the soundtrack to our lives. So does it bother Cale that contemporaries and critics list him amongst legends, and fans might love his songs yet not even know his name?

"No, it doesn't bother me," he laughs. "What's really nice is when you get a check in the mail."

Cale's longevity and keen sense of quality control is no doubt tied to his modesty. By staying outside the reach of the music business' sticky web, Cale's career has been steady, strong and rewarding to both fans and artist. He never sought the limelight, and stayed grounded, allowing him to focus on what really matters: the music.

"[Fame] elevates your ego to the point where you start believing your own bullshit," he says. "So I told Audie [Ashworth - Cale's late longtime producer and friend], "I'd like to have the fortune, but I don't care too much about the fame." So, what we did was we didn't put any pictures on any of my albums. It wasn't a planned thing, I'm not really a recluse, but it drifted in that way and it became a good press item, something to make me look like somebody: He's a recluse. But that's really not true."

While hinting that this could be his last CD, Cale is just as quick to mention the growing desire to get back on the road and play live for his hard core fans, and should the inspiration strike, make another record. There are no rules, Cale just rolls with it, and at 70 he's still doing it, and doing it well. He's writing songs, playing guitar, producing, engineering, messing with gear, ripping apart instruments and releasing albums. There ain't no changing JJ Cale - he's a true American original. And like the album says, he's just gonna continue to Roll On.

Article signed by Aaron Kayce

To be continued ...