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I think he's amazing. I used to have a soundtrack album from local hero which was less well known. I don't play like him at all, but a few guys I used to hang about with were uber-fans, so I think I have some of his stuff unconscious. He has a few sounds too, not just the one. The out of phase strat, and the Les Paul with a tone knob down, then the dobro too.

I went to see him in 1986 at Mount Smart when I was 16. I liked it so much I went the second night too. Telegraph Road was fantastic. Then I went thru a stage of thinking it was not flash, cool or heavy enough and i was only interested in shred etc. Now i have grown up a wee bit I like his playing again. If I could do a fraction of what he can I would be content.

Funny thing is back then I associated a Les Paul with him due to Brothers In Arms and the nice tones he got. I also used to think of Clapton as a Les Paul guy because back then the only record I had of him was Bluesbreakers. Still one of my favorite albums.

Agreed on Walk of Life though. Songs like that were horrible. Producers wanting singles i guess. Not the songs to go by i think.

Re Walk of Life etc, I always took it as they were quite happy to have a bit of fun, and were just a little bit dorky - a lot of seventies humour seems like that to me. They weren't really part of the super-cool crowd.

11 year old me liked walk of life and hounded mummy for a guitar
16 year old me liked brothers in arms and found a way to procure an epiphone lp.

26 year old me likes the lot and still can’t piano.

TLDR

I remember attending a post-Straits concert of his in New Plymouth and the guy next to me was yelling for "Twisting by the Pool" the whole concert, I was tempted to yell "Please don't play Twisting by the Pool", but I didn't need to as it happened.

This is an easy one.
Clapton no
Knopfler yes

Terexgeek wrote:I remember attending a post-Straits concert of his in New Plymouth and the guy next to me was yelling for "Twisting by the Pool" the whole concert, I was tempted to yell "Please don't play Twisting by the Pool", but I didn't need to as it happened.

yeah thank fuck.

Love a lot of dire straits. Knopfler is from the right side of the north - the east side.
Throughout his solo career he sings about stuff and places I know. He sings about places I don't know. He is a consummate song writer first - he writes pictures with words and music. Such a great talent.

Bg wrote:

Terexgeek wrote:I remember attending a post-Straits concert of his in New Plymouth and the guy next to me was yelling for "Twisting by the Pool" the whole concert, I was tempted to yell "Please don't play Twisting by the Pool", but I didn't need to as it happened.

yeah thank fuck.

Love a lot of dire straits. Knopfler is from the right side of the north - the east side.
Throughout his solo career he sings about stuff and places I know. He sings about places I don't know. He is a consummate song writer first - he writes pictures with words and music. Such a great talent.

And about stuff you wouldn't necessarily consider song-worthy such as the story of the Mason-Dixon line and the humble origins of the men it's named after. I like that champion of the underdog thing he often touches upon. Beryl Bainbridge and about how she wasn't acknowledged until after her death. Booker fucking snobs an' all that. On ya, Mark.

Molly wrote:

Bg wrote:

Terexgeek wrote:I remember attending a post-Straits concert of his in New Plymouth and the guy next to me was yelling for "Twisting by the Pool" the whole concert, I was tempted to yell "Please don't play Twisting by the Pool", but I didn't need to as it happened.

yeah thank fuck.

Love a lot of dire straits. Knopfler is from the right side of the north - the east side.
Throughout his solo career he sings about stuff and places I know. He sings about places I don't know. He is a consummate song writer first - he writes pictures with words and music. Such a great talent.

And about stuff you wouldn't necessarily consider song-worthy such as the story of the Mason-Dixon line and the humble origins of the men it's named after. I like that champion of the underdog thing he often touches upon. Beryl Bainbridge and about how she wasn't acknowledged until after her death. Booker fucking snobs an' all that. On ya, Mark.

Both dead on. He is a fantastic musician and guitar player, and a great song-writer. He chose to go less commercial and folky/rootsy and I think a lot of his more recent music downplays his abilities a bit more than I'd personally like. But he's just a humble Geordie, after all...

If anyone wants to know what Strat quack is, he's your man

I'm sure slowly will endorse this.... it may not be your style but, its perfect in every detail. And its an 'album filler'

Darth Sabbathi wrote:

werdna wrote:The first two DS albums - melodic lead playing, great phrasing, good song writing. His legacy.

Later DS is bloated and portentous. Awful cod 50s rocknroll feel to Walk of Life - worst song of the 80s?

I basically agree with this, but I would stretch to the first 3 Dire Straits albums - I reckon Making Movies is awesome. I cannot abide Brothers in Arms - it embodies everything I hate about the 1980s.

He's an incredible and unique player - hard to deny that, even if you don't really dig his style.

I really enjoyed watching this thing on his favourite guitars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3SgyZSYz4Y

Loved that doc too. I am a big fan.

Copied from a recent YouTube thread post:

Watched a wee BBC thing about Sailing to Philadelphia and the story of the Mason-Dixon line. And also the social significance of the line as it relates to slavery and abolitionism. Knopfler seems to be a champion of the underdog so I wondered if his reason for the song wasn't just that both Jeremiah Dixon and Charlie Mason came from humble beginnings, but also because of the slavery connection.

angel of the north, the real north