Mark Knopfler
Name
Mark Knopfler
Birth date
12 August 1949
Country
United-Kingdom 
City
Glasgow
The Notting Hillbillies
Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born August 12, 1949, Glasgow, Scotland) is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and film score composer.
Knopfler was originally best-known as the lead guitarist and vocalist for the British group Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977 with his brother David. Following the dissolution of Dire Straits 1995, Knopfler has continued to record and produce albums as a solo artist, under his own name. Knopfler has also occasionally played in other groups, such as the "supergroup" The Notting Hillbillies. Additionally, he has performed as a guest on works by other artists, including Bob Dylan, Bryan Ferry, Eric Clapton, John Fogerty, Jools Holland, Steely Dan and Chet Atkins. He has produced albums for artists such as Tina Turner, Randy Newman, Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris. In addition, he has scored the music to several films, including Local Hero, The Princess Bride, Cal, Last Exit to Brooklyn and Wag the Dog.
He is one of the most respected fingerstyle guitarists of the modern rock era. Knopfler was ranked #27 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Early days
Mark Knopfler's father was a Jewish architect whose communist sympathies forced him to flee the fascist regime of his native Hungary (please note that Mark in not Jewish himself). His mother was English. When Knopfler was about nine years old, the family moved to Knopfler's mother's home town of Newcastle upon Tyne in the North-East of England. There, he and his younger brother David (also a musician) attended Gosforth Grammar School, where he was inspired by his uncle Kingsley's harmonica and boogie-woogie piano playing. Later, in his teens, he wished to buy an expensive flamingo-pink Fender Stratocaster just like Hank Marvin's, but had to settle for a £50 twin pickup Höfner Super Solid. Like many other schoolboys of the 1960s, he served an early apprenticeship by forming and joining anonymous schoolboy bands and listening to singers like Elvis Presley and guitarists Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore, Jimi Hendrix, Django Reinhardt and James Burton. At sixteen he made a local TV appearance as half of a harmony duo along with school-friend Sue Hercombe.
In 1967, having displayed a flair for English, Knopfler studied journalism for a year at Harlow Technical College. At the end of the course he secured a job in Leeds as a junior reporter on the Yorkshire Evening Post. After two years he decided to further his studies and commenced a degree in English at the University of Leeds. He also worked as a lecturer at Loughton College during this period. It was while Knopfler was living in Leeds that he married his school days girlfriend Kathy White, and met a local blues singer/guitarist by the name of Steve Phillips.
After separating from his wife, he 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." Soon after he made his first record in a London studio: an unreleased demo of an original song, "Summer's Coming My Way".
The Dire Straits Years
Dire Straits' first sessions were done under the name of Dire Straits, with Knopfler's brother David writing and fronting one of the five songs, Pick Withers as drummer and John Illsley as bass player.
Dire Straits recorded and released their first album, the self-titled Dire Straits in 1978 initially to little fanfare in the UK, but a single release, "Sultans of Swing" became a chart hit in Holland and album sales took off across Europe and then in the US. The second album, Communiqué produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, followed in 1979, reaching number one in Germany while the first album was still at number three. The band's third album, Making Movies, was released in 1980 and marked a move towards more complex arrangements and production which continued for the remainder of the group's career.
In 1982 Dire Straits released their fourth album, Love Over Gold. which included "Telegraph Road," "Industrial Disease," and the #2 hit "Private Investigations". A world tour called Alchemy: Dire Straits Live followed in 1983. A double-LP of the recordings of two live shows in Hammersmith Odeon in London was released in March 1984 and sold over 500,000 albums.
Around this time Mark Knopfler was also involved with other projects, including writing the music score for the film Local Hero, released in 1983. 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.
Knopfler married for the second time in November 1983, to Lourdes Salamone. Their twin sons, Benji and Joseph, were born in 1987.
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 number-one hit "Money for Nothing," which was the first video ever to be played on MTV in Britain. 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 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, which reached #1 on the UK singles chart in March 1987. Additionally in 1987, over a meal at a Notting Hill wine bar, Knopfler formed The Notting Hillbillies, a more country-focused band. Knopfler further emphasized his country music influences with his 1990s collaboration with Chet Atkins, Neck and Neck.
In 1988 Dire Straits regrouped for the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium, in which they were the headline act and were accompanied by Eric Clapton. 1990 saw the release of the Notting Hillbillies sole studio album, Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time. The line-up of that group featured Guy Fletcher. After touring with the Notting Hillbillies, Knopfler reformed Dire Straits.
1991 saw the recording of Dire Straits' final original studio album, On Every Street, which was released in September of that year. The album met with a mixed critical reaction, regarded by some as an underwhelming follow up to Brothers in Arms. The album sold well, nonetheless, reaching #1 in the UK.
After On Every Street, two live albums were released, the first of which, On the Night (1993), documented Dire Straits' final tour. This was followed two years later by Live at the BBC as a contractual album for Vertigo.
Dire Straits' line-up changed over the band's career, but Knopfler was always the driving force behind the group. Knopfler's marriage to Lourdes Salamone ended in 1993, and in 1995 he quietly dissolved Dire Straits and launched his solo career. Keyboardist Guy Fletcher has been associated with almost every piece of Knopfler's solo material following Dire Straits' dissolution. Danny Cummings, the percussionist, also makes frequent appearances, including one on Knopfler's latest solo album.
After Dire Straits
In 1996, the year after Dire Straits disbanded, Knopfler released his first solo album, Golden Heart. Formed during the Golden Heart sessions, the main line-up of his solo band, also known as "The 96'ers," has lasted much longer than any Dire Straits line-up.
Knopfler's third marriage to actress Kitty Aldridge has given him two daughters Isabella (born 1998) and Katya Ruby Rose (born 2003). The family currently lives in Chelsea.
In 1997 Knopfler recorded the soundtrack for the movie Wag the Dog. During that same year Rolling Stone magazine released a poll: "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.
In 2002 Mark Knopfler did four charity concerts with former Dire Straits members John Illsley, Chris White, Danny Cummings and Guy Fletcher playing some old Dire Straits songs. The session also included The Notting Hillbillies.
Also in 2002 Knopfler released his third solo album, The Ragpicker's Dream. A keen motorcyclist, Knopfler was involved in a motorbike crash in Grosvenor Road, Belgravia, in March 2003. He suffered a broken collarbone, broken shoulder blade and seven broken ribs. 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 for 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 UAE for the first time. In India, his concerts at Bombay 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 third compilation, The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations was released, and consisted of material from most of Dire Straits' studio albums and Knopfler's solo and soundtrack material.
Knopfler recorded an album of duets with country music singer Emmylou Harris, entitled All the Roadrunning, which was released on April 24, 2006. It 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.
Joined by Emmylou Harris, Knopfler supported All the Roadrunning with a successful world tour. Selections from the duo's June performance at the Gibson Ampitheatre were released as a CD/DVD package entitled Real Live Roadrunning on Nov. 14, 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.
All The Roadrunning was nominated for "Best Folk Rock/Americana Album" at the 49th Grammy Awards (February 11, 2007) but lost out to Bob Dylan's nomination for Modern Times.
Mark has recently released his fifth solo studio-album Kill to Get Crimson. 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 2007 and continuing in to 2008.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Knopfler
Knopfler was originally best-known as the lead guitarist and vocalist for the British group Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977 with his brother David. Following the dissolution of Dire Straits 1995, Knopfler has continued to record and produce albums as a solo artist, under his own name. Knopfler has also occasionally played in other groups, such as the "supergroup" The Notting Hillbillies. Additionally, he has performed as a guest on works by other artists, including Bob Dylan, Bryan Ferry, Eric Clapton, John Fogerty, Jools Holland, Steely Dan and Chet Atkins. He has produced albums for artists such as Tina Turner, Randy Newman, Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris. In addition, he has scored the music to several films, including Local Hero, The Princess Bride, Cal, Last Exit to Brooklyn and Wag the Dog.
He is one of the most respected fingerstyle guitarists of the modern rock era. Knopfler was ranked #27 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Early days
Mark Knopfler's father was a Jewish architect whose communist sympathies forced him to flee the fascist regime of his native Hungary (please note that Mark in not Jewish himself). His mother was English. When Knopfler was about nine years old, the family moved to Knopfler's mother's home town of Newcastle upon Tyne in the North-East of England. There, he and his younger brother David (also a musician) attended Gosforth Grammar School, where he was inspired by his uncle Kingsley's harmonica and boogie-woogie piano playing. Later, in his teens, he wished to buy an expensive flamingo-pink Fender Stratocaster just like Hank Marvin's, but had to settle for a £50 twin pickup Höfner Super Solid. Like many other schoolboys of the 1960s, he served an early apprenticeship by forming and joining anonymous schoolboy bands and listening to singers like Elvis Presley and guitarists Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore, Jimi Hendrix, Django Reinhardt and James Burton. At sixteen he made a local TV appearance as half of a harmony duo along with school-friend Sue Hercombe.
In 1967, having displayed a flair for English, Knopfler studied journalism for a year at Harlow Technical College. At the end of the course he secured a job in Leeds as a junior reporter on the Yorkshire Evening Post. After two years he decided to further his studies and commenced a degree in English at the University of Leeds. He also worked as a lecturer at Loughton College during this period. It was while Knopfler was living in Leeds that he married his school days girlfriend Kathy White, and met a local blues singer/guitarist by the name of Steve Phillips.
After separating from his wife, he 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." Soon after he made his first record in a London studio: an unreleased demo of an original song, "Summer's Coming My Way".
The Dire Straits Years
Dire Straits' first sessions were done under the name of Dire Straits, with Knopfler's brother David writing and fronting one of the five songs, Pick Withers as drummer and John Illsley as bass player.
Dire Straits recorded and released their first album, the self-titled Dire Straits in 1978 initially to little fanfare in the UK, but a single release, "Sultans of Swing" became a chart hit in Holland and album sales took off across Europe and then in the US. The second album, Communiqué produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, followed in 1979, reaching number one in Germany while the first album was still at number three. The band's third album, Making Movies, was released in 1980 and marked a move towards more complex arrangements and production which continued for the remainder of the group's career.
In 1982 Dire Straits released their fourth album, Love Over Gold. which included "Telegraph Road," "Industrial Disease," and the #2 hit "Private Investigations". A world tour called Alchemy: Dire Straits Live followed in 1983. A double-LP of the recordings of two live shows in Hammersmith Odeon in London was released in March 1984 and sold over 500,000 albums.
Around this time Mark Knopfler was also involved with other projects, including writing the music score for the film Local Hero, released in 1983. 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.
Knopfler married for the second time in November 1983, to Lourdes Salamone. Their twin sons, Benji and Joseph, were born in 1987.
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 number-one hit "Money for Nothing," which was the first video ever to be played on MTV in Britain. 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 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, which reached #1 on the UK singles chart in March 1987. Additionally in 1987, over a meal at a Notting Hill wine bar, Knopfler formed The Notting Hillbillies, a more country-focused band. Knopfler further emphasized his country music influences with his 1990s collaboration with Chet Atkins, Neck and Neck.
In 1988 Dire Straits regrouped for the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium, in which they were the headline act and were accompanied by Eric Clapton. 1990 saw the release of the Notting Hillbillies sole studio album, Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time. The line-up of that group featured Guy Fletcher. After touring with the Notting Hillbillies, Knopfler reformed Dire Straits.
1991 saw the recording of Dire Straits' final original studio album, On Every Street, which was released in September of that year. The album met with a mixed critical reaction, regarded by some as an underwhelming follow up to Brothers in Arms. The album sold well, nonetheless, reaching #1 in the UK.
After On Every Street, two live albums were released, the first of which, On the Night (1993), documented Dire Straits' final tour. This was followed two years later by Live at the BBC as a contractual album for Vertigo.
Dire Straits' line-up changed over the band's career, but Knopfler was always the driving force behind the group. Knopfler's marriage to Lourdes Salamone ended in 1993, and in 1995 he quietly dissolved Dire Straits and launched his solo career. Keyboardist Guy Fletcher has been associated with almost every piece of Knopfler's solo material following Dire Straits' dissolution. Danny Cummings, the percussionist, also makes frequent appearances, including one on Knopfler's latest solo album.
After Dire Straits
In 1996, the year after Dire Straits disbanded, Knopfler released his first solo album, Golden Heart. Formed during the Golden Heart sessions, the main line-up of his solo band, also known as "The 96'ers," has lasted much longer than any Dire Straits line-up.
Knopfler's third marriage to actress Kitty Aldridge has given him two daughters Isabella (born 1998) and Katya Ruby Rose (born 2003). The family currently lives in Chelsea.
In 1997 Knopfler recorded the soundtrack for the movie Wag the Dog. During that same year Rolling Stone magazine released a poll: "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.
In 2002 Mark Knopfler did four charity concerts with former Dire Straits members John Illsley, Chris White, Danny Cummings and Guy Fletcher playing some old Dire Straits songs. The session also included The Notting Hillbillies.
Also in 2002 Knopfler released his third solo album, The Ragpicker's Dream. A keen motorcyclist, Knopfler was involved in a motorbike crash in Grosvenor Road, Belgravia, in March 2003. He suffered a broken collarbone, broken shoulder blade and seven broken ribs. 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 for 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 UAE for the first time. In India, his concerts at Bombay 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 third compilation, The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations was released, and consisted of material from most of Dire Straits' studio albums and Knopfler's solo and soundtrack material.
Knopfler recorded an album of duets with country music singer Emmylou Harris, entitled All the Roadrunning, which was released on April 24, 2006. It 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.
Joined by Emmylou Harris, Knopfler supported All the Roadrunning with a successful world tour. Selections from the duo's June performance at the Gibson Ampitheatre were released as a CD/DVD package entitled Real Live Roadrunning on Nov. 14, 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.
All The Roadrunning was nominated for "Best Folk Rock/Americana Album" at the 49th Grammy Awards (February 11, 2007) but lost out to Bob Dylan's nomination for Modern Times.
Mark has recently released his fifth solo studio-album Kill to Get Crimson. 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 2007 and continuing in to 2008.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Knopfler
