Guitar Stories
July 27, 2013 7:26 PM Subscribe
Mark Knopfler takes his former Dire Straits band mate John Illsley on a journey to discover the six guitars that defined his sound and music. [SLYT 44min]. An excellent documentary from SkyARTS.
Thanks I really enjoyed that, I've always loved listening to Mark Knopfler (& always felt sorry for that poor Romeo sap). It's nice to see how much he genuinely enjoys his work.
posted by headnsouth at 8:23 PM on July 27, 2013
posted by headnsouth at 8:23 PM on July 27, 2013
After a day of thinking about JJ Cale, this is a nice nightcap.
posted by spitbull at 8:29 PM on July 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by spitbull at 8:29 PM on July 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
As a kid I absolutely loved Dire Straits. I would listen to Alchemy over and over and over. By the time Brothers In Arms came out had I started to move on and by the mid-eighties there was so much newer, cooler stuff that Knopfler & Co drifted into the background.
30 years later and every so often one of the 10 Dire Straits track I have on iTunes will pop up on the shuffle and goddamn it if they don't still fucking rock. I probably couldn't listen to whole albums on repeat anymore but Sultans of Swing, Romeo and Juliet and Love Over Gold can still hold my attention and have me sing along with every fucking word like I was 12 years old all over again.
This was a great little film and there's something very refreshing about catching up with some musical heroes from my past and simply finding some nice old boys talking about guitars.
posted by jontyjago at 8:46 PM on July 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
30 years later and every so often one of the 10 Dire Straits track I have on iTunes will pop up on the shuffle and goddamn it if they don't still fucking rock. I probably couldn't listen to whole albums on repeat anymore but Sultans of Swing, Romeo and Juliet and Love Over Gold can still hold my attention and have me sing along with every fucking word like I was 12 years old all over again.
This was a great little film and there's something very refreshing about catching up with some musical heroes from my past and simply finding some nice old boys talking about guitars.
posted by jontyjago at 8:46 PM on July 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Very neat film, thanks.
Looks as if the years have been kind to Illsley and Knopfler too.
posted by islander at 9:14 PM on July 27, 2013
Looks as if the years have been kind to Illsley and Knopfler too.
posted by islander at 9:14 PM on July 27, 2013
spitbull: I didn't know, aw man, just...
Also, Knopfler is awesome and this doc was wonderful.
posted by Cosine at 11:04 PM on July 27, 2013
Also, Knopfler is awesome and this doc was wonderful.
posted by Cosine at 11:04 PM on July 27, 2013
When I was learning to play guitar as a teen, I went through a fairly serious Knopfler phase. One night I went to bed with a Straits album playing, and had an incredibly lucid dream in which Knopfler was sitting in a couch in my living room, playing Man's too Strong. Soon I was half-awake, aware that I was dreaming. It occurred to me that if I was dreaming Knopfler so clearly picking out each note, perhaps subconsciously I knew how to play the song myself!
Excited, I woke up, picked up my guitar and tried to remember what I saw. It was all crap - he was tugging at the strings with both hands, dragging his knuckles across the fretboard and other such unlikely techniques. Basically, my subconscious was a lying asshole and I've never trusted it since.
posted by vanar sena at 7:37 AM on July 28, 2013
Excited, I woke up, picked up my guitar and tried to remember what I saw. It was all crap - he was tugging at the strings with both hands, dragging his knuckles across the fretboard and other such unlikely techniques. Basically, my subconscious was a lying asshole and I've never trusted it since.
posted by vanar sena at 7:37 AM on July 28, 2013
Just about 5 minutes in there's a big Schecter sign in the shop. Then nothing. No dragons, nothing.
posted by hawthorne at 7:44 AM on July 28, 2013
posted by hawthorne at 7:44 AM on July 28, 2013
My band does a coupe of Dire Straits tunes. One great thing about a Mark Knofler song is that it isn't as tough to sing as, say the Star Spangled Banner. The man has limited vocal range, and gets everything possible out of it.
If he can sing it, anyone can sing it. Even me.
posted by Repack Rider at 10:39 AM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
If he can sing it, anyone can sing it. Even me.
posted by Repack Rider at 10:39 AM on July 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Came for guitar porn. Left satisfied. Heilege sheiss, those archtops!
posted by tspae at 12:04 PM on July 28, 2013
posted by tspae at 12:04 PM on July 28, 2013
My favorite Knopfler track of him playing with a Pick.
Withers
posted by petebest at 5:44 PM on July 28, 2013
Withers
posted by petebest at 5:44 PM on July 28, 2013
My band does a coupe of Dire Straits tunes. One great thing about a Mark Knofler song is that it isn't as tough to sing as, say the Star Spangled Banner. The man has limited vocal range, and gets everything possible out of it.
If he can sing it, anyone can sing it. Even me.
That's a great point and it's a mark of his talent that it's the first time I've thought about it that way. He makes very good use of a very limited instrument.
I was at the Wellington waterfront street market with my daughter on Sunday, and some busker started playing 'Brothers in Arms'. Damn that's a beautiful song.
posted by Sebmojo at 6:53 PM on July 28, 2013
If he can sing it, anyone can sing it. Even me.
That's a great point and it's a mark of his talent that it's the first time I've thought about it that way. He makes very good use of a very limited instrument.
I was at the Wellington waterfront street market with my daughter on Sunday, and some busker started playing 'Brothers in Arms'. Damn that's a beautiful song.
posted by Sebmojo at 6:53 PM on July 28, 2013
I have always had an unhealthy love for Knopfler. Ironically, I think it's a cross of him and the Blues Brothers that drove a lot of my exploration of the Blues.
I wish that I could play anything like that, because there's just magic in it.
posted by drewbage1847 at 8:06 PM on July 28, 2013
I wish that I could play anything like that, because there's just magic in it.
posted by drewbage1847 at 8:06 PM on July 28, 2013
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