Discography, biography and photos of Mark Knopfler

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Every year the music industry is replenished with new talents. Everyone dreams of taking their place in the sun, but not everyone is destined to remain in history. Mark Knopfler was on that list of people who won the hearts of many fans with their talent and music and still continue to collect entire stadiums. Quiet and unassuming, yet so familiar to many, he gets embarrassed every time people tell him about how his music has changed their lives.

Childhood

The biography of Mark Knopfler began on August 12, 1949 in the city of Glasgow (Scotland). His mother is English and his father is a refugee from Hungary. In 1939, in order to save his life, he had to flee from a pro-fascist country. The family settled in the hometown of the musician's mother when he was seven years old. They spent a lot of time there.

School life

British musician Mark Knopfler went to school with his younger brother. It was there that he became interested in music. His uncle's piano and harmonica playing inspired Mark Knopfler. In the 60s, a large number of anonymous music circles appeared, one of which the future guitarist joined, where he had the opportunity to listen to famous singers and musicians such as ElvisPresley, Scotty Moore and Django Reinhardt.

Kopfler showed great interest in English and journalism. He soon became a junior reporter but ultimately decided to graduate in English from the University of Leeds. Many argue that he really liked the language classes. During the day, Mark worked as a reporter, in the evening he attended university, and a little later he began working as a restorer of paintings and furniture.

Music career

In 1988, Knopfler was writing articles about the musical life of the university and during an interview he met local guitarist Steve Phillips. It turned out that the guys had a lot in common, and they created their own joint group, which was called Duolian String Pickers duo.

This is how Mark's musical career began. Steve revealed to Knopfler many of his lead guitar secrets that Knopfler had learned from Lonnie Johnson, the great blues player, as well as some country blues fingering techniques. This had a huge impact on the further work of the musician. In Leeds, Mark Knopfler recorded his track Summer's coming my way for the first time in a makeshift studio, where Steve played twelve-string guitar with him. From the 1960s to the 1970s, the guys were inseparable, they did a lot of work, but then they parted ways.

After a young musician graduates from university, he decides to conquer London. Knopfler spends days studying the press about the modern rock scene. So he gets an audition for Melody Maker ("MelodyMaker") and begins his work in the group Brewer's Droop ("Brewer's Drup"). A career in the group did not work out, and Knopfler went to work as a lecturer at Loughton College (Loughton). Sometimes he taught those who wanted to play the guitar. Soon, the musician's younger brother David decides move to London. At that time, Knopfler had his own "gang", which was called Cafe Racers ("Cafe Racers"). The guys decided to take David. Together they played in local pubs. The group goes on a two-month tour, in which forty Playing forty-two shows for four days, after which the band rarely appears on the radio, Knopfler becomes increasingly distracted by his solo career and begins touring the UK.

The Story of Dire Straits

After some time, the group was finally formed, and in 1977 the guys began to be called Dire Straits ("Die Straits"), which means "desperate situation" or "nowhere is worse". Talented aspiring musicians have their first recordings. Gradually, the popularity of the group went beyond the clubs. The recordings got to the DJ of the BBC radio station, after which the "gang" was invited to perform their compositions on the radio.

So they signed their first contract with the label Vertigo. Ed Bicknell wanted to be the new manager. He offered the guys a joint tour with the band Talking Heads ("Taking Heads").

Vocalist Mark Knopfler, whose photographs graced the walls of many of his fans, broughttheir children to glory. The composition of the group suffered changes. Someone came, someone left, but nevertheless innovations were not long in coming. Now the group has keyboards and a saxophone. In 1985, after the recording of Brothers In Arms, which translates as "to take up arms", the group gained worldwide popularity. During the tour, the musicians had 234 performances, which brought together more than twelve million Dire Straits fans. The album became a real bestseller. However, after the tour, the group announced the end of their career. Knopfler concentrated primarily on film soundtracks.

Soon Mark Knopfler was drawn to the past. At that moment, the "gang" was going to perform in Leeds. His old friend Steve was in London, he warned that he would come to the performance. In May 1986, Steve Phillips and Brendan Crocker stood on the same stage with Knopfler at the Grove pub. And so began the life of a new group called Notting Hillbillies ("Notting Hillbilis"). The musicians began work on the disc, it was a mixture of country and blues. Subsequently, the album will go multi-platinum. They are back on the radio and continue to play in the pubs.

Solo career

Mark Knopfler's career was skyrocketing, but he wanted something more. In parallel with playing in Dire Straits, he began his solo career. The composition for the film Local Hero ("Local Hero") was the first project that Mark Knopfler worked on.

Discography of a talentedthe musician expanded more and more rapidly. Mark also began working with famous musicians. Bob Dylan was preparing to release his album called Infidels, and Knopfler became the producer of his work.

Thanks to the fruitful work with Tina Turner, a composition such as Private Dancer ("Personal Dancer") was born. Subsequently, Mark Knopfler collaborated as a producer with Van Morrison, Chet Atkins and Randy Newman.

Soon Mark Knopfler gained fame as a composer. He wrote soundtracks for films such as Local Hero (1983), The Princess Bride (1987), Diary of a Terrorist (1984), Metroland (1997), Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989) and "Wag" (1997).

Beautiful guitar overflows and interesting vocals became the main components of Mark Knopfler's career. Photos of the musician clearly show that he practically does not part with the guitar, being with it everywhere.

His style is different from the styles of other musicians. Mark Knopfler is left-handed, but nevertheless prefers to play right-handed guitar. As the musician himself says, he uses a mediator only in studios when recording rhythmic parts, but at concerts he plays with his fingers. His vocals can be compared to a mixture of singing and recitative. Music is constantly changing. From a clean guitar sound, the melody turns into heavy and overdriven, and then again flows into light and soft. According to Rolling Stone magazine, Mark Knopfler is one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.times. The musician is ranked 27th on this list.

Private life

The musician was married three times. His first wife was his high school girlfriend Cathy White. In the second marriage, Mark Knopfler and Lourdes Salomon had beautiful twins. They were named Benjamin and Joseph. The third marriage with Kitty Aldridge gave the great musician two daughters - Isabella and Katya Ruby Rose.

Struggle for human rights

Unfortunately, the Russian fans of Mark Knopfler, who were expecting his performances in Moscow and St. Petersburg on June 7 and 8, were forced to change their plans, as the musician did not want to come to Russia due to the law recently signed by Vladimir Putin" About Undesirable Organizations".

According to this law, the activities of any non-governmental organization suspected of threatening the country's security will be terminated. As a result, more than 100 non-governmental organizations have undergone a large number of inspections, with many claiming that such methods are illegal.

The offices of Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Memorial are the oldest of those currently located on the territory of the Russian Federation. In their reports, they write about the restriction of civil liberties in Russia. The musician believes that such actions are unacceptable, as a result of which he was forced to express his protest and cancel concerts in the country until the pressure from the authorities stops.

Discography

Working at Dire Straits:

• 1978 - Dire Straits.
• 1979 - Communiqué.
• 1980 - MakingMovies.
• 1982 - Love Over Gold.
• 1983 - ExtendedancEPlay.
• 1984 - Alchemy Live.
• 1985 - Brothers in Arms.
• 1988 - Money For Nothing.
• 1991 - On Every Street.
• 1993 - On the Night.
• 1995 - Live At The BBC.
• 1998 - Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits.
• 2005 - Brothers In Arms 20th Anniversary Edition.
• 2005 - The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations.

Solo career:

• 1996 - Golden.
• 1996 - A Night In London.
• 2000 - Sailing to Philadelphia.
• 2002 - The Ragpicker's Dream.
• 2004 - Shangri-La.
• 2005 - One Take Radio Sessions.
• 2007 - Kill To Get Crimson.
• 2009 - Get Lucky.
• 2012 - Privateering.
• 2015 - Tracker.

New album

In the career of an outstanding performer, it is impossible not to highlight his new work as a separate chapter. In 2015, musician Mark Knopfler released his new masterpiece called Tracker. First of all, the fans were pleased that the style of one of the most prominent guitarists has not changed.

The same voice, the same guitar picks and a few tens of minutes of calm and serenity.

According to critics, Knopfler's latest work has become the most interesting and outstanding in his solo career. The album is filled with quiet, warm, bewitching and calm music, it turned out to be autobiographical. Knopfler simple musicalspeaks in language about his life, hobbies, travels and idols. Folk is more and more heard in the melodies. In creating the album, he was helped by his friends, with whom he once played in the same band. Produced by Mark Knopfler himself. At the moment, the great musician and composer continues to work on music.