Mark Knopfler The Long Road.
Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, lead singer and songwriter for the rock band Dire Straits which he co-founded with his younger brother, David Knopfler, in 1977. Knopfler is a fingerstyle guitarist and was ranked 27th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
Mark was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to an English mother, Louisa Mary, and a Hungarian Jewish father, Erwin Knopfler. His mother was a teacher and his father was an architect and a chess player whose anti fascist sympathies and Jewish parentage forced him to flee from his native Hungary in 1939. The Knopflers originally lived in the Glasgow area and Mark Knopfler's younger brother David was also born there. The family re-settled in Knopfler's mother's home town of Blyth, Northumberland, in North East England when he was seven years old.
Inspired by his uncle Kingsley's harmonica and boogie-woogie piano playing, Mark 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. During the 1960s, he listened to singers like Elvis Presley and guitarists Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore, B.B King, Django Reinhardt, Hank Marvin, and James Burton.
In 1968, after studying journalism for a year at Harlow College. Knopfler was hired as a junior reporter in Leeds for the Yorkshire Evening Post. Two years later, he decided to further his studies, and went on to graduate with a degree in English at the University of Leeds. In April 1970 (while living in Leeds) Knopfler recorded a demo disk of an original song he had written: "Summer's Coming My Way". The recording included Knopfler (guitar and vocals) Steve Phillips (second guitar) Dave Johnson (bass) and Paul Granger (percussion). Johnson, Granger, and vocalist Mick Dewhirst played with Knopfler in a band called Silverheels.
In 1973, Knopfler moved to London and joined a High Wycombe-based band called Brewers Droop, appearing on the album The Booze Brothers. One night, while spending 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."
*Cal is a soundtrack album released on 24 August 1984 by Vertigo Records. The album contains music composed for the 1984 film Cal, produced by David Puttnam and directed by Pat O'Connor.
Mark Knopfler ~ Guitars, Paul Brady ~ Tin whistle, mandolin
Liam O'Flynn ~ Uilleann pipes, Guy Fletcher ~ Keyboards
Terry Williams ~ Drums
