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Seems ok to ask a question re Mark as the Shads connection is pretty strong?

I kind of lost him after Dire Straits, Cal, Princess Bride and Local Hero, and the iTunes snippets from his solo albums and the Avo gig (?) on TV seemed to be frankly pretty boring. But the other night I caught his concert with Emmylou Harris, of which I had never heard, and it was really great. Since then I can't stop playing This Is Us, Our Shangri-La, Speedway At Nazareth, If This Is Goodbye etc.

In short - have I come across the best of him post Straits - or am I missing out badly on some great albums - if you can only persevere with them? Any thoughts?

I must say I find quite a few of the Dire Straits' tracks boring as well. I bought two of their albums at a record fair for a few Euro's, but I found a lot of the tracks quite flat. I do like all the big hits though.

Mark is my No1 guitar man and I had the chance to meet him as a guest at a back stage party. He was an amazing guy we could have talked all night had his manager not said he was neglecting his other guests. Look up Sailing to Philadelphia it is a great album.

I agree about Golden Heart and, although I'm not a fan of The Shads' 'covers' policy of the 80s, I think they or Hank could have done a great version of the title track. Sailing to Philadelphia is a lovely album too and there are great songs on The Ragpickers Dream (A Place Where We Used to Live) and Get Lucky (Hard Shoulder - although it's a bit like Ferry Cross the Mersey!)

My favourite Dire Straits LP by far is On Every Street - it's my favourite 'car journey' album; I never get tired of it. Every song is a masterpiece.

I loved Neck and Neck, the album he did with Chet Atkins. It was also one of my Dad's favourite albums, and he wasn't a pop/rock fan as such. Neck and Neck is one of those records that just appeals across the board, it's got a lovely feel to it. It makes you forget what a terrible singer he is, one of the worst lead singers of a major band ever! His superb guitar playing is his forte obviously, but he will insist on singing. Frank Zappa did an album called "Shut up and play your guitar" - good advice!

Just wanted to thank people for their replies - well into Mark now at last and the live concert with Emmylou is played every blinkin' day (divorce imminent?).

Favourites are:-

Live with Emmylou - Speedway at Nazareth, Our Shangri La, This Is Us, Right Now, If This is Goodbye, Done With Bonaparte.

'Solo' - Sailing to Philadelphia, Dream of the Drowned Submariner, Prairie Wedding, Are We in Trouble Now, The Last Laugh, Remembrance Day, What It Is (etc)

If nothing else make sure you catch the whole Speedway At Nazareth on the live MK/EH DVD - perfection!

You don't have to justify listening to Mark Knopfler, I have many of his albums and they are amongst the most played.

MikeAB wrote:Just wanted to thank people for their replies - well into Mark now at last and the live concert with Emmylou is played every blinkin' day (divorce imminent?).

Favourites are:-

Live with Emmylou - Speedway at Nazareth, Our Shangri La, This Is Us, Right Now, If This is Goodbye, Done With Bonaparte.

'Solo' - Sailing to Philadelphia, Dream of the Drowned Submariner, Prairie Wedding, Are We in Trouble Now, The Last Laugh, Remembrance Day, What It Is (etc)

If nothing else make sure you catch the whole Speedway At Nazareth on the live MK/EH DVD - perfection!

You're right - listening to Speedway at Nazareth gives you a real rush. I've watched umpteen live recordings of it on YouTube and it's brilliant every time. It really conjures up the American Indycar racing, which it's about.

Martin.

Have now back tracked through all 7 of MK's solo albums - and just cannot play anything else!

It's great 'grown up' music and 60% of it is totally brilliant whilst the rest is mostly pretty good as well.

Don't miss out if you haven't tried him since the Straits.

Martin Page wrote:

MikeAB wrote:Just wanted to thank people for their replies - well into Mark now at last and the live concert with Emmylou is played every blinkin' day (divorce imminent?).

Favourites are:-

Live with Emmylou - Speedway at Nazareth, Our Shangri La, This Is Us, Right Now, If This is Goodbye, Done With Bonaparte.

'Solo' - Sailing to Philadelphia, Dream of the Drowned Submariner, Prairie Wedding, Are We in Trouble Now, The Last Laugh, Remembrance Day, What It Is (etc)

If nothing else make sure you catch the whole Speedway At Nazareth on the live MK/EH DVD - perfection!

You're right - listening to Speedway at Nazareth gives you a real rush. I've watched umpteen live recordings of it on YouTube and it's brilliant every time. It really conjures up the American Indycar racing, which it's about.

Martin.

Yep, I agree with both of you. Saw it performed live in California during the best live show I've ever seen.

Andrew