b. 12 August 1949, Glasgow, Scotland. This homely ex-teacher is Dire Straits' main asset
through his skill as a composer, a tuneful if detached vocal style—and a terse, resonant
fretboard dexterity admired by Eric Clapton and Chet Atkins, both of whom sought his services
for studio and concert projects in the '80s. Courted also by movie directors to score incidental
music, he inaugurated a parallel solo career in 1983 with David Puttnam's film Local Hero from
which an atmospheric tie-in album sold moderately well with its single Going Home (the main
title theme) a minor UK hit (which was incorporated into the band's stage act). Further film
work included soundtracks to Cal, Bill Forsyth's Comfort And Joy and with Dire Straits' Guy
Fletcher, The Princess Bride. After he and the group's Pick Withers played on Bob Dylan's
SLOW TRAIN COMING, Knopfler was asked to produce the enigmatic American's INFIDELS in
1983. Further commissions included diverse acts such as Randy Newman, Willy ( Mink) DeVille
(MIRACLE), Aztec Camera (KNIFE) and Tina Turner, for whom he composed the title track of
PRIVATE DANCER. Knopfler was also in demand as a session guitarist, counting Steely Dan
(GAUCHO), Phil Lynott (SOLO IN SOHO), Van Morrison (BEAUTIFUL VISION) and Bryan Ferry
(BOYS AND GIRLS) among his clients. By no means confining such assistance to the
illustrious, he was also heard on albums by Sandy McLelland And The Backline and Kate And
Anna McGarrigle ( LOVE OVER AND OVER). For much of the later '80s, he was preoccupied
with domestic commitments and, in 1986, he was incapacitated by a fractured collar bone
following an accident at a celebrity motor race during the Australian Grand Prix. In 1989,
however, he and old friends Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips formed the Notting Hillbillies
for an album and attendant tour, but neither this venture nor several nights backing Clapton
during a 1990 Albert Hall season indicated an impending schism in Dire Straits’ ranks.
 

 This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page