David Knopfler

David Knopfler
Background information
Born	27 December 1952 (1952-12-27) (age 58) Glasgow, Scotland United Kingdom
Genres	Rock, jazz
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, record producer, poet, author
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1977–present
Labels	Phonogram, Cypress, Peach River, Ariola
Associated acts	Dire Straits
Website	knopfler.com
Notable instruments
Fender Telecaster Fender Stratocaster

David Knopfler (born 27 December 1952, Glasgow)^[1] is a British singer-songwriter, rhythm guitarist, pianist and cofounder of the critically acclaimed rock band Dire Straits.

Knopfler spent three years in Dire Straits. After quitting the band, he embarked upon a solo career as a recording artist, releasing a respectable number of albums over the years. Knopfler initially created smaller record labels, publishing companies, and indie labels. Knopfler has encouraged the advent of online purchasing music in 1995, although he concedes the necessity for other avenues of the distribution and sale of recorded music.^[2]

Knopfler is a published poet and writer. He wrote the Bluffers Guide to the Rock Music Business.

Career

Early life

Knopfler was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to an English mother and a Hungarian Jewish father.^[3] Knopfler grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, where he attended Gosforth Grammar School.^[1] By age 11, he owned a guitar, a piano and a drum kit, and by age 14, he was playing and singing his own compositions in folk clubs.^[4] After attending Bristol Polytechnic, he became a social worker in London, where he shared a flat with John Illsley.^[5]

David Knopfler's older brother Mark Knopfler also played the guitar. David introduced Mark to John Illsley, a bass guitarist, and after gaining the interest of drummer Pick Withers, the four founded the rock and roll band Dire Straits.^[5] One of Mark Knopfler's friends came up with the band's name; a reference to their financial situation at the time the band was beginning to gain notice in the music industry.^[6] David however, asserts at his website that "[t]he notion that the band were literally in dire straits is largely retrospective myth making and not really factually supportable. We all had day jobs until we got a whacking big advance from Polygram".^[7]

David Knopfler played rhythm guitar beside his brother, who was lead guitarist to the band, and David appeared on Dire Straits' first two albums: 1978's Dire Straits and 1979's Communiqué. The stress of composing, arranging songs, recording the then-requisite two albums and tours to support them took its toll on the brothers, and David left the band during the recording of their third album, Making Movies, leaving him uncredited on the album.^[5] There is concert video footage, however, of David playing with the band live on several tracks of this album.

Solo

After leaving Dire Straits, Knopfler released his first solo album in 1983, titled Release. Mark Knopfler and John Illsley both played on the album.^[5] Harry Bogdanovs, a lifelong friend of Knopfler,^[4] is credited with co-writing three of the tracks and playing synthesizer.^[8] The album was supported by the single "Soul Kissing" on the ill-fated^[why?]label Peach River Records. The single was a minor commercial success, peaking at #82 in the UK Albums Chart,^[9] after Knopfler retrieved the rights from the bankrupt record label.^[10] Behind the Lines, his second album, was released in 1985 and his third solo album, Cut the Wire, followed in 1986.^[5] In 1988, the U.S. label Cypress Records released his fourth album, Lips Against the Steel.^[11]

Knopfler scored the soundtracks for the films Shergar (1984) and Laser Mission (1989),^[5] and the German productions Treffer (1984), Jakob hinter der blauen Tür (1989) and Der grosse Bellheim.^[12]

1990-present

Lifelines in 1991 released by Phonogram, was recorded in Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios. The album was followed in 1993 by The Giver,^[5] released by MESA/Bluemoon in the U.S., and Ariola in Europe. Its sparse, acoustic arrangements received positive reviews, as did 1995's Small Mercies, which Knopfler co-produced with Harry Bogdanovs,^[5] featuring Chris White on saxophone.^[13] In 2001 Knopfler worked with Bogdanovs again to co-produce the album Wishbones, which has guest appearances by Chris Rea^[5] and Eddi Reader.

His ninth solo album, Ship of Dreams, which also included Chris Rea, was released in 2004. In May 2005, he published a book of poetry titled Blood Stones and Rhythmic Beasts,^[5] which was released by the UK's BlackWing books (ISBN 0955026008).

The U.S./Canadian jazz label Justin Time Records released Ship of Dreams in October 2005 with an alternate rendition of "Tears Fall" featuring Megan Slankard (replacing Julia Neigel on the original European release).^[12]

Knopfler's tenth solo album Songs for the Siren was released in 2006.^[5]

Recent songwriting projects with other artists have included sessions with Amilia Spicer, Mack Starks, Megan Slankard and Wendy Lands.^[14] He played various acoustic and electric gigs in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Turkey and Australia from 2007 to 2009 with Harry Bogdanovs and his band.^{[citation needed]}

He plans to release a new album soon, the working title of which is 'Grace in the Gutter'. Tours in both Spain and Malta are planned for early 2011.

Discography with Dire Straits

• 1978 - Dire Straits
• 1979 - Communiqué
• 1980 - Making Movies (David left the band toward the end of recording sessions in August 1980, and does not appear on the final release as his contribution was re-recorded. There are several videos of him playing tracks from Making Movies; "Solid Rock" & "Les Boys")
• 1988 - Money For Nothing (compilation)
• 1995 - Live At The BBC
• 1998 - Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits (compilation)
• 2005 - Private Investigations: The Best of Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler (compilation)

Solo discography

• 1983 - Release
• 1985 - Behind the Lines
• 1986 - Cut the Wire
• 1988 - Lips Against the Steel
• 1991 - Lifelines
• 1993 - The Giver
• 1995 - Small Mercies
• 2001 - Wishbones
• 2004 - Ship of Dreams
• 2006 - Songs for the Siren
• 2009 - Anthology: 1983-2008 (Released in USA)
• 2011 - Acoustic (with Harry Bogdanovs)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "David Knopfler". Notable Names Database (NNDB). http://www.nndb.com/people/268/000025193/. Retrieved 10 January 2009. 
2. ^ Knopfler, David (2002). "Building Your Support Team - Creating A Buzz". Draft notes-- Knopfler was a panelist. David Knopfler. http://www.knopfler.com/nemo.html. Retrieved 24 March 2011. 
3. ^ "Brothers of Scottish Rock and Pop (mostly) - Fun Facts, Questions, Answers, Information". Funtrivia.com. http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopics/Brothers-of-Scottish-Rock-and-Pop-mostly-312295.html. Retrieved 2011-11-06. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "David Knopfler Biography". Knopfler's official website. April 2005. http://www.knopfler.com/biog.html. Retrieved 9 January 2009. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Christian Genzel (April 2005). "David Knopfler Biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p18708. Retrieved 9 January 2009. 
6. ^ "Dire Straits Biography". Net Industries. 2009. http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608000435/Dire-Straits.html. Retrieved 9 January 2009. 
7. ^ "Wikiphobia". Knopfler's official website. http://www.knopfler.com/direstraits.html. Retrieved 9 January 2009. 
8. ^ "Harry Bogdanovs - Credits". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p57681. Retrieved 10 January 2009. 
9. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 306. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
10. ^ "NME Artists - YouTube videos, gigs, biography, discography, and books". New Musical Express. http://www.nme.com/artists/david-knopfler. Retrieved 10 January 2009. 
11. ^ "Lips Against the Steel - Overview". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r42530. Retrieved 10 January 2009. 
12. ^ ^{a b} "David Knopfler Discography". Discogs website. http://www.discogs.com/artist/David+Knopfler. Retrieved 10 January 2009. 
13. ^ "Some pieces of Chris White's musical biography...". Chris White Unofficial Home Page - by Slavi. http://www.chriswhite-saxophone.com/bio/abio.html. Retrieved 10 January 2009. ^{[dead link]}
14. ^ Nigel Lawry. "Songstuff: David Knopfler". Interview with David Knopfler. http://music.songstuff.com/articles.php?selected=116. Retrieved 10 January 2009. 

External links

• Official website
• MySpace website

Persondata
Name	Knopfler, David
Alternative names
Short description	English singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist and co-founder of the rock band, Dire Straits.
Date of birth	27 December 1952
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death
Place of death