The AMUSING Inspiration Behind Dire Straits CLASSIC 70s Hit | Professor of Rock
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- Опубліковано 15 чер 2021
- The story of the 1979 classic Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits. Mark Knopfler was inspired to write the song after witnessing a band playing Dixieland Jazz in a dive bar.
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#70s #Rock #Story
Hey music junkies and vinyl junkies Professor of Rock always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest 70s vinyl songs of all time for the music community and vinyl community.
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Mark Knopfler was performing in London’s pub scene in the mid 70s, living on next to nothing in a flat with aspiring bassist John Illsley. Knopfler’s younger brother, David, introduced him to Illsley, following the dissolution of Mark’s first marriage. Mark, John, and David teamed up with “Pick” Withers, another London area musician, to form a group they aptly named Dire Straits.
The 4 members all had day jobs, but they lived a ‘hand to mouth’ existence- struggling to pay their utilities bill. One rainy evening, Mark & a few friends decided to go to a nearby pub for a couple of pints in a dilapidated (dih-lap-ih-dated) section of South London.
The pub was nearly empty, except for a couple of guys playing pool. On a corner of the bar, a band was playing- seemingly unaffected by the lack of an audience.
The band was “blowing Dixie- double four time” as Knopfler would later transcribe. “Dixie double” is a performance style that was popularized by Django (jang-go) Reinhardt (rain-hart), and in the early days of Les Paul- where the guitar, bass, and drums are played harmoniously at a very fast pace.
If you’re playing “Dixie double- four time” as Knopfler describes in “Sultans of Swing”, you are playing twice the speed of the normal 4/4 time, and the drummer is working extra hard to keep up with the tempo. Knopfler remembered asking the hapless Dixie outfit to play “Creole Love Call” or “Muskrat Ramble,” much to the band’s delight, because they were undoubtedly shocked that someone in the pub actually knew some of the songs in their repertoire.
At the end of the band’s performance, the leader announced triumphantly to the 3-4 people in attendance….”We are the Sultans of Swing!,” as if they were playing in front of a packed house of ardent fans. Mark found the irony of the scene very amusing; a frumpy looking band playing a hole in the wall pub in a dodgy part of town- declaring themselves “the sultans of swing.”
To be a “sultan” would be to rule over a country, or hold a dynasty over people. The term originated from the Arabic language meaning to have“authority” or “rulership” over others.
The true “Sultans of Swing” would’ve been the ’swing' genre’s originator Fletcher “Smack” Henderson in the late 20s & 30s, or one of his revered disciples, Duke Ellington & Benny Goodman.
Babe Ruth and the Yankees legendary murderers row of the 20s if you’re talking baseball. - Розваги
Poll: What is the most memorable guitar line of all time?
Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower...
Start Me Up - The Rolling Stones
Kinks... You Really Got Me .... or am I thinking of "All Day and All of the Night" ... I don't remember.
Eddie Van Halen's solo on Michael Jackson's " Beat It" is the best.
"Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple gets my number one pick, followed closely by "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream.
I first heard Sultans of Swing on the car radio, listening to it in the passenger seat while my dad (no lover of rock music but instead who loved opera) was driving me around. We both started listening to the song and I was instantly hooked! I called the radio station when we got home to find out the name of the tune and the band and then went out and bought the record. I wore it out and still have that album today! My dad liked the song too. Can't believe that was over 40 years ago!
Hooked me right away and never let me go. Still the one.
Sad radio stations can't give names of the songs.
It takes an exceptional song to bridge certain generation gaps. I'm glad that you and your dad found the song that hooked both of you. My father also adored opera, while I loved rock. We eventually found common ground in classic jazz, Dave Brubeck, Bill Evens, Ella Fitzgerald, and some big band music. He never could appreciate rock music at all. Thanks for reminding me about good times with my father, who passed away Mar 2020. Peace out
The solo was what did it for me, in my small tuck cranked up on cassette tape, I was addicted to the tone and finger picking style and to this day I have never heard anything close
I was in Fresno California in 1978 attending college and one afternoon while driving I heard it on the radio. I just thought it was a new Bob Dylan song.
My favorite Mark Knopfler story was when Weird Al asked him for permission to parody Money for Nothing and Mark said yes but only if he got to play the guitar part on it.
Knopfler then took the track for himself, as he didn't like the sound of the original guitar track.
My Favorite was about him hearing a "New "GUitar sound he LOVED and went to his shop and said he wanted "to sound just like Martin Barre." Whoa
Yes "Weird Al" I have the movie UFH on DVD. Great stuff.
@@salty-walt😂
Mark Knopfler is without a doubt, one of the greatest guitar players of all time...and one heck of a great storyteller with all of those Dire Strait songs...and all that came after Dire Strait days
You hear Bee-Gees and Gloria Gaynor today and its impossible not to think of the late 70s.
You hear Sultans of Swing today and you'll realize (again) how timeless it is. Like a true classic.
I think of the late 70s when I see a dog with one erect ear and one floppy ear. Disco Ears, I call that, and it is on urbandictionary thanks to me after I couldn't believe that no one had ever publicly coined that phrase before.
I was working at a pet shop in 1979 when it came on the radio. I hadn't opened the store yet, I always arrived an hour early so I could let the puppies out of their cages to run through the store and play while I cleaned their cages. I let all the puppies out cranked up the radio and Sultans of Swing came on. The puppies were running and sliding and jumping all over the store to Sultans of Swing. It was hilarious and cute as hell. I loved that song ever since and still smile about those puppies every time I hear it. .😄
I would love to talk to the actual Sultans of Swing, the band Mark saw in the pub that night. How does it feel to be the inspiration for one of the greatest songs ever?
I think they would be proud that they inspired one of the greatest bands of all time, Mark is just awesome. Now Roger isn't recognized as he should be. Isn't it wonderful for anyone to inspire greatness in someone else, especially a total stranger.
Bruh. Can you imagine being that band?
mark said in an interview that the real sultans of swing weren’t great at what they were doing and even said “you couldn’t be less of a sultan of anything if you were in that band.”
the one song that never gets old, you just can't get tired of it. genius
I discovered Mark Knopfler only four years ago when I retired at 60 and we had moved from California to our retirement home in Las Vegas. The song was Our Shanghai-La. I can’t stop playing it and I have been gathering his songs ever since. Even when I didn’t know it was him, I opened the song to see who is playing that song I like. His guitar work and lyrics are mesmerizing. I was never before as interested in guitar work as much as I am now. I have always listened to music all day long and he changed how and what I listen to.
1st of all: I friggin' LOVE "Sultans of Swing"
2nd: my local radio station used to play "Sultans..." without that brilliant end solo (no idea why). So I wrote them an e-mail to, you know, STOP CUTTING OUT the solo. And to my amazement - they listened! I heard it couple of time after that and the solo was there :) So happy
Not including the Solo should be considered a crime against humanity!
Someone should call the UN and have them charged with that crime 😉
That's the best part! It's like someone taking away the meatballs from your spaghetti!
I don't know when your story takes place, I'm assuming recently because of "email". I've seen a 7" radio edit of sultans of swing so I assume at the time of the songs release they would play the radio edit, which wouldn't have the end solo. I don't know why they'd drop the end solo seeing as it's awesome, I suppose to make it 'better for radio' because it's hard to get long songs on the radio I think. Good work getting the full song on the radio
Sultans of Swing has always been the song to me that transcended rock. I can't explain it but it is and it isn't rock, it's more and it is one of those songs that I NEVER get tired of hearing.
I agree....it's just in a category all by itself.
For me, Sultans of Swing is about Dire Straits themselves. They're the definitive classicists - when everyone else is chasing trends, like disco or punk, they're happy to do what they enjoy, whether anyone listens or not. And in the process, they make something amazing, and remind the rest of us that just because something is new and hip, that doesn't make it better.
Very well said!
He told you what it was about lol
Righto!!
I think the irony is that the Sultans of Swing, had their eye on where they would be, hoped to be,... offering a look into their future "we are The Sultans of Swing". So the song is also, I think, the journey of Dire Straits, that they wanted to make. The first step ..believing that we have arrived, " we are the Sultans of Swing".
Yes. Far too many bands that have a kooky quirky name but just don't sound good.
They were called the cafe racers before Dire straits, Mark was teaching at Loughton college , I know this because l was in his class and we hung out at the Winston Churchill pub with Mark
My favorite Dire Straits song is “Brothers in Arms”. The last line “It’s written in the starlight and every line in your palm, we’re fools to make war on our brothers in arms” followed by that stunning mournful wailing of a guitar solo gives me shivers and moves me to tears.
That’s my favorite too. Since Dire Straits is my favorite band, I always say ”Brothers In Arms” is the greatest song of all time.
Brothers in Arms is a magnificent album, my personal favorite track is The Man's too Strong
I love the instrumental at the end of “Why Worry.”
Same here it is the best, the guitar that Marks plays is so soft yet so rock. It is an awesome song.
Straight feeling
My dad would play me Sultans of Swing via headphones in utero. He was obsessed, and Dire Straits is the soundtrack of my entire childhood. And now my kids rock out to it with me too 🤘🏻🎸
One of the 1st songs I remember hearing my dad singing in the car. I'll always love this gem
You were doomed from the start, LOL.
Mark is so good he has never had to do his own boasting, we are all happy to do it for him!
Oftentimes Knopfler would write great songs about the most mundane things he'd experience just going about his own life (e.g., "Lions" after a bus ride thru Trafalgar Square; "Lady Writer" after watching a TV nightly news report, etc.). The guy was/is a creative genius.
Don't forget 'Quality Shoe'. My favourite mundane topic song.
Can I just state that this is a great piece of story telling? You offer a personal perspective that can only be done by someone who truly appreciates the content they are providing. Applause all around.
"Sultans Of Swing" was to me in 1978, like a oasis in a vast, arid desert of Disco. It gave me faith that rock&roll would indeed, never die.
and and There were still bunches of great songs in ' i '79 that weren't disco
I LOVED disco because it was the new ballroom dancing. Not often men enjoy dancing, you take the opportunity!😁
@@bcfriardoyle7697 Fair enough, glad you enjoyed that era.
I hope its still alive. Coz I dont hear any new rock songs
Oh, come on. So in 1978 you didn't hear rock from Boston, the Eagles, Peter Frampton, Kansas, Styx, Journey, Van Halen, Fleetwood Mac, Cheap Trick, ELO (pre-Discovery), the Doobie Brothers, Foghat, Firefall, America, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Eric Clapton, YES, Al Stewart, Santana, Paul McCartney & Wings, Genesis, Hall & Oates, Aerosmith, Little River Band, Heart, the Cars, Jefferson Starship, Queen, Elton John and many other non-disco artists on the radio?
I can't believe he talked about this for almost 20 minutes and never mentioned the live recording which has perhaps the finest solo guitar lines ever.
Alchemy is always my go to version of sultans!
The solo part in the Mandela concert is for me the best (heavily based on alchemy live version)
With another great Eric clapton complimenting knopfler...
'Sultans of Swing' caught my ear in 1979 just after I turned 20. It was a time when a person heard a song they liked a lot, they would take a chance that the rest of the album had a couple other good songs too. I was not disappointed, not one bit! Actually I still love every song on the album with a special place for 'Sultans of Swing'. But honestly, what eventually became my favorite song of all time is 'Wild West End'. You see, in 1979 I made a 2100 mile road trip to see my very best friend in south-central Missouri from my home of 5 years at the time in south-eastern British Columbia. This friend returned with me and we nearly wore out the entire album while singing along and playing air guitar with Knopfler all the way back to B.C.. As it was, I was 20 and my friend Bill was 21. We truly were 'Wild Best Friends' from our childhood through our teens. Sadly, he took his own life the following winter after returning home in the fall of '79. The smile that song brings will never fade for me... At least it hasn't over these last 41 years. :)
Wow. A very moving story. I'm so sorry that you lost such a close, beloved friend so young. My first cousin, the only other male besides myself in our generation of our family, took his own life almost thirty years ago when we were in our early twenties. So, perhaps I can empathize because it was a crushing loss. Regardless, I'm sorry to read about your loss. It's nice to read that you're able to smile when you're recalling your friend. I wish you the best sir and nothing but the smiles in the future. Sincerely, Rob.
Wow, that's heavy Scott! Music is the escape for everyone. All the best!
@@terryhowie3099 Thanks for that! I like to think that music is both an escape at times and a 'reality check'. In that, music can represent the realities we all embrace as well. If my friend Bill could here me now, I'd sing this song with him and then give him a real ration of it for choosing to miss out on the last 40 years of our friendship as well as his own set of experiences... good and bad. Perhaps I'm being a bit 'zen', but we've all had bad times that felt overwhelming. But, somehow, I let my early bad times (that I obviously made it through) remind me that, no matter what I'm going through... 'This too shall pass.' 🤔😌
@@robertcowan7610 Thank You. I still both smile with recalling the memory and feel the anger at the waste of what could have been. I hope you have cherished memories of your cousin that bring smiles or a laughs too. As an Atheist, it still ticks me off that someone I care about would throw it all away. Of course, what ticks me off more is the one interaction I had with his younger brother who thinks I'll join Bill in hell... That's an orders of magnitude waste of thought and emotion.🤔
I was eleven years old when Sultans was a hit. It had always stuck in my mind as being something special. I didn't know anybody else that liked it or the accolades that it had gotten in guitar circles or anything, but it was one of the many rock songs from the 60's and '70's that really inspired me to want to learn to play the guitar. So, at 15 I did, and I played along with records to learn. In 1986 I bought a Strat and would sit in my garage listening to my cassette of Sultans of Swing over and over to learn every note, and I did. I can still play it ( ok the hard part in the ending solo is a little much for my old fingers lol). Playing this song helped establish the kind of bastardized fingerpicking style that I use to this day.
Good for you mate...been there
Sultans of Swing is my favorite song of all time!
That song and comfortably numb have given me the same feeling every time I’ve listened to them and have never gotten old
I'll second that.
It is a really good song. It is on my favorite Playlist that I listen to while snowboarding.
It's on my Mt Rushmore
ME TOO!! Wow, it's probably been a couple decades since I realized it, but I simply cannot resist this song. I was lucky to briefly have been in a band awhile back (I'm a bassist) where the lead guitarist could nail Knopfler's solos when we played this tune.
My dad used to love Dire Straits, he worked in the department store that inspired their anthem Money for Nothing. This too is an underrated banger
I have always thought that their song "Your Latest Trick" is horribly underrated. The trumpet intro itself is fantastic not to mention the sax riff it runs right into.
Why are you saying it's underrated? I've never seen a single review where it would be rated as bad. It might not be widely known, but I've never heard anybody say it wasn't good.
Dad? What is Dire Straits?
Son, come and sit for a while. I tell you the tale of a poet who mastered the guitar as well.
I remember an interview with Mark Knopfler when he officially retired. He was asked what he wanted to do next. He answered that, now he has the time for it, wants to learn to play guitar. Apparently, his own assessment of his guitar skills didn't match up with everybody else's opinion.
@@klausstock8020 nice yeh I can see that though it’s a really nice sound they produced it’s not the height of guitarist abilities just sounds great mainly
@@klausstock8020 MK always came across as very humble. It shone thru in every way. It was very tangible. I always got the impression that he never thought he was as great as we who love his music knows that he is.
I remember the exact moment I first heard Sultans of Swing. I was driving on a wooded, winding road on Bainbridge Island, Washington when it came on the radio. The song carried me and my car as we drifted through the forest until I pulled over, completely enthralled. I cannot believe that I remember this buried memory as if it were yesterday. Thank you for this trip down memory lane.
❤️
Yes same, I remember being 10 years old and hearing it for the first time. I was so impressed !
Took me 4 years to find out the name of the song and I still listen to it !
My wife and i had 4 month old baby and were heading out for town for a family get together when Sultans came on the radio. We were floored and stopped at a local well-known record store where my friend was manager. I walked inside, and the album was playing. I asked my buddy about the band and album and he had one cassette left, saved for himself. I pleaded with him and he finally sold it to me. That cassette was the only music we played on our drive to the get together and back. It is still one of favorite albums and bands!
The live version from Alchemy is 10 mins 42 secs of total and utter twiddly brilliance. One of the best songs of all time.
The first time I heard "Sultans of Swing", I was driving home after church. I arrived home long before it was finished, but stayed in the car to relish every second of the outro solo. The DJ said who it was and I determined to find the record ASAP. Over the years I've purchased every album Mark has released.
I never understood the lyrics like "he's strictly rhythm, doesn't want to make it cry or sing" until I started learning and playing guitar myself.
Truth.
Lol, so which style are you? I think 95% of guitarists want to make it cry or sing!
Reminds me of Malcom and Angus Young. Although as I say this, an earworm of bagpipes is, and has been, stuck inside my head.
He didn't have to be Eddie Van Halen, he didn't have to do those solos that made your face melt...he just wanted to be the rhythm
Carlos Santana is the master of making it cry or sing!
I was in High School in 1985, when a friend approached me with his Walkman. He said that I have to hear this. It was the Sultans of Swing on Alchemy Live. I never heard such guitar playing before and never heard the Dire Straits. I was amazed , bought the double cassette and then every other DS album. I couldn’t attend their concerts ( they performed once in Jerusalem and twice in Tel Aviv) here in Israel back in ‘86 and they never returned. But I kept the dream alive and continued to get every DS and MK album over the years. Two years ago, I kept my promise to myself. My wife and I saw, Mark Knopfler live in Budapest from the first row😃. What an amazing experience. Thanks for this fantastic video and for helping me relive the first time I heard the Dire Straits and Sultans of Swing. (Just a small coincidence, my surname is Sultanik).
With “Sultanik” being your surname,
you have no choice but to love “Sultans of Swing”, 😊.
You being from Israel reminded me of a joke I heard a few years ago - Dire Straits are looking for an agent to promote their albums in the Middle East. They should check out Qatar George. He knows all the Kurds.
I'll see myself out. 😅
@@floydfreak-vn2uj 😅That joke is so bad, I couldn’t׳ stop laughing. A classic Dad Joke of my generation.
I first heard this song on the radio on a rainy morning in the fall of 1978 as my mom was driving me and my brother and sister to school. I was in 7th grade. It was a 20 minute drive down a country road surrounded by woods. When I heard it I was hypnotized and mesmerized. It still has the same effect on me today!
I’ve loved Dire Straits since first hearing them when I was about 7 in 1984. Mark Knoplfer’s guitar playing is so original and unique that I recently heard a song I’d never heard on the radio, and within a few notes, I knew that it was a Mark Knopfler song. Sure enough, Shazam showed it was one of his recent songs off his latest solo album. There aren’t many guitar players who can make their playing so instantly recognizable by playing in such a unique way. Mark Knopfler, best all around guitar player of all time.
I never played guitar, but my older brother did, so I was always exposed to great bands like Styx, Kansas, Boston, Zepplin, etc - Usually complements of his own endless playing of the most famous riffs. And then came Dire Straits… The instant I heard Mark Knopfler play that unbelievable solo I knew he was not of this earth. There was absolutely no way anyone’s fingers could move that fast… At least, that was the impression of a 12 year old. I now know that he is from this planet - he’s just a rock god. :-)
When this song hit, I was a senior in high school - sick to death of radio dominated by disco, and this was like water in the desert. I went to our local small town record store week after week looking for that album. When they finally got it I was so psyched, I also bout a new stylus for my turntable because I wanted to be sure to hear the cleanest version of it that my stereo could produce.
Hope you still have your vinyl, still have mine!
@@robertlewis1965
I still do - but sadly, not a working turntable.
I got a bunch of turntables at yard sales back in the 90s cheap,and put them away. New turntables are available that hook to computers, gonna buy one soon. Good luck and good listening, most of my vinyl came from yard sales too .
Was sitting in my Ford truck at a drive through when Sultans came on the radio through my 4" Bose speakers, I cranked it up to 10 and when Marks solo exploded....that was it for me!
However my fave track is Down to the Waterline!
Love that "Sultans of Swing" is in D minor ("the saddest key of all" as per Nigel Tufnell). Gives the song a certain melancholic nostalgia for how music used to be. Probably why it's still so relatable.
Live, though, they always ended it on a C major chord!
It's only sad until turned up to 11.
One of my Dad's favourite bands, when they were releasing material my Dad might be playing Dire Straits, Santana and myself Stranglers, Ruts. We both grew to appreciate each other Music - In my Dad's case Babylons Burning the Ruts / Strange Little Girl or Golden Brown by the Stranglers, and me obviously this track amongst others.
That’s funny never made the connection but buddy guy shows what he calls the saddest lick and it’s in D minor pentatonic blues.
Eddie Van Halen said the same thing about D minor
I don't remember the very first time I heard "Sultans of Swing," but it was sometime very soon after it's release on American top 40 radio. I had never heard of Dire Straits, but was into bands like Kiss. But like you this song has stuck with me ever since. I mean for it's time it was simply a volcano. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It's been one of my all time favorites ever since, and I've no doubt it will remain so for the rest of my life. What a great song.
I absolutely remember where I was when I first heard Sultans. Just driving and listening to the radio and my mind was blown.
Well done, Prof. Rock, keeping our legends alive.
'The Sultans of Swing' mesmerized my 12-year-old brain with its haunting melancholy. Although I never became a Dire Straits fanatic, the band did it to me again in 1985 when a new radio station was airing their first song at midnight, and the words were: "I want my MTV..." - haunted again!
When i worked as a mover i'd tell my friends , ' this songs about us'
These guys were always good for telling a story. Sultan's, MTV, Industrial Disease, Roller Girl, etc. All great stories you can actually visualize as you listen.
Don't forget "Telegraph Road." I rediscovered it recently and can't stop replaying it
I worked in a musical instrument repair shop and I heard fragments of "Sultans of Swing" for three days on the radio before I was at my bench when the DJ actually said what it was. Before that I was thinking seriously that the vocal might be Bob Dylan. I couldn't place the guitar and thought it was probably one of those session player types who played with Steely Dan and the like. As soon as I had a name for it, I hit the record shop on the way home and bought the album. As I did in those days, I bought the vinyl then made a cassette for the truck. When I went somewhere with my dad I had it on in the truck, he said, "That's good. That's REALLY good," and asked if he could borrow it. He never returned it and the next birthday or Christmas or whatever I bought him the LP because he had a world-class stereo system but a lousy cassette player. Pretty much everyone loves that album and "Brothers In Arms." I'm still listening to it 40 years later.
When this song first came out, I was a "short-timer", which meant I was down to the last few months of my duty tour in the Marine Corps. My mind was a rollercoaster of mixed emotions. As much as I wanted to resume my civilian life, it was tough to think about all the good friends I'd be leaving behind. I sat alone on the moonlit shores of Onslo Beach, NC with a cooler of beer & my radio & listened to this cuz they played the hell out of it! LOL ...It was great.
Camp Lejeune? Or MCAS Cherry Point?
@@boromirofmiddleearth557 Cherry Point is an Airforce base, so the guess is Camp LeJeune which you spelled correctly.
As a teenager in the 70 and 80’s Dire Straits was one of many great bands that made growing up at that time so memorable! Thank you for bring to light the history behind some of the best music ever made!
Definitely the beginning guitar , hook, line, then his singing fit like a beautiful leather glove sinker.
I was an instant life long fan of dire straights. At 68 I am still a rocker.
Been listening to this song for over 40 years and the story that you explained in this video is exactly how I imagined he got the inspiration.
It's like him walking into a department store and listening to a couple of delivery men complaining about rockstars on the TV giving him the inspiration for 'money for nothing'
Probably my favorite guitar solo of all time. One I love and enjoy so much, I refuse to learn , so I can simply enjoy and jam, without analyzing... Yes, I do wish and fantasize about being able to play.
I remember hearing it in 79 as a senior in HS. But it hooked forever!
You and me both.
@@ProfessorofRock Wore out that 8 track!
@@jimmarble1425 8 track, Cassette, then CD!
A true classic! One of my greatest hits! They don’t write’em like that anymore! Oh! That’s another timeless hit!
Only song I can think of that I've heard as much as any other over the decades that I never feel sick of. Every single time it comes on I turn it up and sing along. I think it has as much to do with how well it is recorded as how good the song is.
I remember we were in college and one of my friends used to import vinyl records from the UK via mail. Typically he'd get something 3 months before it was released locally. One day we were in class and he said "you've got to come over and listen to this album".
We finished classes for the day and drove back to his house, he was a hifi nut and had all the best gear, he sat me down on the sofa and put this album on the turntable. All I can say is I was floored! this sounded amazing! I quickly went to the car and found an old cassette and asked him to make a copy so I could listen to it until I was able to buy the album myself. I remember I wore that tape out in the car, it was on continuously. Mark Knopfler man, what a great songwriter and guitar player.
I got to see them summer of 85.
Dire Straits Live Alchemy is one of the greatest Live albums of all time.
IMO that's the best live version of Sultans
Knopfler is simply the greatest!!!
Oh, you are so right. Some of the greatest lyrics.
He's one of the greats for sure. Where have they all gone?
@@ProfessorofRockI feel the same way about movie soundtracks. I'm a professional violinist so I get to play amazing music Dvorak Brahms Shostakovich, but I can't think of a really amazing soundtrack that has come out in the last 10 years and it's the same thing with rock. Even though I still listen to Mark Knopfler and his newest album is totally amazing I'm enjoying these new Americana groups like The Punch Brothers. This is a great channel!!!
"Sultans of Swing" blew my mind when it hit the radio. I had almost given up on ever again hearing music made by musicians playing real instruments brilliantly and then this masterpiece showed up.
I would have been 19 or 20. It was my day off from work, probably a Saturday, and I was driving around Langley, British Columbia for some reason on a sunny day when I heard it for the first time on the radio. It gave me hope for the future of music.
My favorite song of all time. I was around 12 years old when it came out, and it sounded unlike anything else. Still does!
First time I heard 'Sultans' was in my car headed home from school. I burst into the house, "Guys! Dylan's got a new record out with this killer guitar(!)"
A day later, "I think it's called, "Sultans of Swing(!)"
Some things you never forget....
Yeah, I was a little kid riding in a car on HWY 5 with one of my brothers moving to a new town and said (thought) the same thing.
✌️🤪🎸🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶
His guitar work is fantastic. His vocals are just way cool. All of his compositions are very top shelf. If you may recall, he wrote the soundtrack to "Princes Bride". All different, all fantastic, all inspiring.
Thank you very much! Beautiful video, story, and analysis! Here is my first encounter with Dire Straits: I was 20 in the late summer of 1978, and listening to a German pop radio station where the presenter introduced a new British band that he liked quite a lot. And then he added: "What a treat to be finally unable to say that the singer used to be a member of famous band X, and the drummer used to play with Y. No - these guys are all total newcomers." For the life of me I can´t remember what song from the first Dire Straits album he then proceeded to play on the radio, but it did catch my ear enough to stick in my mind. A couple of days later I strolled into the records section of the nearest supermarket from my parents´ house (and we are talking about RURAL Germany here, not Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, or Munich!), and they miraculously had that record there that hardly anybody had heard about. I was intrigued by the beautiful and enigmatic minimalism of the cover art, and I bought it. At home when I played it, I remember that I instantly fell in love with "Down To The Waterline" (which sounds to me like the real-life, funky, sexy version of a trite and corny 50s German song whose translated titel is "Love In The Harbour Is Beautiful") and then "Water Of Love". When I heard the lines "Once there was a river,/ now there´s a stone", I knew that this guy had a way with language. It was simple and catchy, and yet artful. And that was it for me. I may have been the very first diehard Dire Straits fan in Germany. And I´ve been a Dire Straits fan ever since. They are my favourite band with the one exception of the Beatles. Great music, great meaningful lyrics full of intelligence and real empathy, wonderful guitar playing. No other band has that mix of strengths. I saw them perform live at the Loreley Open Air Festival in June, 1979 here in Germany. To this very day I still enjoy singing "Sultans Of Swing" and accompanying mself on Chapman-Stick-related instruments. And, having become a part-time music journalist on the one hand, and a semi-professional musician on the other who has been performing for more than 40 years, I can wonderfully relate to the irony and tragedy of the underappreciated dixieland band playing in a London pub with hardly anyone listening, and one listener turning their story into one of the biggest hit singles (and songs in general) ever. Thank you again, Professor!
Knoffler, as song writer, singer, and idiosyncratic guitarist, is deservedly recognised for the music he gifted the world. But oh what a band he had around him. The drums, the bass guitar - brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
"A marvel of World-Class Musicianship." That's absolutely right. It's funny, because at the time Dire Straits made Sultans, I was working a part-time day job, as well as working (for free) as a DJ at a station playing Eric Clapton etc. and at night playing baritone sax in a Count Basie cover band. We played many gigs in places where people loved it, but we also played in "bad bars" where the audience was thin, and indifferent. So, Sultans of Swing really struck home, and I was intoxicated by Mark's guitar playing. I kept listening, and listening. I was hooked.
Many years later, after an accident put an end to me playing sax, I started playing - or trying to learn to play - guitar (I'd doubled on electric bass occasionally before that). I tried working with a conventional pick for a couple of months, and I got nowhere. I just couldn't make it work.
But I discovered that I could pick stuff out fingerstyle, possibly a legacy of many years as a sax player, and quickly began to listen very hard to how Mark played, and what he played.
I'd been a Dire Straits fan for ages, but there's a different way of listening when you're trying to learn _how_ somebody plays a phrase or chords. I fell into a finger-picking style very similar to Mark's, without ever having had the opportunity to watch him on video, or anywhere in any detail. It just "fit" what was in my head, and I could make it work.
Because of my accident, I had time on my hands but not much money, so I looked high and low for good instruments; eventually I found some. I'm still working hard to learn "that sound" a decade later. I'm some years younger than Mark, and I came to the guitar late (that's my excuse, lol). Every time I listen to a Dire Straits song, or a Mark Knopfler song (especially any of the live Dire Straits concerts), I learn new things. I doubt I'll ever be able to play sax again; if you've ever listened to the Count Basie big band you'll understand why that hurts. But this has saved my sanity, and brought exceptionally good music back to being something I can make, not just listen to. Thanks for putting this up.
Man what a cool story, thanks for sharing. How long have you been playing guitar now?
All my best wishes to you, Jim. Great story.
Such a great comment!
Dire Straits had such a refreshing sound to me as a teenager back in the 80s. I don’t think that I really appreciated the sound of a musical instrument until I heard Mark playing in Dire Straits. He is a living legend.
I was in 10th grade when the song came out. Of course I heard it all the time on the radio, but I have a distinct memory of lying on my bed listening to WLS from Chicago and hearing the song, and just enjoying the musical sounds. The unique bluesy sound on pop radio just wowed me.
Sultans was the very first Dire Straits song I heard on the radio. I just loved the clean tone, the precision of the main lick and the ending solo. Later on, when I began learning guitar, I would listen to Sultans for inspiration. Knopfler taught me that you don't have to blast your amp out in order to be heard. He used subtlety, treating the music as an entirety, not just one instrument leading the charge. To this day I like to use a lot of quiets, doing my best to balance out all the detail of the song as a whole, and I have him to thank for that. Some people have their professors in universities to inspire them; my professors have their lessons pressed on vinyl. And I'm always eager to learn more.
Absolutely incredible song, great story behind it. I love Industrial Disease by Dire Straits, a very underrated song that doesn't get the playtime it deserves.
I completely agree!!!
I try to work, “Two men say they are Jesus, one of them must be wrong!” into conversations. People just look at me, confused.
@@chuckfalls9827 Love the part in the song where talks about "Dr. Parkinson" and he just lays on his British accent. Such a fun song, what an underrated gem.
Telegraph Road is an underplayed classic. Any Detroit area residents know how important Telegraph is and his Recession-Era ballad was perfect for the time.
I hate driving down Telegraph. I actively try to avoid it from Eureka northwards. South of Eureka is is smooth sailing.
@@raymondkitchen6137 Back in The Day (mid- to late-70's) you could catch the light sequence just right, and go from Eureka to 8 Mile without ever having to stop.
What a great story of how cities rise and fall. Only a really great artist can make that the theme of a song and nail it. I loved this song from the first minute I started listening. To be fair though, Sultans of Swing is up there with my favorite songs of all time. What a masterpiece.
Well, I’ll be. Your name surprised me. My name is Rick Presley. Pensacola, Florida.
@@Southern_Yankee there's a bunch of us. We should have a reunion.
I remember the first time I heard sultans of swing. Like your story I was about 5 years old. I was on a camping trip in northern Arizona with my dad and older brother, we were driving down a rural highway when the song came on and to this day I can still picture that stretch of road and my dad’s old dodge truck. 20 years later still one of my favorite songs.
First time I heard the Sultans of Swing was on K-SHE 95-FM out of Saint Louis Missouri in January 1978.
I was getting ready to get out of my car and head into work when the DJ said he had a song that was going to make a new group from London a household name...And it did!!!
I ended up being late for work and got a Letter of Counseling from my Supervisor (Air Force), but I didn't care...It was History in the making and I was there!!!
I love this song. Knopfler's solo has this kind of "country-styled jazz thing" to me. I love his sound. It's amazing that he plays with just his fingers. He is so gifted. But the band was great too. I love to hear the drummer and bass player on the live version of this song.
Thank you for going back in the history books to talk about Dixieland jazz too, Prof. Of Rock!
The live version will blow your face off. Maybe the best solo ever.
@@mathewmcdonald3657 Yeah, I have the live version from the "Alchemy: Dire Straits Live" album. They were at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1983. It sounds amazing live. Rock on!
@@FatherAndTeacherTV In my opinion the Alchemy live version of SOS is unparalleled in the history of rock music.
@@jaycorby I need to go back and listen to it in its entirety. But I love that song live though. I agree.
@@FatherAndTeacherTV Once you witness the Alchemy live version in its full glory with Terry Matthews incredible drumming complimenting the tightest rhythm section ever and Knopflers peerless guitar picking you will probably think it blows everything else out of the water!!
Those guitar solos
No kidding.
My introduction to Dire Straits was “Brothers in Arms”. I was in college and just moved into an apartment in 1986. I had a pretty decent stereo and a new Pioneer CD player. I think that was the first CD that I purchased. And I remember it being DDD… a full digital recording. I remember the dark background. No tape hiss or record pops. We played the hell out of that CD at parties. Some of the best times of my life were accompanied by the Money for Nothing riff…. I didn’t discover Sultans of Swing until later. But fortunately my 19 year old daughter and 23 year old son love “Sultans”
Hauntingly beautiful song
I remember brothers in arms being the standard track for testing HIFI audio systems around that time.
nothing like a good record snap crackle pop or even a skip! LOL
@@josephsilin6041 I have not owned a functioning turntable in 25 years. My birthday is coming up. I think I may treat myself to one again.
Dire Straits was the first concert I ever went to; I just went because my mates went, but I was blown away by their music. When I think of Dire Straits I think of a lot of songs that I enjoy, but one song that haunts me is Telegraph road.
I was a senior in high school, going to classes in the mornings and working as a bank teller in another town in the afternoons. I'd gotten really good at changing into a dress shirt and putting on my neck tie while driving over the long, bumpy bridge that connected my home town to the town where I worked. I was going over the bridge and listening to the local rock and roll station on the radio while putting on my tie when Sultans of Swing came on the radio, I dropped the tie and cranked up the radio. The lyrics and guitar riffs of Sultans of Swing were playing in my head that whole afternoon at work and I picked up the LP a few days later. Dire Straights has been in my personal top 5 favorite band list ever since that day.
I'm a couple years behind you, and I remember putting the record on the turntable and hearing the first notes of Down to the Waterline. I still get a little shiver of anticipation waiting for the rest of the band to join in. My ex and I played that album and Making Movies all the time in both halves of our time together, and in the years in the middle, I would play them continuously, flipping the cassette back and forth, as I drove around aimlessly late at night, trying to shake my deep sadness. Because of all that, I can't listen to more than a song or two at a time; it brings back too many memories from that time. It makes me cry when I listen, and it makes me sad that I can't listen, because that's some incredible music.
@@lisagd22 Funny how music can trigger memories, both good and bad.
@@Koolbob2 Especially back when we only had the radio. We all listened to the same stations, so we heard the same music over and over and it got associated with that time in your life. It's all so fragmented now; I kind of feel bad for kids not having those shared experiences to the degree we did.
His “Local Hero” Soundtrack is under appreciated
That album is a treasure chest of mood.
Gorgeous soundtrack. And although “Local Hero” is the soundtrack he is most known for, he’s done some other amazing ones. His soundtrack for “Wag the Dog” is sublime.
Local hero is also a good film aside from the music.
The them from Local Hero (Going Home) will play at my funeral.
@@hugolafhugolaf Same here! I always think of that
During high school, I was stuck at home with mono for a whole month! I listened to the radio ALL DAY. I loved this song, and was so happy to hear it being played over and over. Mono was hard, but this song made the time so special. Takes me to a time I cherish.
From the first time I heard it, Sultans has been my favorite ever since and I don't know what could be a distant second. Instantly I was an MK fan. When I heard the first cord from the movie Princess Bride, I knew it was him. Love the story he tells with every song, even playing with other artists. He doesn't have to try, he is the story.
Loved Dire Straits and also Steely Dan when they came you with their great music. Both very underrated. Rock legends.
I agree. Great music.
I believe they worked together at one point? I could be wrong.
Two of my all time favorites. Was fortunate enough to see Steely Dan live three times they were fantastic. It hurts me I’ve never seen Dire Straits.
@@Guns7469 You are correct, Steely Dan did Time Out Of Mind with MK
Walter Becker and Donald Fagan, 2 musical "Guinnesses!" I crack myself up!
Their last album, On Every Street is seriously criminally underrated.
Not every song on there is a winner, especially lyrically, but the title track, "Calling Elvis", and "You and Your Friend" are good DS stuff
Calling Elvis is a killer track. I love the live version from the On Every Street tour.
@@clownhands Like, blowing the roof off every joint on the first number!
Yes, and lineup in that album is top notch
You got that right!
I have a very specific memory when I heard this song for the first time. It was a beautiful sun set. When we started going home from our vacation it was played in the radio and just catched my attention. That's why i have started playing guitar. An unforgetable moment in my life.
First real rock song I truly truly liked. First band that I really revered. They are the ones that marked my teen years when I discovered them in the early 80's. 40 years on, I'm still in awe of Sultan of Swing, Once Upon a Time in the West, Tunel of Love, Telegraph Road... or the whole Alchemy album actually.
Thanks for this vid.. brought a smile to my face and some tears to my eyes.
My first CD ever was Brothers in arms, but, my all time favorite song is Telegraph Road, a absolutely beautiful master piece in composition, story telling, melody and epicness. Mark Knofler is truly a master musician gliding above almost everything else. Great video.
Agreed! What's your thoughts on The Notting hillbillies?
Here here. Telegraph Road is brilliant. I love the way it carries you along the journey of the birth, life and death of a city (Detroit) and the difficulties of the economic collapse of the city for the people living there. The epic guitar solo at the end is the icing on the cake and is the best guitar solo ever from Knopfler in my opinion.
I thought everyone in the UK got Brothers in Arms with the purchase of every CD player
@@David-lr2vi Telegraph Road is brilliant and haunting. At first one might think, '14 minutes for one song!?' Then, and soon, it gets you. For Life. every once in a while. I love "Making Movies" album. {Solid Rock, Tunnel of Love, Skate-Away...} Tho I didn't hear it till the early '90's on a great late Classic Rock station, WCDQ, Sanford Maine -- they played deep cuts and "Real Rock n' Roll, the way our forefathers intended it."
Same here. Favourite song. Live is a long dream.
One of the few songs on my "can't hear it too many times" list.
And mysteriously some how the volume always goes up .... things that make you go hmmm.
Hubby was the Bass player in a power trio half a dozen years ago that played Sultans of Swing . Absolutely blew people away because no one was covering Sultans in our area. People love this song !!
I remember my aunties listening to this song in the 70's when I was very young. I'm 50 and they're in the early sixties. There were three of them, one passed away. Good memory of growing up.
MK is my all time musical hero. He deliberately avoids publicity and loathes 'fame'. He does his own thing as a solo artist and I maybe even prefer his solo work to Dire Straits (tough to call though!) His ability to tell a story and lay it bare is a marvel to behold. I love the way a song that is never released as a single and is just quietly residing at the back end of a solo album takes on a life of its own and within a short time has millions of YT views. I don't know any other artists who can do that. Piper to the End is one such song.
“Water of Love” is my favorite DS song. Had that album on 8-track for my car. Saw them on that tour. My Dad joined me and totally thought they were great. He was very impressed. In later years, I really enjoyed and still do enjoy “Neck and Neck”, the album Mark Knopfler did with Chet Atkins (who I also had the great pleasure of seeing). Knopfler is truly one of the greats. 💜
Dire Straits music sounds good everywhere but seems made for listening to on road trips.
Check out knopfler's other solo stuff. The guy is prolific and continues to write and record
Check out Doc Watson who has also cut album with Chet. Bluegrass band. Doc and Merle (son) Watson and T Michael Coleman on bass. Doc was blind. Annual festival in North Carolina, their home.
Tunnel of love, down to the water line
Knopfler's guitar solo melts your face, and it's a totally clean sound with no hard rock distortion.
'84 South Africa and Dire Straits kept me sane during "National Service".
As an ex South African now living in the USA, The Sultans of Swing record was a revelation. We couldn't get enough of it. To this day I listen when it comes up. The other musician that was extremely popular in SA at the time was Rodriquez. Maybe you should look into him too.
"Sultans of Swing" deserves all the praise that it gets as a truly classic rock song, but it really overshadowed a lot of other great songs on that debut album. I love "Walking in the Wild West End" and "Down to the Waterline." Like so many other non-commercial songs on the albums that followed, the hits just swallowed up all the air time.
I agree. There isn’t a bad song on that album. They’re all great.
Totally agree: it’s such a great album.
There were several different artists in that time frame that suffered similar issues. Jimmy Buffet released a few albums that the main songs got air play. But there were other songs on the same albums that were amazing and never got played at all.
Every song in that album is fantastic. Personally I'd be hard pressed to pick a favourite.
Mark has one of the most blemish-free songwriting records. To say that almost every song on Brothers in Arms was a hit, I think every album before it, and a good few after it, are better.
Class is in session. The Professor of Rock is at the podium. Another lesson taught and learned. Another song that I will never listen to the same way again.
“The Man’s Too Strong” is very haunting and a bit of a tearjerker… a gold classic
Today I learned what the "double four time" reference means. Thanks, Professor!
Same here. I've even studied a lot of music theory but was not familiar with that. Makes total sense though when explained.
I always used to think it just meant 4/4 time, since there are two 4s in it...but yeah, there's a revelation.
@@BinaBecker Glad to know it wasn't just me that thought that.
Dixieland jazz is either in 2/4 or 4/4 time. Knopfler was simply specifying which one. Adam was WAY overthinking this.
My first husband repaired electronic musical instruments. Men who were in their 60s and 70s came in to get their gear fixed, they were never going to hit the big time, but they loved what they did!
That's Awesome..
Just a few months ago I played this song and my brother has never heard it. He instantly became a fan and got very familiar with Dire Straits. Music brings us all closer together
Professor, I just love your enthusiasm and how knowledgeable you are when you teach us about important, fascinating and delightful music history. Awesome! (I had this Dire Straits album way back when and remember liking the grainy, authentic yet skillfully rendered feel of the songs.)
A personal favorite Dire Straits song from that time, the under rated "Romeo and Juliet"....nothing musically exceptional about the song, just a sweet song and brings back good memories, Mark has a tinge of Dylan the way he sings in it LOL. Oh and don't forget their timing, "I Want My MTV" was huge and one of the first uses of 'computer animation' in music videos
So Far Away has 84 million plus views on UA-cam.
Tunnel of Love is another rock anthem from that album. The guitar solo at the end has always slayed me
Simply Dylan incarnate well done Dire Straits
The whole album is great
The band just went from strength to strength with each album, but Making Movies is still my favourite, and it's the wordplay like with "Romeo and Juliet" that puts it there.
I was on my school bus to junior high the first time I heard “ Sultans of swing “ it was so refreshing that it wasn’t disco, I’ve loved Dire Straits ever since! 😊👍
Did you for get bout The Police The Cars the B52s The stones Fleet Wood Mac rumors lp So many more BANDS That were huge in the late 70s ,,There was WAAAAY more than disco , Kris Im trying to be nice BUT DID YOU LIVE UNDER A ROCK in the late 70s ?
@@theodoreritola9758 absolutely not. It’s just that as a child of 12, the bus driver didn’t let ME control the radio. Everyone you mentioned was absolutely awesome, including the many you didn’t mention. That’s why I love Adam’s channel. But I loved that guitar rift in “Sultans”. Have a great day, and rock on.
@@krisfisher8274 O OK SORRY Take my word for the late 70s was way more than disco though like Adam says it was , I was there 77 78 and 79 were HUGE years for the music industry .A huge amounts of GREAT LPS WERE out in 77 Rumors Fleet wood Mac , The Cars AND The Police Had huge DUBET LPS STEVE MILLER HAD A VERY BIG LP , The Stones Some Girls LP Was a very big lp in 78, These were NOT DISCO ,The LIST goes on and on for the late 70s , I would put the late 70s UP AGAINST ANY DECADE , For GREATNESS ,And i did like disco to , It was so much fun to dance to in the CLUBS IN THE 70s were packed , I miss the 70s A LOT
@@krisfisher8274 O OK Kris Got You YOU ROCK ON TO TAKE CARE
@@theodoreritola9758 yes, some of us lived in areas that didn’t have particularly good access to radio stations that played good pop/rock.
We had a rock station about 50-60 miles away but didn’t have the best reception and they didn’t play everything like the stations in the big cities played.
So as 12 year olds in Junior High in 1979, even thought the bus driver had the bus radio on the rock station, we just didn’t get to hear everything.
I honestly don’t remember this song until years later, and I thought it was a Clapton song up until my early 50s just a couple years ago.
I knew of Dire Straits as the band that played Money For Nothing with Sting after we finally started getting MTV in like, 1983-84
Sultans Of Swing came out when I was in Tech School in the US Air Force. It was an awesome song and gave me hope that Rock and Roll was not killed off by Disco. I can't tell you how many people insisted that the name of the band was Sultans of Swing, and for nearly a year I had to correct someone every time the song came on the radio.