"I STILL STOP AND LOOK in a guitar shop window when I pass one on the street. I can't walk past it," Knopfler confesses via Zoom from his home in London. "And all the clichés - nose up against the glass, that whole thing. I suppose there were a lot of years where, instead of music being music and songs being a dream a kid's dream - it became work. It becomes your life. And I'm not alone there.
"So I have to try hard to keep it 'teenage' to stay the kid about it. It's an endlessly fascinating thing to be part of. And it goes on. History goes on."
2016 GIBSON CUSTOM SHOP MARK KNOPFLER '58 LES PAUL STANDARD PROTOTYPE
This is the first prototype of the guitar based on Knopfler's original 1958 'Burst, which remains in his keeping. It was used to record "Janine" on One Deep River and to perform "Money for Nothing" and "Going Home" on tour in 2019.
And this year Knopfler, now 74 and more than 45 years onward from his first album with Dire Straits, is adding a few chapters to his history.
There was his January guitar auction, a somewhat shocking sale of 123 instruments through Christie's that netted more than $11 million, including $100,000-plus for 28 of them and a record $876,000 for a 1959 Vintage Gibson Les Paul Standard with a sunburst finish. That was followed by a new version of his 1983 film composition "Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero," which Knopfler and longtime wingman Guy Fletcher turned into a benefit single for Teenager Cancer Trust in the U.K. and Teen Cancer America, using a who's-who roster of guitar-playing mates and other all-stars, including what is thought to be the final recording by the late Jeff Beck.
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Guitar Player.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Guitar Player.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Mother Folker
Dubbed the Queen of the Beatniks, Judy Henske ruled the roost on High Flying Bird.
An ES for Less
Offered by Silvertone and Harmony, the H63 Espanada was the poor-man's version of Gibson's ES-175.
DEATH BECOMES THEM
Tik Tok gave Mother Mother a second lease on life. Now they take on the Grim Reaper with Grief Chapter.
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND
West Coast luthier Ron Thorn took a trip to the Big Apple. He came back with his stunning new Florentine Empirial.
NEVER BE THE SAME
Four decades in with Crowded House's ever-changing lineup, Neil Finn takes a trial-and-error approach to music - and guitar. \"The mistakes make it interesting,” he says.
THEMES FOR IMAGINARY WESTERNS
Estevan and Alejandro Gutiérrez weave haunting guitar instrumentals evocative of spaghetti-western scores. With Sonido Cósmico, they show why they are the most exciting guitar duo of our time.
TIP SHEET
How did Peter Stroud become the right-hand man to Sheryl Crow, Don Henley and many others? It took talent - and these five rules.
MY CAREER IN FIVE SONGS
Four decades down the road with Winger, Reb Beach sheds his hair metal past with this quintet of metal and fusion cuts.
THE SESSION WHISPERER
Shred like the best of them with these 10 techniques gleaned from Steve Lukather, the legendary studio ace and Toto guitarist.
WONDER WOMEN
With her new solo acoustic One Guitar Woman, Sue Foley pays tribute to guitar's female trailblazers, from Elizabeth Cotten and Lydia Mendoza to Maybelle Carter and Charo.
