New Song by Cliff Richard - MK involved?

[2manyguitars]

Prefect example of the very tasteful guitar that Mark is still capable of and absolutely perfect for the song.

I would agree with this but always feel it's a waste to get Mark Knopfler and not give him more to do.  A bland song with  some fills isn't of much interest and rather a waste.

With all respect I disagree.

I would use the artist analogy. The painter creates a piece and chooses appropriate colours.

You and I as critics may feel it's bland,  of dislike it for any number of reasons but it doesn't invalidate the choices.

Yes this song is very middle of the road, but if I were going to take the concept of loss/premature death and write, arrange, record, mix, and master a song for Cliff Richard to sing then this would be the perfect example 😉

You've got some very prominent musicians on this particular recording, do you think a 5 minute drum solo, or a 7 minute string quartet bridge would be appropriate? 😀

Sorry DMG, I'm half joking really 😀 and it could have done with a little bit of extra mark as a final full stop but his contribution certainly wasn't wasted and it is one of the better 'mail in' things I've heard in recent times, but I admit, I'm a sucker for cheesy emotion.

Please don't ever play Mike and the Mechanics living years anywhere near me unless you want floods of tears 😀😂

Living Years - LOVE that! 

Seen Carrack at the Festival Theatre last year.  Great show.

Yep, definitely one of THE Great British voices....

[hunter]

That was a nice surprise. The song might be a little "light" for the subject matter, but overall I think it was pretty good. Nice to hear some proper Strat tones from Mark again; it's really been a while. As others mentioned, it sounds a bit like the sound from the STP era, but it also reminds a bit of the Schecter sound in the 80s. Say what you will, in my book Mark will always be a Strat man.

[jbaent]

That was a nice surprise. The song might be a little "light" for the subject matter, but overall I think it was pretty good. Nice to hear some proper Strat tones from Mark again; it's really been a while. As others mentioned, it sounds a bit like the sound from the STP era, but it also reminds a bit of the Schecter sound in the 80s. Say what you will, in my book Mark will always be a Strat man.

he's now a Kemper man 

[qjamesfloyd]

That was a nice surprise. The song might be a little "light" for the subject matter, but overall I think it was pretty good. Nice to hear some proper Strat tones from Mark again; it's really been a while. As others mentioned, it sounds a bit like the sound from the STP era, but it also reminds a bit of the Schecter sound in the 80s. Say what you will, in my book Mark will always be a Strat man.

I know what you mean, Mark, was always known as a Strat player, but with his solo work he has heavily leaned towards the Les Paul, with a diversion of the Pensa between DS and solo, I have always considered him a Strat player first, but he really is a cross between the 2, after all he wanted the Pensa to be a cross between the two.

[jbaent]

That was a nice surprise. The song might be a little "light" for the subject matter, but overall I think it was pretty good. Nice to hear some proper Strat tones from Mark again; it's really been a while. As others mentioned, it sounds a bit like the sound from the STP era, but it also reminds a bit of the Schecter sound in the 80s. Say what you will, in my book Mark will always be a Strat man.

I know what you mean, Mark, was always known as a Strat player, but with his solo work he has heavily leaned towards the Les Paul, with a diversion of the Pensa between DS and solo, I have always considered him a Strat player first, but he really is a cross between the 2, after all he wanted the Pensa to be a cross between the two.

He was a Strat man during the late 70's, then he changed to the Schecters early 80's which were Strat alike but he started to add other kind of guitars, including LP during the BIA tour, then added Pensa Shur as main guitar at the 90's, and on 1996 he was mainly a LP man, from then, he was using all kind of guitars, but mainly a mix between LP and Strats...

[qjamesfloyd]

Yes, I know all that, but I mean for the general music public, he was thought of as a Strat player.

[JF]

in this article, I tried to sum up his MAIN guitars through the years.

not an exhaustive list, but the main ones, and a global view on different eras

https://textes-blog-rock-n-roll.fr/mark-knopfler-70-ans-et-toutes-ses-grattes/

[superval99]

The performance from Songs of Praise;

[quizzaciously]

The performance from Songs of Praise;

Great song, totally in MK style I have to say. A perfect choice for a lead guitar player from Sir CR

[TheTimeWasWrong]

His miming is a lot better than MK's, who really sucks at it and doesn't even try. Probably a compliment to both of them.

[superval99]

Was it playback or were the band actually playing?      If so they did a good job!

[TheTimeWasWrong]

Was it playback or were the band actually playing?      If so they did a good job!

The guy with the blue guitar does a fantastic job. I've watched it twice, and it's remarkable how well-rehearsed he is.

edit: the sound is a bit different from the Spotify release, but that's mostly EQ and compression, it's the same take.

[Dutchessy]

Nice song! Some Redbud Tree licks in it