Alan Clark: "We'd love a DS reunion but Mark Knopfler is busy"

[MagicElliott]

The,almost,hatred, here for AC is rather sad.
He certainly made (major?)contributions to songs on LOG onwards and deserves credit for that.
You could easily make a case for him being the band member who had the (second) most influence on DS songs and for that I'm grateful.
I also quite like Backstory:)

As I've written before whilst MK is credited as sole writer of the whole catalogue of DS songs, whilst legally that might be the case, I find it very hard to believe others didn't strongly influence song composition, and elements that we know and love.  It's entirely possible Alan Clark had a massive role in the intro to MFN, it is after all synth led and you only have to listen to those parts on Local Hero where there are synth solo tracks to draw parallels.  I would say he probably doesn't help himself in how bluntly he communicates things but there isn't really another way to say 'I did it' is there.  Interesting to see whether there is any reaction from other band members on this.

So the legitimate question would be, where Alan's own "Money For Nothing"? then? It's easy to be creative with songwriters like MK, it matters what they can bring on their own. Besides, I'm pretty sure MK himself have had a lot of moments where he would help other people with writing songs without any credits given. Even the latest release by Dion, he said Mark helped him with the arrangement and all. So my thinking still and always will be that session musician's job or band member job is to come up with little ideas. Intros and outros is not a big idea, it's more like a finishing touch. Telegraph Road is another story... But then again, I'm sure if that was such a giant input, MK would give credits where it belongs. The big idea and most of the song is still his.

Mark wrote the intro riff for the Joan Armatrading track Did I Make You Up but gets no credit for it, Joan says herself that Mark did it. Also, I read that Mark re-worked some of Jimmy Nails lyrics to Big River, what he actually wrote I don't know, again no credit, not that Mark wants it I guess!!! He should even get a co-writers credit at best for If Love Means Brushing Someone Else's Hair with Clive James as Clive said Mark re-wrote most of that over night, there could be more instances too.

I thought of the Clive James song in regards to this thread too. The funny thing is, Mark also changed the key and I bet Clive didn’t even know it.

[NeilMitchell]

I would say that it's not that Mark is busy, more that Mark is not interested in it, and I can't see a reason why he would be either.

He would not gain anything from it except for money, and I think he understands that as well. He knows that if he does anything with the DS brand, that's only for money, hence he says "charity only". Meaning he doesn't want to be associated with money-hungry folks in any way.

And he doesn't need the money, he makes enough money while he sleeps.

If  Mark needs money then he can just sell the back catalogue of dIRE sTRAITS like Dylan, Springsteen et al and make another £100 million at least. He doesn't need to take DS on tour, although I wish he would do another DS album

[rpb424]

Even before then, is OES a rock album, with pedal steel all over it?!

I wouldn't say so. I remember going out in 1991 and eagerly buying it, and being crushingly disappointed, as I kind of was with the subsequent tour and good ol' boys Dukes Of Hazzard pedal steel everywhere. And don't get me started on 'How Long?' - about the dullest 3-chord track I've ever heard, and hardly a fitting epitaph as the last song on the last studio album.

[rmarques821]

Even before then, is OES a rock album, with pedal steel all over it?!

I wouldn't say so. I remember going out in 1991 and eagerly buying it, and being crushingly disappointed, as I kind of was with the subsequent tour and good ol' boys Dukes Of Hazzard pedal steel everywhere. And don't get me started on 'How Long?' - about the dullest 3-chord track I've ever heard, and hardly a fitting epitaph as the last song on the last studio album.

I love "How Long"!

[benlitmaath]

Me too, i think "How Long" is a very simple but good tune. Typical MK country like stuff

[relaxcoustic]

Even before then, is OES a rock album, with pedal steel all over it?!

I wouldn't say so. I remember going out in 1991 and eagerly buying it, and being crushingly disappointed, as I kind of was with the subsequent tour and good ol' boys Dukes Of Hazzard pedal steel everywhere. And don't get me started on 'How Long?' - about the dullest 3-chord track I've ever heard, and hardly a fitting epitaph as the last song on the last studio album.

LOL, In my opinion "How Long" is the most MK song there is - a little blues, a little country, tasty solos, fat bass, talking about something bad but in a "it will be good" way.. I absolutely love it.

[KnopfleRick]

Me too, i think "How Long" is a very simple but good tune. Typical MK country like stuff

Absolutely, and I love Paul Franklin's contribution on the album and the tour, also.

[KnopfleRick]

Even before then, is OES a rock album, with pedal steel all over it?!

I wouldn't say so. I remember going out in 1991 and eagerly buying it, and being crushingly disappointed, as I kind of was with the subsequent tour and good ol' boys Dukes Of Hazzard pedal steel everywhere. And don't get me started on 'How Long?' - about the dullest 3-chord track I've ever heard, and hardly a fitting epitaph as the last song on the last studio album.

LOL, In my opinion "How Long" is the most MK song there is - a little blues, a little country, tasty solos, fat bass, talking about something bad but in a "it will be good" way.. I absolutely love it.

  

[superval99]

I love "How Long" too and I was lucky enoughto be there, on the one and only occasion it has been played live, at The Town & Country in Leeds 1993 for a charity gig with The Notting Hillbillies.

[qjamesfloyd]

How Long is a great song, and I think it is perfect for the final song on the final Dire Straits album, it loops back to the country rock style Mark stated with, plus it looks forward to the type of song style Mark used on his first solo album. I loved Mark's use of Paul Franklin in his songs, I would love to hear that again, certainly more than the brass section.

[dmg]

How Long is a great song, and I think it is perfect for the final song on the final Dire Straits album, it loops back to the country rock style Mark stated with, plus it looks forward to the type of song style Mark used on his first solo album. I loved Mark's use of Paul Franklin in his songs, I would love to hear that again, certainly more than the brass section.

 

Absolutely.  I could listen to that coda section all day long.  How long?  All day long!!!

[the visitor]

I quite like How Long but Mark sounds like he is doing some kind of Vince Gill / generic country artist  impression .  Kind of the story of the album to me, MK as a country persona ...  deep in his Chet Atkins period .  Doesn't sit well to me

Rented the album from the music library and was confused.

[Darling Pretty]

Chet was the one who influenced MK the most
Without him he wouldn't have done any Country at all. Maybe...

[Knopflerfan]

How Long is a great song, and I think it is perfect for the final song on the final Dire Straits album, it loops back to the country rock style Mark stated with, plus it looks forward to the type of song style Mark used on his first solo album. I loved Mark's use of Paul Franklin in his songs, I would love to hear that again, certainly more than the brass section.

 

Absolutely.  I could listen to that coda section all day long.  How long?  All day long!!!

How long - too long!

[hunter]

Chet was the one who influenced MK the most
Without him he wouldn't have done any Country at all. Maybe...

The most? Not so sure about that.