Huge story in The Times today.
MUSIC
From Ringo to Ronnie, the 54 rock gods on Mark Knopfler’s new song
new
The Dire Straits man has assembled Guitar Heroes, arguably the greatest supergroup yet, in the name of fighting cancer. How many can you name?
Bruce Springsteen, Nile Rodgers, Ronnie Wood, Joan Armatrading and Brian May are just some of the guitarists squeezed into the nine-minute instrumental. The rest are below
Bruce Springsteen, Nile Rodgers, Ronnie Wood, Joan Armatrading and Brian May are just some of the guitarists squeezed into the nine-minute instrumental. The rest are below
David Sanderson
, Arts Correspondent |
Jack Malvern
Thursday February 08 2024, 6.47am GMT, The Times
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There is a Beatle on drums, the Who’s singer on harmonica, Sting on bass and nearly every one of the world’s greatest living rock guitarists strumming along. Welcome to the supergroup Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes.
An unprecedented line-up of guitarists including David Gilmour, Eric Clapton and Bruce Springsteen has been assembled to record a new version of Mark Knopfler’s Going Home (Theme of the Local Hero).
The nine-minute instrumental even begins with the final recording of the late Jeff Beck.
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Beck is joined by the Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, Slash from Guns N’ Roses, Brian May from Queen and dozens of others for the track, which is being released to raise money for Teenage Cancer Trust and the British charity’s American equivalent.
“I think what we’ve had is an embarrassment of riches really,” Knopfler said.
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Others in the all-star line up include Pete Townshend, Ry Cooder, Sheryl Crow, Sam Fender, Nile Rodgers and Joan Armatrading, while Ringo Starr, the Beatles drummer, alternates with his son Zak Starkey on drums. Roger Daltrey, the Who’s lead singer, is on harmonica.
The recording was knitted together by Guy Fletcher, Knopfler’s long-time collaborator, who edited live sessions in a London recording studio together with contributions sent from around the world.
Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes lured Sir Peter Blake into replicating his iconic 1967 album cover for the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band for a new artwork featuring all the contributors.
The original song was composed by Knopfler, the Dire Straits guitarist, for the 1983 film Local Hero starring Burt Lancaster and Peter Capaldi and which earned the musician a Bafta nomination.
Knopfler said on Wednesday that he wanted to thank all the musicians for their “sterling response”.
“I really had no idea that it was going to be like this,” the 74-year-old said.
Knopfler added that he and Fletcher realised they would have “to extend this piece somehow, to take in the number of people who joined in”. He said Townshend — who along with his Who bandmate Daltrey, the honorary patron of Teenage Cancer Trust, is a co-founder of Teen Cancer America — had been one of the first on board.
“Before I knew where I was, Pete Townshend had come into my studio armed with a guitar and an amp,” Knopfler said.
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“And that first Pete power chord … man, I tell you. We were in that territory, and it was just fantastic.
“And it went on from there. Eric [Clapton] came in, played great, just one tasty lick after another. Then Jeff Beck’s contribution arrived and that was spellbinding.
“I think what we’ve had is an embarrassment of riches, really. The whole thing was a high point.”
Going Home, written by Knopfler in the early Eighties, is a soaring instrumental track played before matches at Newcastle United’s St James’ Park
Going Home, written by Knopfler in the early Eighties, is a soaring instrumental track played before matches at Newcastle United’s St James’ Park
REDFERNS
While there have been supergroups before such as the Traveling Wilburys — which featured Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty — there does not appear to have been one with such a stellar line-up of guitarists.
The 1984 Band Aid line-up rivals it in star power but its cast was mainly made up of singers, such as Bono, George Michael and Paul Weller, alongside a small group of instrumentalists.
• The 20 greatest guitarists of all time
Another contender for the world’s greatest supergroup could be the band assembled at Madison Square Gardens in 1992 for a Bob Dylan 30th anniversary celebration.
