MK and the Blues

[dustyvalentino]

What are your thoughts of when MK tries to do blues?

I should make it clear that I'm not talking about his guitar playing really, more about the songs themselves.

Personally I don't think it's his strong point, particularly on the latter solo albums where he tries to go more "traditional".

I Think I Love You Too Much - More of a "modern" (for the time) blues in the vein of Clapton/Robert Cray etc. Some nice playing and interesting (non 12 bar) chords. 4/5

Millionaire Blues - One of MK's "joke" songs which I generally disapprove of but it's a b-side so that's OK. Production and guitar playing are nice and a couple of funny lines. 3/5

Song For Sonny Liston - I know we all got fed up of him playing it live and it is a bit repetitive, but it has a cool groove, good lyrics and some nice guitar playing. 4/5

You Can't Beat The House - Cheesy opening. Production and playing is ok but pretty forgettable overall. 2/5

Pulling Down The Ride - Wasn't sure to include this, more of a country blues. Some interesting chord changes and a great groove. 4/5

Don't Forget Your Hat - Similar vibe to YCBTH. Don't forget this song. Oh wait, I just did. 2/5

Hot or What - Another mid-tempo blues shuffle, virtually indistinguishable from the last two tracks. Lyrics are OK but MK sounds kind of ridiculous singing them. Would likley sound better with a real blues man singing. 2/5

Got to Have Something - MK's not the first person to rewrite Rolling and Tumbling and won't be the last. At least it's a bit more upbeat than the last few. 3/5

I Used to Could - Now you're talking. More upbeat with a great groove. Amazing what you can do with just two chords. Drumming is fantastic. 4.5/5

Gator Blood - Well, at least they are trying something different with the production. Sounds like it was recorded in a barn. 3/5

Today is OK - Another mid-tempo shuffle. Yawn. 2/5

What are your thoughts?!

[Love Expresso]

You forgot Fare Thee Well Northumberland  which I like very much. But he started to sing with this strange voice from TRD on until today.

I agree with most of your list apart from Today is OK which from my point of view really is strong and the the choice of blues really fits with lyrics, era and theme.

And of course Fade To Black which I think he nails perfectly well. 

LE

[quizzaciously]

Song For Sonny Liston is a masterpiece, personally I don't consider it in the "MK Blues" category at all, with this logic Junkie Doll is also MK blues, also Marbletown.

What is a blues is when MK tries to play the 12-bar thing, or 8-bar thing, so in other words, stick to tradition. In this case I must admit, it's lame.

You can imagine if I want to be this Knopfler historian breaking down his songs, at some point I need to discuss songs like Hot or What.

Okay, it's just a simple blues played by virtuoso players, with few prolonged bars to make it not exactly standard 12 bars.

Cool. In the words of the songwriter himself, have you got something else? I'm definitely not a fan of MK Blues.

[quizzaciously]

MK Blues numbers should've ended up in a separate project akin to The Notting Hillbillies, Guy's BluesClub band, Steve Phillips' blues band, and things like that.

I think it was too much for our "slow" Mark to lead yet another side gig, and he decided to throw every egg he's got in one basket at some point.

With this said though, I really do like blues numbers where the band, especially the rhythm section, shines. You Can't Beat The House swings like crazy, and the unreleased Playtime Deluxe also swings like a dream towards the end. For this raw physical enjoyment, this is a great thing to listen to (and I'm sure to play too).

[Love Expresso]

Last week I got Metroland (on vinyl) and listened three times in a row to it, and it made me think how strong the 96ers were sounding at that time on tracks like Down Day and She's Gone and the final Metroland track. And it struck me that at this time (starting with Vic and Ray, Don't You Get It and maybe ending with El Macho and Speedway) as a Band they were really on to something.  Never reached that level of an unique own sound again.

And trying to play the Blues seems like a somewhat try to find a new sound because of lack of Inspiration. I never felt so much his lack of inspiration than on Privateering, Miss You Blues being the icing of the cake.
Funny enough I nevertheless like that album pretty much and listen much more to it compared with others (or used to, if listening to MK at all as explained earlier. )

LE

[dustyvalentino]

Responding to both LE and Quizzy, we could have a philosophical/musicology discussion for weeks about what constitutes the blues and what doesn't. A large proportion of pop/rock music from the last 100 years has had an influence from the blues, I just included what I considered to be the most overt examples of it in MK's oeuvre. You could just as easily argue that Calling Elvis is a blues. To me Fade to Black is dipping more into some sort of jazz thing, and Marbletown more into folk/Americana, but that's just my opinion

[Love Expresso]

Responding to both LE and Quizzy, we could have a philosophical/musicology discussion for weeks about what constitutes the blues and what doesn't.

Well, that would be something, but why not, it's a Discussion forum after all and we wasted hundred of pages with less interesting stuff than about music.

LE

[dustyvalentino]

True!

[hunter v2.0]

Mark's straight-ahead blues songs often come across as pastiche, an imitation. Sometimes a pale one at that (pun intended ...). They lack rawness and directness. Mark is a sophisticated and intellectual guy, so his songs that reflect that I feel ring truer. His blues-ish songs, like Your Own Sweet Way, Behind WIth the Rent, etc. I like a lot more. Even songs that express the blues, but are not blues in style, like Go Love. I like when Mark plays the blues, though, for instance with the NHB, but on his own albums I feel the blues songs stick out too much.

[quizzaciously]

Responding to both LE and Quizzy, we could have a philosophical/musicology discussion for weeks about what constitutes the blues and what doesn't.

Well, that would be something, but why not, it's a Discussion forum after all and we wasted hundred of pages with less interesting stuff than about music.

LE

Couldn't agree more... Blues is the mother of all modern Western music. There is a popular question, what is your Desert Island song/music/album? As in what is the one music you can listen to or play forever? Turns out blues is this music, and you can spend all your life living in the blues world like the famous Kings of Blues or Joe Bonamassa. Ironically, it's the same kind of music some of us get bored with after a couple of minutes of listening to it. I'm in this camp, at least with instrumental blues. I can't stand instrumental jazz either, as long as there is a story and a good singer, I'm in. Using the jazz or blues purely as a music competition... Not my thing.

P.S. I love the word "oeuvre".

[Chris W]

And of course Fade To Black which I think he nails perfectly well. 

LE

I was going to say that. It is a kind of sophisticated blues structure and I think it is great.

[quizzaciously]

Mark's straight-ahead blues songs often come across as pastiche, an imitation. Sometimes a pale one at that (pun intended ...). They lack rawness and directness. Mark is a sophisticated and intellectual guy, so his songs that reflect that I feel ring truer. His blues-ish songs, like Your Own Sweet Way, Behind WIth the Rent, etc. I like a lot more. Even songs that express the blues, but are not blues in style, like Go Love. I like when Mark plays the blues, though, for instance with the NHB, but on his own albums I feel the blues songs stick out too much.

Yup, Mark's Blues is exactly this, a homage to the music he grew up with, same stuff in a different package. But it will never sound like something B.B. would do, nor it will sound like a "genuine" MK song we all went to love, so it's this strange deformed Frankenstein monster of music. I know it's a cliché, but it's strange to hear songs like "Today is OK" coming from somebody who created "Brothers In Arms" and "Sailing To Philadelphia". But at least it's not yet another cover song!

[quizzaciously]

And of course Fade To Black which I think he nails perfectly well. 

LE

I was going to say that. It is a kind of sophisticated blues structure and I think it is great.

I think Mark said in interviews that Fade To Black was originally a more upbeat folky piece but transitioned to a blues somehow or something. To me, it sounds like Mark's take on Gershwin and good old jazz standards. Sounds a bit like "The Man I Love".

You can imagine it performed in a jazz club, dark room with people smoking, and letting cool air through opened windows, and this feeling was captured perfectly both live and on the record. This song is the definition of the word "cool".

[Love Expresso]

If I remember correctly he said it was a usual Rock 'n Roll standard and they weren't satisfied and tried something and changed it the way it turned out. And I think I read that it was one of the first takes on the album.

LE

[Chris W]

The Blues is characterised by a certain chord structure and most often by a 12 bar phrase, rather than 8 or 16.
Over time the chords have been modified and often made more sophisticated.
There are faster Blues records and even somewhat upbeat Blues records, it's really about the underlying phrase and chord structure.