MK and the Blues

[dustyvalentino]

Just checked and according to wiki the original was 1929 with Johnson doing his in 1936.

[JF]

I tried to summ up all "bluesy" MK's songs in this article :

https://textes-blog-rock-n-roll.fr/mark-knopfler-et-le-blues/

[Jules]

Just checked and according to wiki the original was 1929 with Johnson doing his in 1936.

With the "if I had a possession" title or the "R&T" one?

[Matchstickman]

Fare Thee Well Northumberland is a blues(y) tune, and described as such by MK at the time. I love it! The long, slow, spoken/sung intro is odd, but the rest is killer. Why they never did this one live is beyond me.

[Matchstickman]

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.

You put this exrremely well, I agree wholeheartedly!

Millionaire Blues may be forgettable, but God he really played some sweet guitar on that one. That sort of attitude and attack is missing in the Privateering blues songs.

[dustyvalentino]

Just checked and according to wiki the original was 1929 with Johnson doing his in 1936.

With the "if I had a possession" title or the "R&T" one?

R & T was first in 1929.

[quizzaciously]

Anyway, Mark does jazz way better than blues, even though he's not a jazz player by any means, and jazz is a more mature and individual version of blues. Or as some jazz musicians put it, jazz is blues that graduated from university. Mark's jazzy songs are simply marvellous, and "Slow Learner" is almost pure jazz one could expect from the record coming from the Blue Note label. Besides, the rhythm section of Mark's band consists of jazz cats of the highest calibre.

Richard Bennett, who recorded an entire jazz album which KICKS BUTT, also Jim Cox who's a jazz piano magician with a solo album which is impossible to find online, Glenn Worf swings on upright bass like nobody else, and Ian Thomas knows a thing or two about jazz drums. Overall, it's a miracle these guys are kept so simple with their instruments and barely get used to their full potential, the musicianship and the song service are outstanding.

[dustyvalentino]

Anyway, Mark does jazz way better than blues, even though he's not a jazz player by any means, and jazz is a more mature and individual version of blues. Or as some jazz musicians put it, jazz is blues that graduated from university. Mark's jazzy songs are simply marvellous, and "Slow Learner" is almost pure jazz one could expect from the record coming from the Blue Note label. Besides, the rhythm section of Mark's band consists of jazz cats of the highest calibre.

Richard Bennett, who recorded an entire jazz album which KICKS BUTT, also Jim Cox who's a jazz piano magician with a solo album which is impossible to find online, Glenn Worf swings on upright bass like nobody else, and Ian Thomas knows a thing or two about jazz drums. Overall, it's a miracle these guys are kept so simple with their instruments and barely get used to their full potential, the musicianship and the song service are outstanding.

Ironically because all the record companies have eaten each other DTRW ended up being released by Blue Note.

[qjamesfloyd]

I can't really get into what is real Blues, it just doesn't do it for me, but, I do like the "MK Blues" which could be it's own genre. Chris Rea got into the Blues in a big way, with his Blue Guitars project, which was a history of the Blues with 137 songs over 11 CD's, and it was originally going to be 16 CD's. I have not listened to it, but, I am sure it must be good.

[dustyvalentino]

Fare Thee Well Northumberland is a blues(y) tune, and described as such by MK at the time. I love it! The long, slow, spoken/sung intro is odd, but the rest is killer. Why they never did this one live is beyond me.

I really love Fare Thee Well but it's kind of folky as well and that's why I didn't include it in my original list.

I feel like this is MK's strength - taking elements of different genres, making into a big old goulash, writing a good song around it and putting some cool guitar on the top. I feel like he's less successful when he makes a straight up attempt at one of these genres.

[Rolo]

I really love Fare Thee Well but it's kind of folky as well and that's why I didn't include it in my original list.

I feel like this is MK's strength - taking elements of different genres, making into a big old goulash, writing a good song around it and putting some cool guitar on the top. I feel like he's less successful when he makes a straight up attempt at one of these genres.

Yep.
MK is one kind of artist that created his own language.
I've read an YT comment many years ago when i was watching a live footage of I Think I Love... with the Hillbillies.

The comment was: - This is not blues or rock. It's Mark Knopfler.

I think that MK is not a Blues Afficionado. I think that he is very sucessfull when he tries some traditional country stuff.

The Blues, in my opinion, is a state of spirit. Its a mantra. Its not about harmony, scales or technique. Is much more about sing a tale or a interpretation over that same progression.
When i listen to Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Junior Wells, BB or even modern stuff like SRV, Robert Cray, Kirk Fletcher or McKinley James, both have passion and spirit enoght to deliver 3 hours of music without being bored.

Mark, in my opinion, don't have that 'Blues Feeling' to bring a 12 bar blues without being loose at some point. So, he deliver his vision about the blues.

Clapton, Stevie, Cray, the Kings, Bonamassa, Beck, Collins... all great blues artists have his own visions and styles about the Blues. But also they have the Blues spirit. With, in my opinion, MK doesn't have.

And this what makes MK's music so special.

[KnopfleRick]

Yes, his music is very special.
I don't really care if he plays blues or country 100% the way it should be played. He plays it the way he likes it and it always sounds great. He created his own style that makes him very special.
For me Mark is a master at mixing all sorts of genres into his music and the cocktail that comes out is what we all love. 

[Robson]

Yes, his music is very special.
I don't really care if he plays blues or country 100% the way it should be played. He plays it the way he likes it and it always sounds great. He created his own style that makes him very special.
For me Mark is a master at mixing all sorts of genres into his music and the cocktail that comes out is what we all love. 

 

[Love Expresso]

So with Hill Farmer's Blues and Silvertown Blues in mind (and Occupation Blues,  Miss You Blues and Millionaire Blues already mentioned) I guess it's safe to say that if the title contains the word Blues, it is definitely not one. 

LE

[quizzaciously]

So with Hill Farmer's Blues and Silvertown Blues in mind (and Occupation Blues,  Miss You Blues and Millionaire Blues already mentioned) I guess it's safe to say that if the title contains the word Blues, it is definitely not one. 

LE

Also funny that the initial version of Secondary Waltz is not an actual waltz:



And I guess you can insert an obligatory joke here that if a country has anything to do with the word People in its official name, it's either communism or dictatorship.