This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)

Fingerstyle guitar

Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (picking individual notes with a single plectrum called a flatpick).

The term "fingerstyle" is somewhat of a misnomer, since it is present in several different genres and styles of music - but mostly, because it involves a completely different technique, not just a "style" of playing, especially for the guitarist's right hand. The term is often used synonymously with fingerpicking, although fingerpicking can also refer to a specific tradition of folk, blues and country guitar playing in the US. See below.

Music arranged for fingerstyle playing can include chords, arpeggios and other elements such as artificial harmonics, hammering on and pulling off with the fretting hand, using the body of the guitar percussively, and many other techniques. Fingerpicking is the standard technique on the classical or nylon string guitar, but is considered more of an unusual or specialised technique on steel string guitars and even more so on electric guitars.

Fingerstyle as technique[link]

Because notes are struck by individual digits rather than the hand working as a single unit, fingerstyle playing allows the guitarist to perform several musical elements simultaneously. One definition of the technique has been put forward by the Toronto (Canada) Fingerstyle Guitar Association:

Physically, “Fingerstyle” refers to using each of the right hand fingers independently in order to play the multiple parts of a musical arrangement that would normally be played by several band members. Bass, harmonic accompaniment, melody, and percussion can all be played simultaneously when playing Fingerstyle.^[1]

Advantages and disadvantages of fingerstyle[link]

• Players do not have to carry a plectrum; but fingernails may have to be maintained at the right length and in good condition.
• It is possible to play multiple non-adjacent strings at exactly the same time^[2]
• It is more suitable for playing polyphonically, with separate musical lines, or separate melody, harmony and bass, and therefore more suitable to unaccompanied soloing. Fingerstyle players have up to four (very rarely five) surfaces striking the string independently; however, that does not equate to four plectrums, since plectra can strike strings on both an up and a downstroke, which fingers generally cannot.^[3]
• It is easy to play arpeggios; but the techniques for tremolo and melody playing are more complex than with plectrum playing.
• It is possible to play chords without any arpeggiation, because up to 4 strings can be plucked simultaneously.
• There is less need for fretting hand damping in playing chords, since only the strings that are required can be plucked.
• A greater variation in strokes is possible, allowing greater expressiveness in timbre.
• A wide variety of strums and rasgueados are possible.
• Less energy is generally imparted to strings than with plectrum playing, leading to lower volume when playing acoustically.
• Playing on heavier gauge strings can damage nails: fingerstyle is more suited to nylon strings or lighter gauge steel strings (but this does not apply to fingerpicks).

Nylon string guitar styles[link]

Nylon string guitars are almost always played fingerstyle.

Classical guitar fingerstyle[link]

The term classical "Classical guitar" can refer to any kind of art music played on a nylon string guitar, or more narrowly to music of the classical period, as opposed to baroque or romantic music. The major feature of classical fingerstyle technique is that it has evolved to enable solo rendition of harmony and polyphonic music in much the same manner as the piano can. The technique is intended to maximise the degree of control over the musical dynamics, texture, volume and timbral characteristics of the guitar. Careful attention is paid to the physical posture of the player. Thumb, index, middle and ring fingers are all employed for plucking. Chords are often plucked, with strums being reserved for emphasis. The repertoire varies in terms of keys, modes, rhythms and cultural influences. Altered tunings are rarely employed, with the exception of Dropped D.

Notation[link]

Fingerings for both hands are often given in detail in classical guitar music notation, although players are also free to add to or depart from them as part of their own interpretation. Fretting hand fingers are given as numbers in circles, plucking hand fingers are given as letters

Alternation[link]

To achieve tremolo effects and rapid, fluent scale passages, and varied arpeggios the player must practice alternation, that is, never plucking a string with the same finger twice. Common alternation patterns include:

• i-m-i-m Basic melody line on the treble strings. Has the appearance of "walking along the strings".
• i-m-a-i-m-a Tremolo pattern with a triplet feel (i.e. the same note is repeated three times)
• p-a-m-i-p-a-m-i Another tremolo pattern..
• p-m-p-m A way of playing a melody line on the lower strings.

Tone production[link]

Classical guitarists have a lot of freedom within the mechanics of playing the instrument. Often these decisions with influence on tone/timbre - factors include:

• At what position along the string the finger plucks the string (This is actively changed by guitarists since it is an effective way of changing the sound(timbre) from "soft"(dolce) plucking the string near its middle, to "hard"(ponticelo) plucking the string near its end).
• Use of nail or not: today almost all concert guitarists use their fingernails (which must be smoothly filed and carefully shaped^[4]) to pluck the string since it produces a sharper clearer sound, and also a better-controlled loud sound. The "use of nail or not" is usually a fixed consistent decision of the player and not varied; the thumb is an exception and might actively be varied between nail [sharper clearer sound] and flesh. Playing parameters include
• Which finger to use
• What angle of attack to hold the wrist and fingers at with respect to the strings
• Rest-stroke apoyando; the finger that plucks a string rests on the next string—traditionally used in single melody lines—versus free-stroke (tirando ( plucking the string without coming to a rest on the next string)

Flamenco guitar fingerstyle[link]

Flamenco technique is related to classical technique, but with more emphasis on rhythmic drive and volume, and less on dynamic contrast and tone production. Flamenco guitarists prefer keys such as A and E that allow the use of open strings, and typically employ capos where a departure is required. They often strengthen their fingernails artificially.

Some specialized techniques include:

• Picado: Single-line scale passages performed apoyando but with more attack and articulation.
• Rasgueado: Strumming typically done by bunching all the right hand fingers and then flicking them out in quick succession to get four superimposed strums. The rasgueado or "rolling" strum is particularly characteristic of the genre.
• Alzapua: A thumb technique which has roots in oud plectrum technique. The right hand thumb is used for both single-line notes and strummed across a number of strings. Both are combined in quick succession to give it a unique sound.
• Tremolo: Done somewhat differently from the conventional classical guitar tremolo, it is very commonly played with the right hand pattern p-i-a-m-i.

Bossa nova[link]

Bossa nova is most commonly performed on the nylon-string classical guitar, played with the fingers rather than with a pick. Its purest form could be considered unaccompanied guitar with vocals, as exemplified by João Gilberto. Even in larger, jazz-like arrangements for groups, there is almost always a guitar that plays the underlying rhythm. Gilberto basically took one of the several rhythmic layers from a samba ensemble, specifically the tamborim, and applied it to the picking hand.

The North American fingerpicking tradition[link]

Fingerpicking (also called thumb picking, alternating bass, or pattern picking) is a term that is used to describe both a playing style and a genre of music. It falls under the "fingerstyle" heading because it is plucked by the fingers, but it is generally used to play a specific type of folk, country-jazz and/or blues music. In this technique, the thumb maintains a steady rhythm, usually playing "alternating bass" patterns on the lower three strings, while the index, or index and middle fingers pick out melody and fill-in notes on the high strings.

The style originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as southern African-American blues guitarists tried to imitate the popular ragtime piano music of the day, with the guitarist's thumb functioning as the pianist's left hand, and the other fingers functioning as the right hand. The first recorded examples were by players such as Blind Blake, Big Bill Broonzy, Memphis Minnie and Mississippi John Hurt. Some early blues players such as Blind Willie Johnson and Tampa Red added slide guitar techniques. Fingerpicking was soon taken up by country and Western artists such as Sam McGee, Ike Everly (father of The Everly Brothers), Merle Travis and "Thumbs" Carllile. Later Chet Atkins further developed the style.

Most fingerpickers use acoustic guitars, but some, including Merle Travis often played on hollow-body electric guitars.^[5]

Ragtime guitar[link]

As mentioned above, fingerpicking was probably originally inspired by ragtime piano. An early master of ragtime guitar was Blind Blake, a popular recording artist of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

In the 1960s, a new generation of guitarists returned to these roots and began to transcribe piano tunes for solo guitar. One of the best known and most talented of these players was Dave Van Ronk who arranged St. Louis Tickle for solo guitar. In 1971, guitarists David Laibman and Eric Schoenberg arranged and recorded Scott Joplin rags and other complex piano arrangements for the LP The New Ragtime Guitar on Folkways Records. This was followed by a Stefan Grossman method book with the same title. A year later Grossman and ED Denson founded Kicking Mule Records a company that recorded scores of LPs of solo ragtime guitar by artists including Grossman, Ton van Bergeyk, Leo Wijnkamp, Duck Baker, Peter Finger, Lasse Johansson, Tom Ball and Dale Miller. One of today's top ragtime stylists is Craig Ventresco, who is best known for playing on the soundtracks of various Terry Zwigoff movies.

Carter Family picking[link]

Carter Family picking, also known as "'thumb brush' technique or the 'Carter lick,' and also the 'church lick' and the 'Carter scratch'",^[6] is a style of fingerstyle guitar named for Maybelle Carter of the Carter Family's distinctive style of rhythm guitar in which the melody is played on the bass strings, usually low E, A, and D while rhythm strumming continues above, on the treble strings, high E, B, and G. This often occurs during the break.^[7]

Travis picking[link]

This style is commonly played on steel string acoustic guitars. Pattern picking is the use of "preset right-hand pattern[s]" while fingerpicking, with the left hand fingering standard chords.^[8]

The most common pattern, sometimes broadly referred to as Travis picking after Merle Travis, and popularized by Chet Atkins, Marcel Dadi and Tommy Emmanuel, is as follows:

Middle | X     X       | X     X
Index  |   X       X   |   X       X
Thumb  | X   X   X   X | X   X   X   X

The thumb (T) alternates between bass notes, often on two different strings, while the index (I) and middle (M) fingers alternate between two treble notes, usually on two different strings, most often the second and first. Using this pattern on a C major chord is as follows in notation and tablature:

Travis picking.^[9]  Play (help·info)

Travis' own playing was much more complicated and not limited to simple patterns. He referred to his style of playing as "thumb picking", possibly because the only pick he used when playing was a banjo thumb pick.

Clawhammer and frailing[link]

"Clawhammer" and "Frailing" are primarily banjo techniques which are sometimes applied to the guitar.^[10] Jody Stecher and Alec Stone Sweet are exponents of guitar clawhammer.

Fingerstyle guitarist Steve Baughman distinguishes between frailing and clawhammer as follows. In frailing, the index fingertip is used for up-picking melody, and the middle fingernail is used for rhythmic downward brushing. In clawhammer, only downstrokes are used, and they are typically played with one fingernail as is the usual technique on the banjo.^[11]

American primitive guitar[link]

American primitive guitar, or American Primitivism, is a subset of fingerstyle guitar. It originated with John Fahey, whose recordings from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s inspired many guitarists such as Leo Kottke, who made his debut recording of 6 and 12 String Guitar on Fahey's Takoma label in 1969. American primitive guitar can be characterized by the use of folk music or folk-like material, driving alternating-bass fingerpicking with a good deal of ostinato patterns, and the use of alternative tunings (scordatura) such as open D, open G, drop D and open C.

Other acoustic styles[link]

Folk baroque[link]

A distinctive style to emerge from Britain in the early 1960s, which combined elements of American folk, blues, jazz and ragtime with British traditional music, was what became known as 'folk baroque'. Pioneered by musicians of the Second British folk revival began their careers in the short-lived skiffle craze of the later 1950s and often used American blues, folk and jazz styles, occasionally using open D and G tunings.^[12] However, performers like Davy Graham and Martin Carthy attempted to apply these styles to the playing of traditional English modal music. They were soon followed by artists such as Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, who further defined the style.^[13] The style these artists developed was particularly notable for the adoption of D-A-D-G-A-D (from lowest to highest), which gave a form of suspended-fourth D chord, neither major nor minor, which could be employed as the basis for modal based folk songs.^[14] This was combined with a fingerstyle based on Travis picking and a focus on melody, that made it suitable as an accompaniment.^[14] Denselow, who coined the phrase ‘folk baroque’ singled out Graham’s recording of traditional English folk song ‘Seven Gypsys’ on Folk, Blues and Beyond (1964) as the beginning of the style.^[15] Graham mixed this with Indian, African, American, Celtic and modern and traditional American influences, while Carthy in particular used the tuning in order to replicate the drone common in medieval and folk music played by the thumb on the two lowest strings. The style was further developed by Jansch, who brought a more forceful style of picking and, indirectly, influences from Jazz and Ragtime, leading particularly to more complex basslines. Renbourn built on all these trends and was the artist whose repertoire was most influenced by medieval music.^[16]

In the early 1970s the next generation of British artists added new tunings and techniques, reflected in the work of artists like Nick Drake, Tim Buckley and particularly John Martyn, whose Solid Air (1972) set the bar for subsequent British acoustic guitarists.^[17] Perhaps the most prominent exponent of recent years has been Martin Simpson, whose complex mix of traditional English and American material, together with innovative arrangements and techniques like the use of guitar slides, represents a deliberate attempt to create a unique and personal style.^[18] Martin Carthy passed on his guitar style to French guitarist Pierre Bensusan.^[19] It was taken up by in Scotland by Dick Gaughan, and by Irish musicians like Paul Brady, Dónal Lunny and Mick Moloney.^[20] Carthy also influenced Paul Simon, particularly evident on ‘Scarborough Fair’, which he probably taught to Simon, and a recording of Davy’s 'Anji' that appears on Sounds of Silence, and as a result was copied by many subsequent folk guitarists.^[14] By the 1970s Americans such as Duck Baker, Eric Schoenberg were arranging solo guitar versions of Celtic dance tunes, slow airs, bagpipe music, and harp pieces by Turlough O'Carolan and earlier harper-composers. Renbourn and Jansch’s complex sounds were also highly influential on Mike Oldfield’s early music.^[21] The style also had an impact within electric folk, where, particularly Richard Thompson, used the D-A-D-G-A-D tuning, though with a hybrid picking style to produce a similar, but distinctive effect.^[20]

"New Age" fingerstyle[link]

In 1976, William Ackerman started Windham Hill Records, which carried on the Takoma tradition of original compositions on solo steel string guitar. However, instead of the folk and blues oriented music of Takoma, including Fahey's American primitive guitar, the early Windham Hill artists (and others influenced by them) abandoned the steady alternating or monotonic bass in favor of sweet flowing arpeggios and flamenco-inspired percussive techniques. The label's best selling artist George Winston and others used a similar approach on piano. This music was generally pacific, accessible and expressionistic. Eventually, this music acquired the label of "New Age", given its widespread use as background music at bookstores, spas and other New Age businesses. The designation has stuck, though it wasn't a term coined by the company itself.

Percussive fingerstyle[link]

Tommy Emmanuel

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

This section requires expansion.

"Percussive picking" is an emerging term for a style incorporating sharp attacks on the strings, as well as hitting the strings and guitar top with the hand for percussive effect. Flamenco guitarists have been using these techniques for years but the greater resistance of steel strings made a similar approach difficult in fingerstyle until the use of pickups on acoustic guitars became common in the early 1970s. Michael Hedges began to use percussive techniques in the early 1980s. Current percussive fingerstylists include Tommy Emmanuel, Joe Robinson, Gareth Pearson, Preston Reed, Laurence Juber, Shaun Hopper, Kaki King, Justin King, Erik Mongrain, Phil Keaggy, Thomas Leeb, Jon Gomm, Eric Roche, Robert Castellani, Doyle Dykes, Michael Gulezian, Don Ross, Andy McKee, Antoine Dufour, Craig D'Andrea, Trace Bundy, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Newton Faulkner, and Paul Finley.

African fingerstyle[link]

Lionel Loueke, playing a skeleton guitar. Photo by Sheldon Levy

The pioneer of Congolese fingerstyle acoustic guitar music was Jean Bosco Mwenda, also known as Mwenda wa Bayeke (1930–1990). His song "Masanga" was particularly influential, due to its complex and varied guitar part. His influences included traditional music of Zambia and the Eastern Congo, Cuban groups like the Trio Matamoros, and cowboy movies. His style used the thumb and index finger only, to produce bass, melody and accompaniment. Congolese guitarists Losta Abelo and Edouard Masengo played in a similar style.

Herbert Misango and George Mukabi were fingerstyle guitarists from Kenya.^[22]Ali Farka Toure and Vieux Farka Toure are father-and-son fingerstylists from Mali, whose style has been compared to John Lee Hooker's. Djelimady Tounkara is another Malian fingerstylist.

S. E. Rogie and Koo Nimo play acoustic fingerstyle in the palm wine music tradition.

Benin-born Jazz guitarist Lionel Loueke uses fingerstyle in an approach that combines jazz harmonies and complex rhythms.^[23] He is now based in the US.

Tony Cox (b. 1954) is a Zimbabwean guitarist and composer based in Cape Town, South Africa. A master of the Fingerpicking style of guitar playing, he has won the SAMA (South African Music Awards) for best instrumental album twice. His music incorporates many different styles including classical, blues, rock and jazz, while keeping an African flavour.

Tinderwet is a versatile guitarist of the three and sometimes four fingers playing style (thumb, index, middle and ring); he plays several different African styles, including soukous or West African music. He often flavours his playing with jazzy improvisations, regular fingerpicking patterns and chord melody sequences.

Slide, steel and slack-key guitar[link]

Even when the guitar is tuned to a chord, it often undesirable for all six strings to sound. When strumming with a plectrum.a guitarist must damp unwanted strings with the fretting hand; when a slide or steel is employed, this fretting hand damping no longer possible, so it becomes necessary to replace plectrum strumming with plucking of individuals strings. For this reason, slide and steel guitar playing are very often fingerstyle.

Slide guitar[link]

Example of a bottleneck, with fingerpicks and resonator guitar.

Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles. Instead of altering the pitch of the strings in the normal manner (by pressing the string against frets), a slide is placed upon the string to vary its vibrating length, and pitch. This slide can then be moved along the string without lifting, creating continuous transitions in pitch.

Slide guitar is most often played (assuming a right-handed player and guitar):

• With the guitar in the normal position, using a slide called a bottleneck on one of the fingers of the left hand; this is known as bottleneck guitar.
• With the guitar held horizontally, with the belly uppermost and the bass strings toward the player, and using a slide called a steel held in the left hand; this is known as lap steel guitar.

Slack-key guitar[link]

Slack-key guitar is a fingerpicked style that originated in Hawaii. The English term is a translation of the Hawaiian kī hō‘alu, which means "loosen the [tuning] key." Slack key is nearly always played in open or altered tunings—the most common tuning is G-major (DGDGBD), called "taropatch," though there is a family of major-seventh tunings called "wahine" (Hawaiian for "woman"), as well as tunings designed to get particular effects.

Basic slack-key style, like mainland folk-based fingerstyle, establishes an alternating bass pattern with the thumb and plays the melody line with the fingers on the higher strings. The repertory is rooted in traditional, post-Contact Hawaiian song and dance, but since 1946 (when the first commercial slack key recordings were made) the style has expanded, and some contemporary compositions have a distinctly New Age sound.

Slack key's older generation included Gabby Pahinui, Leonard Kwan, Sonny Chillingworth and Raymond Kāne. Prominent contemporary players include Keola Beamer, Moses Kahumoku, Ledward Kaapana, Dennis Kamakahi, John Keawe, Ozzie Kotani and Peter Moon and Cyril Pahinui.

Electric fingerstyle[link]

Fingerstyle jazz guitar[link]

The unaccompanied guitar in jazz is often played in chord-melody style, where the guitarist plays a series of chords with the melody line on top. Fingerstyle, plectrum, or hybrid picking are equally suited to this style. Some players alternate between fingerstyle and plectrum playing, "palming" the plectrum when it is not in use.

Early blues and ragtime guitarists often used fingerstyle. True fingerstyle jazz guitar dates back to early swing era acoustic players like Eddie Lang (1902–1933) Lonnie Johnson (1899–1970) and Carl Kress (1907–1965), Dick McDonough (1904–1938) and the Argentinian Oscar Alemán (1909–1980). Django Reinhardt (1910–1953) used a classical/flamenco technique on unaccompanied pieces such as his composition Tears.^[24]

Fingerstyle jazz on the electric guitar was pioneered by George van Eps (1913–1998) who was respected for his polyphonic approach, sometimes using a seven string guitar. Wes Montgomery (1925–1968) was known for using the fleshy part of his thumb to provide the bass line while strumming chordal or melodic motives with his fingers. This style, while unorthodox, was widely regarded as an innovative method for enhancing the warm tone assciated with jazz guitar. Montgomery's influence extends to modern polyphonic jazz improvisational methods. Joe Pass (1929–1994) switched to fingerstyle mid career,making the Virtuoso series of albums. Little known to the general public Ted Greene (1946–2005) was admired by fellow musicians for his harmonic skills.^[25] Lenny Breau (1941–1984) went one better than van Eps by playing virtuosic fingerstyle on an eight string guitar. Tommy Crook replaced the lower two strings on his Gibson switchmaster with bass strings, allowing him to create the impression of playing bass and guitar simultaneously.

Chet Atkins (1924–2001) sometimes applied his formidable right-hand technique to jazz standards, with Duck Baker (b. 1949), Richard Smith (b.1971), Woody Mann and Tommy Emmanuel (b. 1955), among others, following in his footsteps. They use the fingerpicking technique of Merle Travis and others to play wide variety of material including jazz. This style is distinguished by having a steadier and "busier" (several beats to the bar) bass line than the chord melody approach of Montgomery and Pass making it suited to up-tempo material.

Fingerstyle has always been predominant in Latin American guitar playing, which Laurindo Almeida (1917–1995) and Charlie Byrd (1925–1999) brought to a wider audience in the 1950s.

Today, fingerstyle jazz guitar has several proponents: the pianistic Jeff Linsky (b. 1952), freely improvises polyphonically while employing a classical guitar technique.^[26] Earl Klugh (b. 1953) has also performed fingerstyle jazz on the solo guitar. Briton Martin Taylor (b. 1956), a former Stephane Grappelli sideman, switched to fingerstyle on relaunching his career as a soloist. His predecessor in Grappelli's band, John Etheridge (b. 1948) is also an occasional fingerstyle player.

Electric blues and rock[link]

Derek Trucks is a blues performer on both electric, resonator, and slide guitar (2009)

The solid-body electric guitar is rarely played fingerstyle, although no great technical challenges are presented.

Slide guitarists often employ fingerstyle, which applies equally to the electric guitar,for instance Duane Allman and Ry Cooder. Blues guitarists have long used fingerstyle: modern exponents include Albert King, Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, Derek Trucks and Joe Bonamassa

Exponents of fingerstyle rock guitar include, Mark Knopfler, Jeff Beck (after years of pick playing), Robby Krieger, Lindsey Buckingham, Mike Oldfield, Patrick Simmons, Wilko Johnson, J.J. Cale, Robbie Robertson, Hillel Slovak and David Longstreth^[27]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Pearson, Wyn (2008). Hybrid Picking. Mel Bay Publications Inc. ISBN 978-0-7866-7607-1. http://www.melbay.com/product.asp?ProductID=21343DP. 

External links[link]

• Travis Picking Deconstructed - The Basics Explained
• Acoustic Fingerstyle Web site - Tab, Open Tuning Tutorial, Equipment reviews
• Fingerstyle Guitarists

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2011)

Brownie McGhee
Brownie McGhee performing at Nambassa in 1981.
Background information
Birth name	Walter Brown McGhee
Born	(1915-11-30)November 30, 1915 Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
Died	February 16, 1996(1996-02-16) (aged 80) Oakland, California, United States
Genres	Folk-blues, country blues, Piedmont blues, East Coast blues, blues revival
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Guitar, piano, kazoo, vocals
Associated acts	Stick McGhee, Sonny Terry

Walter Brown ("Brownie") McGhee (November 30, 1915 - February 16, 1996)^[1] was a Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.^[2]

Life and career[link]

Brownie McGhee was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and grew up in Kingsport, Tennessee.^[3] As a child he had polio, which incapacitated his leg. His brother Granville "Sticks" or "Stick" McGhee was nicknamed for pushing young Brownie around in a cart. His father, George McGhee, was a factory worker known around University Avenue for playing guitar and singing. Brownie's uncle made him a guitar from a tin marshmallow box and a piece of board.^[4] McGhee spent much of his youth immersed in music, singing with local harmony group the Golden Voices Gospel Quartet and teaching himself to play guitar. A March of Dimes-funded leg operation enabled McGhee to walk.

At age 22, Brownie McGhee became a traveling musician, working in the Rabbit Foot Minstrels and befriending Blind Boy Fuller, whose guitar playing influenced him greatly. After Fuller's death in 1941, J. B. Long of Columbia Records had McGhee adopt his mentor's name, branding him "Blind Boy Fuller No. 2." By that time, McGhee was recording for Columbia's subsidiary Okeh Records in Chicago, but his real success came after he moved to New York in 1942, when he teamed up with Sonny Terry, whom he had known since 1939 when Sonny was Blind Boy Fuller's harmonica player. The pairing was an overnight success; as well as recording, they toured together until around 1980. As a duo, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee did most of their work from 1958 until 1980, spending 11 months of each year touring, and recording dozens of albums.

Despite their later fame as "pure" folk artists playing for white audiences, in the 1940s Terry and McGhee also attempted to be successful black recording performers, fronting a jump blues combo with honking saxophone and rolling piano, variously calling themselves "Brownie McGhee and his Jook House Rockers" or "Sonny Terry and his Buckshot Five," often with Champion Jack Dupree and Big Chief Ellis. They also appeared in the original Broadway productions of Finian's Rainbow and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

During the blues revival of the 1960s, Terry and McGhee were very popular on the concert and music festival circuits, occasionally adding new material but usually remaining faithful to their roots and their audience. With Sonny Terry, he appeared in the 1979 Steve Martin comedy The Jerk. In 1987, McGhee gave a small but memorable performance as ill-fated blues singer Toots Sweet in the supernatural thriller movie, Angel Heart. He appeared in a 1988 episode of "Family Ties" titled "The Blues Brother" in which he played fictional blues musician Eddie Dupre, as well as a 1989 episode of Matlock entitled "The Blues Singer."

Happy Traum, a former guitar student of Brownie's, edited a blues guitar instruction guide and songbook for him. Using a tape recorder, Traum had McGhee instruct and, between lessons, talk about his life and the blues. Guitar Styles of Brownie McGhee was published in New York in 1971. The autobiographical section features Brownie talking about growing up, his musical beginnings, and a history of the early blues period (1930s onward).

One of McGhee's final concert appearances was at the 1995 Chicago Blues Festival.^[3]

McGhee died from stomach cancer in February 1996 in Oakland, California at age 80; he missed his planned return trip to Australia.^[5]

Discography[link]

• Traditional Blues - Vol. 1 (Folkways Records, 1951)
• Get on Board: Negro Folksongs by the Folkmasters (Folkways, 1952)
• Brownie McGhee Blues (Folkways, 1955)
• Washboard Band - Country Dance Music (Folkways, 1956)
• Folk Songs of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (Roulette, 1958)
• Blues with Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (Folkways, 1959)
• Brownie McGhee Sings the Blues (Folkways, 1959)
• Traditional Blues - Vol. 2 (Folkways, 1960)
• Preachin' the Blues (Folkways, 1968)
• Sonny & Brownie (A&M Records, 1973)
• Brownie's Blues (Prestige Records, 1984)
• Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry Sing (Smithsonian Folkways, 1990)
• The Folkways Years, 1945-1959 (Smithsonian Folkways, 1991)

See also[link]

• American folk music
• Woody Guthrie
• American Blues
• List of blues musicians
• List of people from Tennessee
• List of folk musicians

References[link]

External links[link]

• Center for Southern African American Music - Brownie McGhee — McGhee bio and audio samples

Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler, July 2006
Background information
Birth name	Mark Freuder Knopfler
Born	(1949-08-12) 12 August 1949 (age 62) Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Origin	Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Genres	Rock Roots rock Celtic rock Country rock Blues-rock
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter, Record producer, Film score composer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, resonator guitar
Years active	1965–present
Labels	Vertigo, Mercury, Warner
Associated acts	Dire Straits The Notting Hillbillies Chet Atkins Emmylou Harris Bob Dylan Eric Clapton Sonny Landreth
Website	MarkKnopfler.com
Notable instruments
Mark Knopfler Stratocaster Fender Telecaster Gibson Les Paul Pensa Custom MKII Steinberger GL-2

Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977. After Dire Straits disbanded in 1995, Knopfler went on to record and produce six solo albums, including Golden Heart (1996), Sailing to Philadelphia (2000), and Get Lucky (2009). He has composed and produced film scores for eight films, including Local Hero (1983), Cal (1984), and The Princess Bride (1987).^[1] In addition to his work with Dire Straits and as a solo artist and composer, Knopfler has recorded and performed with many prominent musical artists, including Phil Lynott, Chet Atkins, The Chieftains, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Jools Holland, Sonny Landreth, and Van Morrison. He has produced albums for Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, and Randy Newman.

Knopfler is one of the most respected fingerstyle guitarists of the modern rock era, and was ranked 27th on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.^[2] Knopfler and Dire Straits have sold in excess of 120 million albums to date.^[3][4] A four-time Grammy Award winner, Knopfler is the recipient of the Edison Award and the Steiger Award, and holds three honorary doctorate degrees in music from universities in the United Kingdom.^[5][6]

Early life (1949–1976)[link]

Mark Freuder Knopfler was born on 12 August 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland, to an English mother and Hungarian Jewish father—an architect whose anti-fascist sympathies forced him to flee from his native Hungary.^[7] The family settled in Knopfler's mother's home town of Blyth, Northumberland in North East England when he was 7 years old. He and his younger brother David attended Gosforth Grammar School. Inspired by his uncle Kingsley's harmonica and boogie-woogie piano playing, he wanted to buy an expensive Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster just like Hank Marvin's, but had to settle for a £50 twin-pick-up Höfner Super Solid.^[8] During the 1960s, he formed and joined schoolboy bands and listened to singers like Elvis Presley and guitarists Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore, B.B King, Django Reinhardt, Hank Marvin, and James Burton. At 16, he made a local TV appearance as part of a harmony duo, with his classmate Sue Hercombe.^[8]

In 1968, after studying journalism for a year at Harlow Technical College,^[8][9] Knopfler was hired as a junior reporter in Leeds for the Yorkshire Evening Post.^[10] Two years later, he decided to further his studies, and went on to graduate with a degree in English at the University of Leeds.^[11] In April 1970, while living in Leeds, Knopfler recorded a demo disk of an original song he'd written, "Summer's Coming My Way". The recording included Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), Steve Phillips (second guitar), Dave Johnson (bass), and Paul Granger (percussion). Johnson, Granger, and vocalist Mick Dewhirst played with Mark in the band Silverheels.

Upon graduation in 1973, Knopfler moved to London and joined a High Wycombe-based band called Brewers Droop, appearing on the album The Booze Brothers. One night while spending some time with friends, the only guitar available was an old acoustic with a badly warped neck that had been strung with extra-light strings to make it playable. Even so, he found it impossible to play unless he finger-picked it. He said in a later interview, "That was where I found my 'voice' on guitar." After a brief stint with Brewers Droop, Knopfler took a job as a lecturer at Loughton College in Essex—a position he held for three years. Throughout this time, he continued performing with local pub bands, including the Café Racers.^[12] He also formed a duo with long-time associate bluesman Steve Phillips called The Duolian String Pickers.

By the mid-1970s, Knopfler devoted much of his musical energies to his group, the Café Racers. His brother David moved to London, where he shared a flat with John Illsley—a guitarist who changed over to bass guitar. In April 1977, Mark gave up his flat in Buckhurst Hill and moved in with David and John. The three began playing music together, and soon Mark invited John to join the Café Racers.^[13]

Dire Straits (1977–1995)[link]

Dire Straits' first demos were done in three sessions during 1977, with Pick Withers as drummer, David Knopfler as rhythm guitarist and John Illsley on bass guitar. On 27 July 1977 they recorded the now famous demo tapes of five songs: "Wild West End", "Sultans of Swing", "Down To The Waterline", "Sacred Loving" (a David Knopfler song) and "Water of Love". In what was probably October they recorded "Southbound Again", "In The Gallery" and "Six Blade Knife" for BBC Radio London and, finally, on 9 November demo tapes were made of "Setting Me Up", "Eastbound Train" and "Real Girl". Many of these songs reflected Mark's experiences in Newcastle, Leeds and London, and were to be featured on their first album, the self-titled Dire Straits which was released in the following year: "Down To The Waterline" recalled images of life in Newcastle; "In The Gallery" is a tribute to a Leeds sculptor/artist named Harry Phillips, (father of Steve Phillips); and "Lions", "Wild West End" and "Eastbound Train" were all drawn from Mark's early days in the capital.

Mark Knopfler with Dire Straits, 1979

Initially on its release, Dire Straits received little fanfare in the UK, but when "Sultans of Swing" was released as a single it became a chart hit in The Netherlands and album sales took off across Europe and then in the United States and Canada, and finally the UK. The group's second album, Communiqué, produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, followed in 1979, reaching number one in France while the first album was still at number three.

There were frequent personnel changes within Dire Straits after the release of their third album Making Movies, with Mark Knopfler increasingly becoming the driving force behind the group. Released in 1980, Making Movies marked a move towards more complex arrangements and production which continued for the remainder of the group's career. The album included many of Mark Knopfler's most personal compositions, most notably "Romeo and Juliet" and "Tunnel of Love". Love over Gold followed in 1982 and included the UK #2 hit "Private Investigations", "Telegraph Road", "Industrial Disease" and "It Never Rains" as well as the title track to that album.

With Love Over Gold still in the albums charts, the band released a four-song EP titled ExtendedancEPlay in early 1983. Featuring the hit single "Twisting By the Pool", this was the first output by the band that featured new drummer Terry Williams, (formerly of Rockpile), who had replaced Pick Withers in November 1982. A world tour followed later in 1983, and in March 1984 the double album Alchemy Live was released. Alchemy Live documented the recordings of two live shows in Hammersmith Odeon in London in July 1983, and reached number three in the UK Albums Chart.

During 1983 and 1984 Knopfler was involved with other projects as well, including writing and producing the music score to the film Local Hero which was a large success,^[14] and it was followed in 1984 by his scores for the films Cal and Comfort and Joy. Also during this time Knopfler produced Bob Dylan's Infidels album, as well as Aztec Camera and Willy DeVille; he also wrote Private Dancer for Tina Turner's comeback album of the same name.

Mark Knopfler with Dire Straits, Dublin, 1981

Dire Straits' biggest studio album by far was their fifth, Brothers in Arms, recorded at Air Studios Montserrat and released in May 1985. It became an international blockbuster which has now sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, and is the fourth best selling album in UK chart history.^[15][16] Brothers In Arms spawned several chart singles including the US # 1 hit "Money for Nothing", which was the first video ever to be played on MTV in Britain. It was also the first compact disc to sell a million copies and is largely credited for launching the CD format as it was also one of the first DDD^[17] CDs ever released. Other successful singles were "So Far Away", "Walk of Life", and the album's title track. The band's 1985–86 world tour of over 230^[8] shows was immensely successful.

After the Brothers in Arms tour Dire Straits ceased to work together for some time, Knopfler concentrating mainly on film soundtracks. Knopfler joined the charity ensemble Ferry Aid on "Let It Be" in the wake of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster. The song reached #1 on the UK singles chart in March 1987. Knopfler wrote the music score for the film The Princess Bride which was released at the end of 1987.

Mark Knopfler also took part in a comedy skit (featured on the French and Saunders Show) titled "The Easy Guitar Book Sketch" with comedian Rowland Rivron and fellow British musicians David Gilmour, Lemmy from Motorhead, Mark King from Level 42, and Gary Moore. Phil Taylor explained in an interview that Knopfler used Gilmour's guitar rig and managed to sound like himself when performing in the skit.^[18]

Dire Straits regrouped for the 11 June 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium, in which they were the headline act, and were accompanied by Elton John and Eric Clapton,^[19] who by this time had developed a strong friendship with Knopfler. Shortly after this, drummer Terry Williams left the band. In September 1988 Mark Knopfler announced the official dissolution of Dire Straits, saying that he "needed a rest",^[20] and in October 1988, a "best of" album, Money for Nothing, was released and reached number one in the United Kingdom.^[21]

In 1989 Knopfler formed The Notting Hillbillies,^[8] a band at the other end of the commercial spectrum. It leaned heavily towards American roots music - folk, blues and country music. The band members included keyboardist Guy Fletcher, with Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. For both the album and the tour Paul Franklin was added to the line-up on pedal steel. The Notting Hillbillies sole studio album, Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time was released in 1990, and Knopfler then toured with the Notting Hillbillies for the remainder of that year. He further emphasized his country music influences with his 1990s collaboration with Chet Atkins, Neck and Neck, which resulted in three Grammy awards. The Hillbillies toured the UK in early 1990 with a limited number of shows, it was strictly low key, packing out smaller venues, such as Newcastle University.

In 1990 Knopfler, John Illsley, and Alan Clark performed as Dire Straits at the Knebworth gig, joined by Eric Clapton, Ray Cooper, and guitarist Phil Palmer (who was at that time part of Eric Clapton's touring band), and in January the following year, Knopfler, John Illsley and manager Ed Bicknell decided to reform Dire Straits. Knopfler, Illsley, Alan Clark, and Guy Fletcher set about recording what turned out to be their final studio album accompanied by several part-time sidemen, including Phil Palmer, Paul Franklin, percussionist Danny Cummings and Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro.

The follow-up to Brothers In Arms was finally released in September 1991. On Every Street was nowhere near as popular as its predecessor, and met with a mixed critical reaction, with some reviewers regarding the album as an underwhelming comeback after a six year break. Nonetheless, the album sold well and reached #1 in the UK. A gruelling world tour to accompany the album followed, which lasted until the end of 1992. This was to be Dire Straits' final world tour; it was not as well received as the previous Brothers In Arms tour, and by this time Mark Knopfler had had enough of such massive operations. This drove the band into the ground, and ultimately led to the group's final dissolution in 1995.^[22]

Following the tour, Knopfler took some time off from the music business. In 1993, he received an honorary music doctorate from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.^[23] Two more Dire Straits albums were released, both live albums. On the Night, released in May 1993, documented Dire Straits' final world tour. In 1995, following the release of Live at the BBC, Mark Knopfler quietly dissolved Dire Straits and launched his career as a solo artist.

Since the break-up of Dire Straits, Knopfler has shown no interest in reforming the group. However, keyboardist Guy Fletcher has been associated with almost every piece of Knopfler's solo material to date, while Danny Cummings has also contributed frequently, including Knopfler's last three solo album releases All the Roadrunning (with Emmylou Harris), Kill to Get Crimson and Get Lucky. In October 2008 Knopfler declined a suggestion by John Illsley that the band should reform. Illsley said that a reunion would be "entirely up to Mark", however he also suggested that Knopfler was enjoying his continued success as a solo artist, saying that "He's doing incredibly well as a solo artist, so hats off to him. He's having a perfectly good time doing what he's doing".^[24] Knopfler meanwhile is quoted as saying "Oh, I don't know whether to start getting all that stuff back together again", and that the global fame that came his way in the 1980s "just got too big".^[24]

Solo career (1996–present)[link]

Mark Knopfler in Bilbao, 2001

Mark Knopfler's first solo album, Golden Heart, featuring the UK single "Darling Pretty", was released in March 1996. During the recording sessions for the album the main line-up of Knopfler's backing band, also known as "The 96ers," was formed, featuring Knopfler's old bandmate Guy Fletcher on keyboards, and has lasted much longer than any Dire Straits line-up.

Also in 1996, Mark Knopfler recorded guitar for Ted Christopher's Dunblane massacre tribute cover of Knocking on Heaven's Door

In 1997 Knopfler recorded the soundtrack for the movie Wag the Dog. During that same year Rolling Stone magazine listed "Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll", which included "Sultans of Swing", Dire Straits' first hit. 2000 saw the release of Knopfler's next solo album, Sailing to Philadelphia. This has been his most successful to date, possibly helped by the number of collaborators to the album like Van Morrison.

In 2002 Mark Knopfler gave four charity concerts with former Dire Straits members John Illsley, Chris White, Danny Cummings and Guy Fletcher, playing old material from the Dire Straits years. The concerts also featured The Notting Hillbillies with Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. At these four concerts (three of the four were at the Shepherd's Bush, the fourth at Beaulieu on the south coast) they were joined by Jimmy Nail, who provided backing vocals for Knopfler's 2002 composition "Why Aye Man".

Also in 2002 Knopfler released his third solo album, The Ragpicker's Dream. However, in March 2003 he was involved in a motorbike crash in Grosvenor Road, Belgravia and suffered a broken collarbone, broken shoulder blade and seven broken ribs.^[25] The planned Ragpicker's Dream tour was subsequently cancelled, but Knopfler recovered and was able to return to the stage in 2004 for his fourth album, Shangri-La.

Shangri-La was recorded at the Shangri-La Studio in Malibu, California in 2004, where The Band made recordings years before for their documentary/movie, The Last Waltz. In the promo for "Shangri-La" on his official website he said that his current line-up of Glenn Worf (bass), Guy Fletcher (keyboards), Chad Cromwell (drums), Richard Bennett (guitar) and Matt Rollings (piano) "play Dire Straits songs better than Dire Straits did." The "Shangri-La" tour took Knopfler to countries such as India and the United Arab Emirates for the first time. In India, his concerts at Mumbai and Bangalore were very well received, with over 20,000 fans gathering at each concert to listen to a legend many thought would never visit their country.

Mark Knopfler in Hamburg, 2006

In November 2005 a compilation, The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations was released, consisting of material from most of Dire Straits' studio albums and Knopfler's solo and soundtrack material. The album was made available in two editions, as a single CD (with a grey cover) and as a double CD (with the cover in blue), and was well-received. The only previously unreleased track on the album is "All the Roadrunning", a duet with country music singer Emmylou Harris, which was followed in 2006 by an album of duets of the same name.

Released in April 2006, All the Roadrunning reached #1 in Denmark and Switzerland, #2 in Norway and Sweden, #3 in Germany, Holland and Italy, #8 in Austria and UK, #9 in Spain, #17 in the United States (Billboard Top 200 Chart), #25 in Ireland and #41 in Australia. All the Roadrunning was nominated for "Best Folk Rock/Americana Album" at the 49th Grammy Awards (11 February 2007) but lost out to Bob Dylan's nomination for Modern Times.

Joined by Emmylou Harris, Knopfler supported All the Roadrunning with a limited – 15 gigs in Europe, 1 in Canada and 8 in the USA – but highly successful tour of Europe and N America. Selections from the duo's 28 June performance at the Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, California, were released as a DVD entitled Real Live Roadrunning on 14 November 2006. In addition to several of the compositions that Harris and Knopfler recorded together in the studio, Real Live Roadrunning features solo hits from both members of the duo, as well as three tracks from Knopfler's days with Dire Straits.

A charity event in 2007 went wrong. A Fender Stratocaster guitar signed by Knopfler, Clapton, Brian May, and Jimmy Page was to be auctioned for £20,000 to raise the money for a children's hospice, was lost when being shipped. It "vanished after being posted from London to Leicestershire, England". Parcelforce, the company responsible, agreed to pay US$30,000 for its loss.^[26]

Knopfler released his fifth solo studio-album Kill to Get Crimson on 14 September 2007 in Germany, 17 September in the UK and 18 September in the United States. During the autumn of 2007 he played a series of intimate 'showcases' in various European cities to promote the album. A tour of Europe and North America followed in 2008. Many older songs from the early solo days, such as Cannibals (from Golden Heart), were brought back to life. Cannibals opened up shows throughout Europe. Cannibals was received extremely well particularly in Ireland as it was released by an Irish Country Artist David Maguire in 2007. The new version of Cannibals that David Maguire and his Band released was the 7th most requested song on Irish radio that year.

Continuing a pattern of high productivity through his solo career, Knopfler began work on his next studio album, entitled Get Lucky, in September 2008 with long-time band mate Guy Fletcher, who again compiled a pictorial diary of the making of the album on his website.^[27] The album was released on September 14 the following year and Knopfler subsequently undertook an extensive tour across Europe and America. The album met with moderate success on the charts (much of it in Europe) reaching #1 only in Norway but peaking in the Top 5 in most major European countries (Germany, Italy, Holland). The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard European Album chart and at #5 on the Billboard Rock Album chart.^[28]

Knopfler's solo live performances can be characterized as relaxed—almost workmanlike. He uses very little stage production, other than some lighting effects to enhance the music's dynamics. He has been known to sip tea on stage during live performances. Richard Bennett, who has been playing with him on tour since 1996, has also joined in drinking tea with him on stage. On 31 July 2005, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, BC, the tea was replaced with whisky as a "last show of tour" sort of joke.^[29]

In February 2009, Knopfler gave an intimate solo concert at the Garrick Club in London. Knopfler had recently become a member of the exclusive gentlemen's club for men of letters.^[30]

In 2010, Knopfler appeared on the newest Thomas Dolby release, the EP Amerikana. Knopfler performed on the track "17 Hills".^[31]

In February 2011, Knopfler began work on his next solo album, once again working with Guy Fletcher. A release date is scheduled to be announced on Monday 28 May 2012.^[32] In July 2011, it was announced that Knopfler would take time out from recording this album in order to take part in a European tour with Bob Dylan during October and November.^[33]

In 2012, Knopfler covered a Bob Dylan song, "Restless Farewell", for an Amnesty International 50th Anniversary celebration record.^[34]

A new Mark Knopfler album, Privateering, is scheduled to be released on 3 September 2012. This will be Knopfler's first double album solo release and will contain 20 new songs.

Country music[link]

Mark Knopfler in Chicago with Emmylou Harris, 2006

In addition to his work in Dire Straits and solo, Mark Knopfler has made several contributions to country music. In 1988 he formed country-focused band The Notting Hillbillies,^[8] with Guy Fletcher, Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. The Notting Hillbillies sole studio album, Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time was released in 1990 and featured the minor hit single "Your Own Sweet Way". Knopfler further emphasised his country music influences with his collaboration with Chet Atkins, Neck and Neck, which was also released in 1990. "Poor Boy Blues", taken from that collaboration, peaked at #92.

Knopfler's other contributions include writing and playing guitar on John Anderson's 1992 single "When It Comes to You" (from his album Seminole Wind). In 1993 Mary Chapin Carpenter also released a cover of the Dire Straits song "The Bug". Randy Travis released another of Knopfler's songs, "Are We In Trouble Now", in 1996. In that same year, Knopfler's solo single "Darling Pretty" reached a peak of #87.

Knopfler collaborated with George Jones on the 1994 "The Bradley Barn Sessions" album performing guitar duties on the classic J.P. Richardson composition White Lightnin'.

Knopfler is featured on Kris Kristofferson's album "The Austin Sessions", (on the track "Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends") released in 1999 by Atlantic Records.

In 2006 Knopfler and Emmylou Harris made a country album together titled All the Roadrunning. Knopfler also charted two singles on the Canadian country music singles chart.

Again in 2006, Knopfler contributed the song "Whoop De Doo" to Jimmy Buffett's "Gulf and Western" style album "Take the Weather with You".

Personal life[link]

Mark Knopfler has been married three times. His first marriage was to Kathy White, his long-time girlfriend from school days. They separated before Knopfler moved to London to join Brewers Droop in 1973.^[8] In November 1983, Knopfler married his second wife, Lourdes Salomone. Their marriage produced twin sons, Benji and Joseph (born 1987), both of whom are musically talented and aspiring musicians, according to Knopfler.^[19] His marriage to Salomone ended in 1993.^[22] On Valentine's Day 1997, Knopfler married his third and current wife, British actress and writer Kitty Aldridge on the Caribbean island of Barbados. They had been dating for three years.^[35] Their marriage so far has produced two daughters, Isabella (born 1998) and Katya Ruby Rose (born 2003). The family currently lives in Chelsea.^[8]

Musical style and equipment[link]

Musical style[link]

Mark Knopfler in Amsterdam with a Schecter Stratocaster, 1981

Mark Knopfler is left-handed, but plays right-handed, and fingerpicks (using a personal variant of the clawhammer style) instead of using a plectrum (i.e., "pick"). Fingerpicking is usually associated with the acoustic guitar, but Knopfler usually (though not always) plays an electric guitar. He revealed during a French interview that he uses a pick for his rhythm work during recording sessions. He surprised the interviewer by pulling a pick out of his pocket and saying that he usually carries one. He has long favoured Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster style guitars. Fender carries a Mark Knopfler Artist Series Stratocaster.^[36] During the 1980s he came to appreciate the tone of the Gibson Les Paul and his original 1958 has been used regularly in the studio and on stage.

Guitars[link]

Knopfler has estimated that he now owns "around 70 guitars".^[37] They include:

• Pensa Custom MKII, a custom Pensa guitar given to Knopfler by his friend Rudy Pensa in 2005^[38]
• Pensa custom-built solid body guitars, models MK-1, MK-2, and MK-80 are named in Knopfler's honour^[39]
• Red-painted (Stratocaster style) Melancon Pro Artist^[40]

• Hofner V-2 (Mark's first guitar)
• Fender Stratocasters, including a 1962 Fiesta Red rosewood neck hard tail, and a 1954 Sunburst hard tail (one of the first ever produced), which Knopfler named "Jurassic Strat"^[41]
• Gibson Les Paul Special (used in the 1970s)
• National Tricone 1928 model
• National Style O Resonator guitar 1937 model ("Romeo and Juliet"), a replica of which is available from National Resophonic Guitars
• Fender Telecaster 1952
• Schecter Telecaster and Stratocaster models (from 1980 on)
• Burns Baldwin 12-string ("Angel of Mercy" and the Get Lucky album)
• Ovation Adamas: One black and two blue burst (Mainly used in the 80's)
• Ovation Custom Legend
• Ovation Classic (Private Investigations video)
• Rickenbacker 425 (Used on Portobello Belle, later on The Ragpicker's Dream session)
• Fernandes Stratocaster (Used in studio 82-85)
• Gibson Chet Atkins (Love Over Gold album)
• Erlewine Automatic ("Industrial Disease")
• Martin Acoustics, HD-40MK, 000-40S Mark Knopfler, and 00028 ("Brothers in Arms")
• Gibson SG (Two Young Lovers, Alchemy tour)
• Gibson Les Paul 1958, 1959, and 1984 humbucker pickup models (First one used on Money for Nothing 85)
• Purple Suhr R Custom (Not really a brand) (Brothers in Arms album, "Ride Across the River" and "So far Away")
• Blonde Suhr "strat" (Live on the 85/86-tour and on the bug 92)
• Gretsch Super Chet, 7690 (Golden Heart album)
• Gretsch 6121
• Steinberger GL2 (Brothers in Arms tour)
• Beltona Electro Resonator
• Flamed Pensa, 3 models (late 1980s)
• Gibson J-45 (On Every Street album)
• Gibson Super 400 CES (On Every Street album and tour)
• Gibson L-5 CES
• Gibson ES-175
• Gibson J200 (Used by Jack Sonni in 85/86-tour)
• Gibson ES-5
• Godin L.R. Baggs (Used by Knopfler and Phil Palmer on the On Every Street tour)
• Red Pensa Suhr Prototype (On Every Street tour)
• Pensa-Suhr, black (Golden Heart album and tour)
• Ramírez Spanish Guitar (Replacement for Gibson Chet Atkins in the early 90's)
• Taylor acoustic guitars (not much information) Used live in the early 90's
• Gibson ES-335
• Danelectro Silvertone
• Gibson Southerner
• Gibson Advanced Jumbo
• Fender Jazzmaster
• Eko 700
• Teisco Spectrum, 2 models
• Danelectro 59 DC
• Fender Duo Sonic 11 (Kill to Get Crimson album)
• Gibson ES-330
• N.S. Phillips Nobby 12 (Get Lucky album)
• N.S. Phillips 14 Fret
• Monteleone Isabella
• Don Grosh Electrajet
• Gibson Dove

Effects[link]

Throughout his career Knopfler has used a wide selection of effect pedals in the studio and during live performances.^[42] Here is a list of some of them:

Amplifiers[link]

Knopfler has often used many different combinations of amplifiers and cabinets to create his desired sounds.^[43]

On the "Get Lucky" tour in 2010, Knopfler used a pair of custom built Reinhardt guitar amp heads with matching cabinets,^[44][45] and a Tone King combo in between that is used on some songs.^[46]

Honours and awards[link]

• 1983 BRIT Award for Best British Group (with Dire Straits)
• 1986 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal with Dire Straits (for "Money for Nothing")
• 1986 Grammy Award nomination for Song of the Year (for "Money for Nothing")
• 1986 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance with Chet Atkins (for "Cosmic Square Dance")
• 1986 Juno Award for International Album of the Year (for Brothers in Arms with Dire Straits)
• 1986 BRIT Award for Best British Group (with Dire Straits)
• 1987 BRIT Award for Best British Album (for Brothers in Arms with Dire Straits)
• 1991 Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Collaboration with Chet Atkins (for "Poor Boy Blues")
• 1991 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance with Chet Atkins (for "So Soft, Your Goodbye")
• 1992 Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance with Chet Atkins (for "Neck and Neck")
• 1993 Honorary Doctor of Music from Newcastle University^[47]
• 1995 Honorary Doctor of Music from the University of Leeds
• 1999 OBE^[48]
• 2001 Masiakasaurus knopfleri (a species of dinosaur) was named after him by scientists who had listened to his music while digging the fossils.^[49]
• 2003 Edison Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Music Industry, the highest award for musicians in the Netherlands^[50][51]
• 2006 Grammy Award for Best Surround Sound Album (for Brothers in Arms 20th Anniversary Edition with Dire Straits)
• 2007 Honorary Doctor of Music from the University of Sunderland^[52]
• 2007 Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album with Emmylou Harris (for "All the Roadrunning").
• 2009 Music Producers Guild Award for Best Studio (for Knopfler's British Grove Studios^[53]
• 2009 PRS for Music Heritage Award (with Dire Straits)
• 2011 Steiger Award

Knopfler's influence[link]

• Played together with Dire Straits' drummer Pick Withers on Bob Dylan's studio album Slow Train Coming, which was recorded in May 1979 and released 20 August; providing Dylan with what Dylan considered his best guitar backing since the days of Mike Bloomfield and Robbie Robertson. Knopfler also played in and co-produced Dylan's 1983 album Infidels.
• British author and humorist Douglas Adams said about Knopfler, in his book So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish: "Mark Knopfler has an extraordinary ability to make a Schecter Custom Stratocaster hoot and sing like angels on a Saturday night, exhausted from being good all week and needing a stiff drink."^[54]
• The dinosaur species Masiakasaurus knopfleri was named after Knopfler. The palaeontologists were listening to Dire Straits recordings when they discovered the species.^[55]
• On "Weird Al" Yankovic's parody of "Money for Nothing", "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*", which merges the instrumentals of "Money For Nothing" with the lyrics to the theme song for the American television series The Beverly Hillbillies ("The Ballad of Jed Clampett"), Knopfler played guitar in the song, recreating the guitar riff from the original song. He would only allow Yankovic to parody the song if he was allowed to play on the recording.
• Knopfler's song "Going Home" from the soundtrack to Local Hero is played before kick-off at Newcastle United's home matches at St James' Park.^[56]
• "Going Home" is also the theme music for John Stanley on Sydney radio station 2UE.
• According to director Rob Reiner, Knopfler agreed to write the music for Reiner's The Princess Bride on one condition: Reiner had to put the hat that he wore in This Is Spinal Tap in Princess Bride, "somewhere in evidence", as homage to the rock mockumentary. The hat makes its appearance in Princess Bride in the Grandson's (Fred Savage) bedroom.^[57]
• Indian cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar is a fan of Mark Knopfler. They once had a joint interview on cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle's show Harsha Online.^[58]
• The 2008 stage production Celtic Thunder has covers of multiple Mark Knopfler songs. "Brothers in Arms", written by Mark Knopfler and performed originally by Dire Straits, is performed by Ryan Kelly. As well, the song "Irish Boy" (from Cal) and "Going Home" (from Local Hero) are performed together as an instrumental, entitled "Cal/Local Hero".

Discography[link]

Dire Straits albums[link]

• Dire Straits (1978)
• Communiqué (1979)
• Making Movies (1980)
• Love over Gold (1982)
• Alchemy (1984, live)
• Brothers in Arms (1985)
• Money for Nothing (1988, compilation)
• On Every Street (1991)
• On the Night (1993, live)
• Live at the BBC (1995, live)
• Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits (1998, compilation)
• The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations (2005, compilation)

Solo albums[link]

• The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations (2005, compilation)
• The Trawlerman's Song EP (2005, EP)
• One Take Radio Sessions (2005, EP live)

Soundtrack albums[link]

• Local Hero (1983)
• Cal (1984)
• Comfort and Joy (1984)
• The Princess Bride (1987)
• Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989)
• Screenplaying (1993 compilation)
• Wag the Dog (1998)
• Metroland (1999)
• A Shot at Glory (2002)

Collaborative albums[link]

• Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time (with The Notting Hillbillies, 1990)
• Neck and Neck (with Chet Atkins, 1990)
• All the Roadrunning (with Emmylou Harris, 2006)
• Real Live Roadrunning (with Emmylou Harris, 2006)

Produced albums[link]

• Infidels (1983) by Bob Dylan. Although Mark disowned the reworked version of the album as released,^[77] his production is still noticeable. Left off the album, but later released on The Bootleg Series, is the critically acclaimed "Blind Willie McTell", featuring only Dylan, singing and playing piano, accompanied by Mark Knopfler on acoustic guitar.
• Knife (1984) by Aztec Camera. This Scottish indie/new wave band was mostly a vehicle for the work of Roddy Frame, much as Dire Straits only ever recorded Mark Knopfler compositions.
• Miracle (1987) by Willy DeVille. The album was dedicated to Mark and his wife "for their support which was nothing short of a Miracle in a time of Dire Straits." The album ends with the ballad "Storybook Love", the theme from The Princess Bride movie.
• Land of Dreams (1988) by Randy Newman. The album includes the single "It's Money that Matters", which unabashedly revisits the Dire Straits song "Money for Nothing".
• The Sailor's Revenge (2012) by Bap Kennedy. The album includes Mark on guitar on the songs "Shimnavale", "Lonely No More", "The Right Stuff", "Please Return to Jesus", "The Sailor's Revenge", "Working Man", and "Celtic Sea". Mark also sings backing vocals on "Celtic Sea".

Additional albums[link]

The following additional albums contain guitar performances or guest appearances by Mark Knopfler.^[78]