Brothers in Arms is not just one of the most beloved Dire Straits records, it's also one of the most revered guitar albums of all time. While the figures speak for themselves – it has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide – many Mark Knopfler aficionados would also say it's also his masterpiece in terms of playing, forever cementing his place in the pantheon of electric guitar greats
Despite this heady success, though, Knopfler was a self-described reluctant rock star. Being called a guitar hero in that era (and ever since then) was, and still is, as he aptly puts it in his latest Guitar World interview, “Just awkward.”
“The world is bursting with fabulous players. Whether I’ve written a good song or not, that’s what counts to me. I gave up trying to be a great guitar player.”
He continues, “I have enough to get by in the studio – that’s how I see myself as a guitar player. Not much more than that. But I can get away with it. If you’re the one who wrote the songs, you’re kind of allowed to be crap.
“Well, not to be crap, but you’re given some leeway because you wrote the thing,” Knopfler says upon rethinking his previous statement.
“The other guys are there, really standing by their instruments: ‘I play piano,’ ‘I play bass.’ Like, ‘I’m good at this and that’s why I’m here’ – and boy, they are.
“I got away with murder,” he adds matter-of-factly, before shifting the focus to the industry's unsung heroes: session players.
“The guys that really know their business – the session guys, making a living with their instruments – that’s a whole other kettle of fish.
“I remember, in the solo band one day, I said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry about the [mistake] in so and so.’ And Richard [Bennett, guitar] said, ‘Well, the singer is always right!’”
In other recent Mark Knopfler news, the Dire Straits legend revealed that his favorite ever guitar solo from his repertoire is one he recorded on a cheap electric guitar.
For more from Knopfler, plus new interviews with Maya Delilah and Jake Kiszka, pick up issue 594 of Guitar World at Magazines Direct.
