Mark Knopfler doesn’t give many interviews and when he does he tends to skirt around the subject of his greatest commercial triumph. We're talking, of course, about Brothers In Arms - the album that sold over 30 million copies, convinced a generation to invest in CD players and briefly transformed Dire Straits into the biggest band in the world.
But on the occasion of its 40th anniversary this summer, the 75 year old has given a new interview to Guitarist. Being the modest fellow that he's always been, he pooh-poohs the idea that the album turned him into a ‘guitar hero’: “That was just awkward,” he remembers. “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. I have enough to get by in the studio – that’s how I see myself as a guitar player. Not much more than that.”
The title track was one of five singles taken from the album and Knopfler says that he approaches his parts on it in a different way these days.
“It’s very interesting to me, the furniture of the title track on Brothers In Arms. If you think about the first four notes I play on guitar – I’ve tried doing other intros live, and they just don’t work," he suggests. "People have bought tickets and you can see them thinking, ‘That’s not Brothers In Arms.’ That’s not to say you have to play the guitar part the same way every time. Once I’ve played those four notes, then I can start to improvise.”
Another interesting poser he’s asked is if he were recording the album today whether he’d play any of his parts differently.
“I probably wouldn’t be able to play them so well now,” Knopfler replies. “But I’m hoping to put my head down and really get back into some proper playing in the near future. Covid slowed me down a lot. I’ve had it three times. And then, if you’re away from the guitar for a while, your pads get softer and you lose your facility a little bit. So I’m really looking forward to improving.
He continued: “I think what happens is, you develop lazy techniques. I’m forever doing that. You know, half-chords, these little semi-shapes. It wouldn’t make a teacher very happy. I mean, nothing I do would make a guitar teacher happy.”
