When the pandemic shifted, thankfully, into a thing of the past, Mark Knopfler emerged from that uncertain period with a brand new solo album. Talking to Guitar Player at the time of the release, he made no bones about the impact the pandemic had on his guitar playing.
Now, on the press tour coinciding with the 40th anniversary of Dire Straits’ best-selling “Brothers in Arms” LP, Knopfler has said that he doubts his ability to play chunks of that record today.
The Northumberland, UK-born guitarist contracted COVID three times, which has impacted his health and also seen him ditch picks in favor of finger-picking. His latest sit-down with Guitarist magazine has shed more light on how those bouts of illness have affected his skill set on acoustic and electric guitars.
“I probably wouldn’t be able to play them so well now,” he reckons. However, he isn’t simply accepting that his best playing days are behind him.
“I’m hoping to put my head down and really get back into some proper playing in the near future,” he expands. “COVID slowed me down a lot.
“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. 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.”
In the interview, he’s also accepted the impact of “Brothers in Arms” and the legacy it has carved out over the past four decades. This, despite the fact that his default setting of humility usually kicks in when people mention it.
“It’s tempting just to say, ‘Oh, it’s nothing’ and downplay it, but thinking about ‘Brothers in Arms now,’ it seems like that record meant so much to so many people,” he concedes.
“The CD had just been invented, and they decided it would be a super idea to push ‘Brothers In Arms’ in hi-fi shops. That’s where a lot of people first heard it,” he continues. The sales tactic worked. Few albums have sold more than 30 million copies.
“Then the singles made it in different countries, and it became a worldwide thing. “Next thing you know, you’re in the eye of the storm.”
It didn’t harm the band that they became early darlings of the MTV era, either – escaping their singles in 1985 was almost impossible. “Money for Nothing” was just one of the record's monster singles, and Knopfler has admitted that the guitar tone in its now-iconic intro was dumb luck rather than precise engineering.
“I’m hoping to put my head down and really get back into some proper playing in the near future
Mark Knopfler
Still, he feels his best guitar solo moment came away from that record in a surprise twist. He says it was tracked on “a cheap guitar, and I did everything wrong, but I think they’re perfect notes.”
In April last year, Knopfler revealed he had been planning to write an album with Jeff Beck before he died. It would have represented one of the decade’s most exciting collaborations, but sadly, one we have to live without.
On the plus side, Beck's solo on his all-star "Gong Home" charity re-recording is believed to be one of the final songs he ever tracked. Mick Rogers, meanwhile, claims he has the very last piece of music Beck recorded. Releasing it, he adds, is another matter entirely.
