Bob and Mark - possible live shows in the past?

[twm]

I came across this snippet of information whilst going through over 30 years of correspondence about Dylan (recycling the bulk and retaining only a very small proportion). It is in a letter dated 26 May 1987.

Someone wrote to say they had visited a local hi-fi shop in upstate New York, wearing a Dylan laminate pass that had been obtained recently. The shop assistant spotted this and said he had helped to set up Dylan's equipment for a show in Buffalo. Asked how he'd got the gig, the assistant said he knew one of the promoters - the name given looks like Mark Gumer or Mark Gomer. Anyway, without any prompting, the assistant went on to say that this promoter guy had said that Mark Knopfler was going to be touring with Dylan that summer and that very few people knew about this prospect.

Of course, it never happened. Dylan continued to tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers but it sounds as though the possibility of a Dylan/Knopfler tour was being considered at that time - at least, considered seriously enough to contact local promoters in the U.S.A.

OK, I don't know much about MK's activities year by year back then, so, would this have been a reasonable possibility at that time? How would it have fitted in with Mark's activities in the summer of 1987?

[superval99]

OK, I don't know much about MK's activities year by year back then, so, would this have been a reasonable possibility at that time? How would it have fitted in with Mark's activities in the summer of 1987?

Mark's twin sons were born in November of that year.  Perhaps he decided to stay close to home.   

[Love Expresso]

1987 was the year where MK did a lot of contributions for other artists and a lot of studio work mostly. No Dire Straits or solo stuff was going on then. It seemed he needed a very long time to refresh from the Brothers In Arms tour that had ended 1986. In 1987, he played and/or produced on albums from Sting, Paul Brady, Willy deVille, Chet Atkins and on Ferry Aid for example.

In 1988, "Death Is Not The End" was released by Bob Dylan on his album "Down In The Groove", a track where MK was playing guitar on, but of course this song was recorded during the Infidels sessions in 1983.

LE

[Jules]

I don

[goldenheart96]

Interesting pieces of information. I don't know why, but for some weird reason I was convinced Bob and Mark did tour before sometime in the 80's... Must be because of that famous pic of them singing into one mic, with eyes closed (too lazy to dig it out and post it now, but I'm sure you know which one I mean).

[superval99]

Interesting pieces of information. I don't know why, but for some weird reason I was convinced Bob and Mark did tour before sometime in the 80's... Must be because of that famous pic of them singing into one mic, with eyes closed (too lazy to dig it out and post it now, but I'm sure you know which one I mean).

It was in the STP tourbook.   

[Jules]

Interesting pieces of information. I don't know why, but for some weird reason I was convinced Bob and Mark did tour before sometime in the 80's... Must be because of that famous pic of them singing into one mic, with eyes closed (too lazy to dig it out and post it now, but I'm sure you know which one I mean).

That picture must be from any of the australian 1986 concerts I mentioned before.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rock-archive-photography/with/5371814792/

Many pictures of Bob Dylan playing with Dire Straits, 1986!!!

[twm]

In the same letter, my correspondent said that he mentioned this possible Dylan/Knopfler tour to one of his friends, who was a member of a local band. The friend said that Knopfler had been in Bearsville, mixing an "Amnesty" album, and that he had fired all of his band except the bass player.

I'm not sure that this is quite correct. My guess is that the band members were under contract. If so, then they may have been members of the band but were not partners in Dire Straits as a business entity. If Mark had decided not to tour for a while then it is understandable that Dire Straits, the business entity, would no longer wish to pay the band. As employees of that business, their services would no longer be required and they could be "fired". If John Illsley, on the other hand, was a legal partner in the business entity that was Dire Straits, then, along with Mark, he would have been the employer and not an employee and thus could not have been "fired" anyway.

You MK fans probably know the "ins and outs" of all this but that is my reading of the letter.

Does it tie in with my previous post, in terms of the date?

[Jules]

Never heard about any amnesty album produced by MK.

MK called everyone except the guitar player (Jack Sonni) and the drummer (Terry Williams) for his next and last Dire Straits record (On every street) so I guess he didnt fired anyone except the bass player 

[dmg]

Of course MK toured with EC during early '87.  The Albert Hall shows and a few European dates too.

[twm]

I don't think my correspondent (or rather the person who told him) was suggesting that Mark was going to produce an Amnesty album, only about doing some mixing. When was that Knopfler / Chet Atkins contribution to Amnesty relelased? Could that have been it?

And, in my view, there is a difference between keeping a bunch of guys on retainer for an extended period and calling the same people back in to be, in effect, session men for recording an album. But, then, you guys know about this than I do, I'm sure.

[Love Expresso]

You are touching one of the all-time-relevant-themes when it comes to MK here, twm. (Another big one is the relationship with his brother David, for sure).  The question is if Dire Straits was a real band or more exactly, when did Dire Straits ended being a "normal" band. Some people say it all ended with Making Movies in 1980 already and see DS more as a vehicle for MK just existing to get his stuff out. But then again, there are not too many "real" bands around when I think about personal changes. U2 comes to mind, the Stones, there might be some more. MK is seen as the musical head, as a dictator, as a genius, as a hard-nosed big boss, as a marionette from Alan Clark,  just depending from where you come...

My opinion is that since 1982/1983 every band member, apart from John Illsley, knew very clearly that he was just a session musician for Mark more or less. Funnily enough, since going solo from 1996, he uses a more solid band core than he did in earlier Dire Straits times. With Glen Worf, Richard Bennett and Guy Fletcher there are some "real" band mates for 15 years now it seems...

But this might be worth a new thread. I read about Dylan's drummer, Winston Watson, being the only musician in Bob's band following him since 1992, which means for the whole "Never Ending Tour". I am not sure but think he also played on all his recent albums? But Dylan of course has never been a "band" man, hasn't he, apart from "The Band", if you know what I mean...  

LE

[Jules]

Actually it looks like the only two "band members" for Mark Knopfler are Glenn Worf and Guy Fletcher, since 1996 "Golden heart" decut album and first solo tour, they are the only two members involved in everything that Mk has done (except the "A shot at glory" soundtrack where MK played the bass himself, and the cancelled RPD tour in 2003, where the bass player was Marcus Cliffe)

Richard Bennett is there almost always, but for the "Kill to get crimson" sessions MK recorded all the guitars by himself (also for the "A shot at glory" soundtrack), and the second keyboardist was Jim Cox, then Geraint Watkins, Matt Rollings and now Jim Cox agaib, the drummer was Chad Cromwell (the best one), then Danny Cummings and now Ian Thomas. The rest of musicians were additional and changed from Mike Henderson to John McCusker, the the Mc's combo (McCusker and McGoldrick) that its going to repeat.

So, the only two always there (except again for the "A shot at glory" soundtrack) are Glenn Worf and Guy Fletcher.

[Pottel]

twm will have the exact details, but right now i think the longest servind dylan band member is his great bass player "Tony Garnier"
playing drums these days is George Recelli.

[Love Expresso]

Oh, cool. Should have checked that earlier. Thanks Pottel!

LE