jbaent sent me a scan of the part about OES recording for translating
I tried to do my best, but my english is not very good... (les copains frenchies, si vous voyez des fautes énormes, n'hésitez pas à corriger !
)
Some sentences are ironic and sarcasm. I am not sure if my translation does them justice. Anyway, I hope you will get the main meaning
thanks to Julio for bringing the text
When Mark Knopfler makes jumps !recording Dire Straits, On every street, Abbey Road studios, LondonAfter having left Waterloo station, not St Pancras yet, I find myself in a cab, on the way to the mythic studios
I meet all musicians, sound engineer, who is a friend, and assistants. Mark Knopfler has not arrived yet. He arrives, says a quick hello to the audience and we start working immediately. There are not much talking between us, except classiques codes used by session musicians in studio.
We spend the day and a big part of the evening recording and re-recording the same song, but it doesn't seem to really satisfy the leader : he kept fixed with his guitar and his microphone, unruffled and concentrated.
Musicians seems to be used to this. When I ask them with my eyes, a soft pout appears on their faces. They seem to say : we are not going to bed yet !
Finally, it's late and Knopfler endly decides to stop for today. We don't really know if he will keep these takes or not
The next day, 9 am, we are again in studio. We think that we are going to start another song. Mark Knoplfer is as much happy as yesterday and decides to strive on the first song which, apparently, doesn't satisfy him. After few hours of work, he chooses finally to save one of the takes. He says " I am glad". Miracle. Break for everybody, then he talks to me, the first time for these 2 days, saying that he recorded a tune "Heavy fuel" with another drummer, but that he had a technical problem on this tune, and that he wants to record the whole drum part again.
Of course, with much fineness, he plays to me the drum part played by the other drummer and asks me to try ! immediately. I feel uncomfortable, knowing that this tune is rather heavy rock and that it's not my style at all, and moreover, what I just listened is very good.
Well, I start playing, thinking that this guy is unpleasant anyway, and whatever I do, he will never be glad.
So, I decide to play in total liberty and to be the most original. To be fair, I don't respect the spirit of the tune.
I play without hindering, without "fence", what comes to mind.
At this moment, looking at the control room where are all band members and sound engineer with his assistant, I see Knopfler making jumps, with a big smile on his face, arms up. He stoppes the recording and talks to me via monitor and he says that what I do is awesome, and that it's exactly what he wanted. He is delighted by my performance.
So I start again where we stopped and record this tune which lasts almost 7 minutes.
Then I go to the control room to listen to the take, he is still super happy, don't stop congratulating me, offers me to go to the pub to celebrate this, and even if I don't drink beer, no problem, we are chatting with a coca. And then, he asks me directly if I go on tour, if I have a family, etc. Surprise
Next day or the day after, after gone back to France, my manager send me a message from Mark Knopfler's manager, asking me if I would accept to be the drummer of his next tour which will lasts about 2 years.