3 Chord Trick (Legacy)

[Eddie Fox]

Even based on live performances, I don't think AC plays anything that amazing. End of TOL, yes, but he is just copying Roy Bittan.

Jim Cox and Matt Rollings are technically better musicians in my opinion...

In terms of creativity it all comes down to who wrote the piano parts of Love Over Gold.

Regarding technique you have a good point there. Matt and Jim have insane technique indeed, but... I think Alan was a better rock’n roll keyboardist as a whole. Again, just my opinion/taste.

[Eddie Fox]

MK plays the keyboards well too, he just likes the guitar more

According to Mimmo Carrata who has more knowledge than all us put together, MK wrote all the piano/keyboards arrangements and AC
didn't create anything of his own during the DS

Word of ghost.

My bet is that's Mimmo opinion as well. I know musicians whose opinion is that most of that piano/keyboards parts and arrangements needs of a knowledge of the instrument that can't come from a guitar player no matter how good he is.

1) That theory doesn't work when you have a genius composing

2) MK knows how to play the piano

Mark can play the piano, that’s true, just like Guy can play guitar and Richard can play bass guitar. That doesn’t mean much. I highly doubt Mark’s piano skills would allow him to write, for example, the piano parts Alan played in TR.

That being said, we have a few options here:

1. Mark played it on the guitar and Alan adapted it to the piano;

2. Mark gave Alan the key, chords and so on and Alan came up with everything;

3. Mark gave Alan ideas and directions and they worked together to perfect it.

1 and 2 sound rather unlikely to me. I’d bet on 3.

[Jules]

Even based on live performances, I don't think AC plays anything that amazing. End of TOL, yes, but he is just copying Roy Bittan.

Jim Cox and Matt Rollings are technically better musicians in my opinion...

I don't mean what Alan plays so well live, I mean, as a musical director, how good the arrangements were made live during his period of time, most of them keyboards parts. Of course all he did comes from MK wishes to add this and that, but the one who put into notes what Mk demanded was AC. We don't know from sure if MK said note by note to Alan what to play, but I bet he probably said "I need a musical passage between Portobello and TOL, something like dreaming music, let's see what you can do it"

Jim and Matt were very great players, I'd say technically better than AC, but as Ed says, to me AC is more rocker in his way of play.

[Jules]

MK plays the keyboards well too, he just likes the guitar more

According to Mimmo Carrata who has more knowledge than all us put together, MK wrote all the piano/keyboards arrangements and AC
didn't create anything of his own during the DS

Word of ghost.

My bet is that's Mimmo opinion as well. I know musicians whose opinion is that most of that piano/keyboards parts and arrangements needs of a knowledge of the instrument that can't come from a guitar player no matter how good he is.

1) That theory doesn't work when you have a genius composing

2) MK knows how to play the piano

Mark can play the piano, that’s true, just like Guy can play guitar and Richard can play bass guitar. That doesn’t mean much. I highly doubt Mark’s piano skills would allow him to write, for example, the piano parts Alan played in TR.

That being said, we have a few options here:

1. Mark played it on the guitar and Alan adapted it to the piano;

2. Mark gave Alan the key, chords and so on and Alan came up with everything;

3. Mark gave Alan ideas and directions and they worked together to perfect it.

1 and 2 sound rather unlikely to me. I’d bet on 3.

Me too

[PensaGhost]

MK plays the keyboards well too, he just likes the guitar more

According to Mimmo Carrata who has more knowledge than all us put together, MK wrote all the piano/keyboards arrangements and AC
didn't create anything of his own during the DS

Word of ghost.

My bet is that's Mimmo opinion as well. I know musicians whose opinion is that most of that piano/keyboards parts and arrangements needs of a knowledge of the instrument that can't come from a guitar player no matter how good he is.

1) That theory doesn't work when you have a genius composing

2) MK knows how to play the piano

Mark can play the piano, that’s true, just like Guy can play guitar and Richard can play bass guitar. That doesn’t mean much. I highly doubt Mark’s piano skills would allow him to write, for example, the piano parts Alan played in TR.

That being said, we have a few options here:

1. Mark played it on the guitar and Alan adapted it to the piano;

2. Mark gave Alan the key, chords and so on and Alan came up with everything;

3. Mark gave Alan ideas and directions and they worked together to perfect it.

1 and 2 sound rather unlikely to me. I’d bet on 3.

Do you know who Mimmo Carrata is ? He has endless rare stuff and knowledge that no worldwide fan has, including Telegraph Road without the fade out, Tunnel of Love with MK guitar intro instead of the piano, OES tour soundboards that no one has, and so on.
According to him Alan composed nothing, it's all done by MK.
I have no idea myself what is correct but Mimmo is the best one I can rely on.

[dustyvalentino]

All very interesting but you are still just guessing and the fact remains that MK with GF's assistance maintained a very successful solo career over 20 years while Alan Clark did nothing before eventually digging up the rotting corpse of DS.

If he was such a genius you would think people would have been beating down AC's door to be their musical director during that time. To be fair to Alan I believe he worked with Jimmy Nail.

[PensaGhost]

All very interesting but you are still just guessing and the fact remains that MK with GF's assistance maintained a very successful solo career over 20 years while Alan Clark did nothing before eventually digging up the rotting corpse of DS.

If he was such a genius you would think people would have been beating down AC's door to be their musical director during that time. To be fair to Alan I believe he worked with Jimmy Nail.

yes I agree

[Robson]

All very interesting but you are still just guessing and the fact remains that MK with GF's assistance maintained a very successful solo career over 20 years while Alan Clark did nothing before eventually digging up the rotting corpse of DS.

If he was such a genius you would think people would have been beating down AC's door to be their musical director during that time. To be fair to Alan I believe he worked with Jimmy

 

[Robson]

 

[Jules]

All very interesting but you are still just guessing and the fact remains that MK with GF's assistance maintained a very successful solo career over 20 years while Alan Clark did nothing before eventually digging up the rotting corpse of DS.

If he was such a genius you would think people would have been beating down AC's door to be their musical director during that time. To be fair to Alan I believe he worked with Jimmy Nail.

A creative sideman and a genius are very different people.

You can be very creative adding things to your bosses music, specially if they are genius. To create brilliant songs from zero is another different challenge.

[Eddie Fox]

Mark and Guy working together for over 20 years has probably much more to do with band dynamics, empathy and music camaraderie than anything else, otherwise Matt would be Mark’s right hand instead, don’t you think? One name: John Illsley.

[Eddie Fox]

All very interesting but you are still just guessing and the fact remains that MK with GF's assistance maintained a very successful solo career over 20 years while Alan Clark did nothing before eventually digging up the rotting corpse of DS.

If he was such a genius you would think people would have been beating down AC's door to be their musical director during that time. To be fair to Alan I believe he worked with Jimmy Nail.

A creative sideman and a genius are very different people.

You can be very creative adding things to your bosses music, specially if they are genius. To create brilliant songs from zero is another different challenge.

You said it all. I think people are letting the legacy thing cloud their judgement on Alan’s musicianship.

I try to analyze things separately.

[Eddie Fox]

“Telegraph Road, he actually wrote it bit-by-bit when we were on the road. At every soundcheck for every gig afterwards, he and I would get together and we’d sort of formulate the next bit of the song. He’d written where we’d gotten up to, and we would then start making it work between us with the piano part and his part and that’s how the song was built up.”

Read More: Inside 'The Straits' With Former Dire Straits Keyboardist Alan Clark | http://ultimateclassicrock.com/dire-straits-alan-clark-2014/?trackback=tsmclip

Alan Clark

Well, it sounds pretty feasible to my ears. Mark wrote it and Alan gave his input when translating it to the piano, so to speak. I don’t know Mimmo and I think Alan has become a douche but I trust the latter on this one.

[dustyvalentino]

That still doesn't prove anything! That could still be AC transposing parts MK had written!

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[Jules]

That still doesn't prove anything! That could still be AC transposing parts MK had written!

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Dusty... I feel like paying you an ale pint...