One of the most influential and prolific songwriters of all time, Bob Dylan was one of the artists who started a real revolution inspiring musicians to write their own songs and about anything they wanted to. During his entire career he has always been interested in new artists and bands, even though they didn’t play the same kind of music as him.
Over the decades he talked about many of those group, giving his opinion on them, including Dire Straits, band led by the guitarist and singer Mark Knopfler.
What is Bob Dylan’s opinion on Dire Straits
Bob Dylan is a fan of Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler, having admitted that he cannot play like the guitarist. After seeing the band live for the first time, Dylan told them they were great and said: “It’s some sound you’ve got going.” They first met when the British band played at the Roxy in Los Angeles in 1979 when they were promoting the album “Communiqué”. Straits’ bassist John Illsley recalled that story in his biography “My Life in Dire Straits” (2021).
“Bob Dylan, hero of my teenage years, and now. Bob Dylan right there, at our gig, sitting at the other end of the bar. I feel a jab in my ribs. It’s Mark. ‘I know.’ ‘What do you say to Bob Dylan?’ ‘Good question.’ Dylan looks our way and taps the brim of his black felt hat. ‘Okay, he’s coming over.’ Dylan slides off his stool and through a posse of women, his backing singers, I guess.”
“Mark and I walk toward him. We’re shaking his hand. Bob Dylan’s hand. ‘That was great, guys,’ he says. ‘Congratulations. It’s some sound you got going.’ Or words close to that effect. Because I’m talking to an icon and I’m in one of those trances where it feels like I’m under water, not taking it all in.”
He continued:
“For some reason, I’d imagined Bob Dylan would be a little aloof, looking down from his Olympus at the lesser mortals on the lower slopes. But not a bit of it. He’s very friendly and laid-back. We all drift back to the bar, we get beers, and we start talking. He’s very interested in Mark’s songs and his distinctive playing style. In spite of being the heart of the band, and quite literally center stage, Mark isn’t crazy about being the center of attention. He’s shy and modest.”
“But who’s going to mind the spotlight if it’s being beamed by one of the great figures of the twentieth century, the crown prince of sixties counterculture? After a time, I leave them to it, to talk guitar and songcraft. I work my way along the bar and find myself taking a shoulder-slap from Roderick David Stewart (Rod Stewart) and having a beer thrust into my hand,” John Illsley said in his book.
The bassist also recalled that they were staying at the same hotel as Bob Dylan, who invited the band to spend time with him. That night, Dylan played them a few new songs he was writing. He eventually invited Mark Knopfler and drummer Pick Withers to record with him. The result of that collaboration was the 1979 album “Slow Train Coming”. It was his first release after his conversion to Christianity, featuring songs focused on faith and philosophical themes.
Bob Dylan said he couldn’t play like Knopfler and that he didn’t think they sounded similar
“Well, I met Mark on the ‘Slow Train’ (1979) album. We just kept in touch over the years, you know. It was Jerry Wexler (Producer), who (made it happen). Then the second time I ran into him in New York and he had just released the previous album to his latest one (‘Love over Gold’ 1982).”
The interviewer said that although Mark has his own style, people used to compare him a lot with Dylan. He replied saying: “Jerry recommended him to play on that album. Then I went down to see him and I thought he sounded sort of like me. Not really, but a little bit. I don’t play anything on guitar like he does (he can really play some leads), yeah,” Bob Dylan said in an interview with Rockline in 1985 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
That same year, during a recorded rehearsal before the Live Aid charity festival, Bob Dylan talked with Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards about Dire Straits and their frontman. During the conversation, Wood asked: “Did you hear the new Mark Knopfler stuff? The new Dire Straits song about the microwave ovens and MTV (‘Money for Nothing’).”
Both said they had not heard it yet, and Keith replied:
“All I know about Dire Straits is they are working in London and our truck is recording them. (…) I mean, it is good music. How is this Mark Knopfler? I have never met him, lovely guitar player,” he said. Bob replied, saying: “Yeah, he’s usually alright”. Ronnie said: “Considering that he borrowed your mold from the throat?” His answer was: “No, he’s good like when you work with him,” he said.
In an interview with Planet Rock Profiles in the 90s, Mark Knopfler recalled what was like to meet Bob. “The clubs in (The United States) was great fun and it was a very exciting time too. Because a lot of people want to see you the first time and to meet Bob Dylan and all the rest of it (was great). I used to go down to Santa Monica from our hotel in Los Angeles at Bob’s place. We used to run down the songs together, the two of us. He did quite a bit of pre-work on that because he wanted it to be more of a professional (thing)”.
“To quote Bob, he said he had been making more like home records and he wanted to make a professional sound record. We have the same interest in the roots of the music and both in terms of white and black roots. I think if you want to have some depth in terms of what you do, if you’re looking for that then you really have to be involved in the roots of the music to a certain extent. So you know, it was natural,” he said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
Mark Knopfler produced Bob’s 1983 album “Infidels”
A couple of years after “Slow Train”, Mark Knopfler worked again with Bob Dylan. This time playing guitar and co-producing his album “Infidels”, released in 1983. Many people said it was his greatest album since “Blood on The Tracks” (1975). Some of the biggest hits from that record were “Jokerman”, “Sweetheart Like You” and “I and I”.
Were also part of that record the former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and the drummer Sly Dunbar. Almost three decades later, Bob invited Mark to tour with him. The Dire Straits leader joined him on stage in 2011 and 2012, in the United States and Europe.