Get Lucky

Performer: Mark Knopfler
Engineer: Chuck Ainlay; Guy Fletcher
Producer: Chuck Ainlay; Guy Fletcher; Mark Knopfler
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Personnel: Mark Knopfler (vocals, guitar); Michael McGoldrick (whistling, flute); Richard Bennett , Richard Rodney Bennett (guitar); John McCusker (cittern, violin); Rupert Gregson-Williams (French horn); Guy Fletcher , Matt Rollings (keyboards); Glenn Worf (upright bass, electric bass); Danny Cummings (drums). With the release of GET LUCKY, Mark Knopfler has made as many solo studio albums as he made group studio albums with Dire Straits, which itself may be a signal that it's time to stop comparing his two careers and simply accept them as separate entities. Of course, since Knopfler was the lead singer, chief instrumentalist, and songwriter for Dire Straits, there are obvious similarities, even if he has taken a deliberately different path as a solo artist. Basically, he's a lot quieter. "Border Reiver," the first song here, begins with a pennywhistle and a piano, then strings join in. Soon enough, Knopfler's distinctive conversational baritone begins calmly intoning lyrics, and eventually there are examples of his melodic fingerpicked guitar style on both acoustic and electric guitar. He even works up to a smoldering swamp rock shuffle, a la J.J. Cale, on "Cleaning My Gun." But that's as close as he comes to really rocking out. More typical is "Hard Shoulder," a ballad that employs a twangy guitar sound and comes across as a number that Glen Campbell could have had a hit with back in his late-'60s "Wichita Lineman" heyday. The tunes support Knopfler's story-songs and musical character studies, as he describes or embodies truck drivers ("Border Reiver"), itinerant workers ("Get Lucky"), guitar makers ("Monteleone"), and sailors ("So Far from the Clyde"), among others, painting a portrait of pastoral and blue-collar life in the British Isles some time in the past.

Billboard (p.28) - "The album takes sonic sojourns to the likes of Scotland and the Wild West, and the songs all seem to lock..." Q (Magazine) (p.113) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "GET LUCKY is all muted colours, bluesy licks adn hard-won wisdom, delivered with a subtlety befitting the presence of Scottish multi-instrumentalist John McCusker."

Although his much-heralded band, Dire Straits, didn't officially disintegrate until the 1990s, lead guitarist Mark Knopfler had enjoyed an impressively prolific solo career since he was recruited to score the 1983 film LOCAL HERO. The soundtrack's sparse and poignant melodies impressed filmgoers and directors, and an alternate career for the rocker was born. He went on to write acclaimed scores for several films, as well as making notable appearances on albums by a diverse roster of big-name artists. As a solo artist, Knopfler occasionally goes back to his singer-songwriter roots and releases the odd album, to the great pleasure of his many fans. In 2006, he released ALL THE ROADRUNNING, a lovely duet album with singer Emmylou Harris.

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