The Notting Hillbillies were a

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal ...

project formed by British singer-songwriter

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

in May 1986. The group consisted of Knopfler (guitar and vocals),

Steve Phillips Stephen Francis Phillips (born May 18, 1963) is an American baseball analyst and former baseball executive. He served as the general manager of the New York Mets from 1997 through 2003. He worked as a baseball analyst for ESPN from 2005 until h ...

(guitar and vocals),

Brendan Croker Brendan Croker (born 15 August 1953 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England) is an English musician, who has recorded albums under his own name and with occasional backing band; The Five O'Clock Shadows. He was also a member of The Notting Hillbillies. ...

(guitar and vocals), Guy Fletcher (keyboards and vocals), Paul Franklin (pedal steel),

Marcus Cliffe Marcus Cliffe (born 1962 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England) is an English professional musician, currently the bass player in The Manfreds, a reunion of members of the 1960s pop group Manfred Mann (minus Manfred Mann himself). He has also worked with, ...

(bass), and

Ed Bicknell Ed Bicknell is a British music manager and drummer, best known for managing rock band Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler, Gerry Rafferty, Bryan Ferry, Scott Walker and The Blue Nile. Career Ed Bicknell was Chairman of Hull University entertainment’ ...

(drums). They gave their first performance at a small club in Leeds, and followed up with a tour. The Notting Hillbillies recorded just one album, '' Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time'', released on

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in the UK ( Warner Bros. in the US) in 1990, before members returned to concentrate on their primary musical outlets. Three tracks from the album – "Your Own Sweet Way", "Feel Like Going Home" and "Will You Miss Me" – were released as singles; some versions of these included "Lonesome Wind Blues", a track not on the album. The Notting Hillbillies reunited several times for charity gigs. In May 1997 the Hillbillies went on an 11 show tour in the UK. The Town & Country Club in Leeds on 3 July 1993 only featured the Knopfler-Croker-Philips trio. The set list included the only known live performances of two

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and per ...

songs : "Ticket To Heaven" and "How Long". The Notting Hillbillies had previously performed "

When It Comes to You "When It Comes to You" is a song written by Mark Knopfler, and recorded by British rock music band Dire Straits for their 1991 album ''On Every Street''. It was later covered by American country music artist John Anderson (with Knopfler on gu ...

" in 1990, before it was actually recorded and issued by

on their final album '' On Every Street'', in 1991. At the height of their fame, the Notting Hillbillies were the musical guest on the 19 May 1990 episode of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'', hosted by

Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom ''Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also kno ...

. The concert at The City Hall in Newcastle on 6 July 1993 featured

Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, ...

on keyboards, his only appearance with the band.

and

were also present. This was the last time that Clark played with Knopfler within a full band. In 1993, two shows were performed, both without Guy Fletcher.

Band line-up members

– guitar, vocals *

– guitar, vocals * Guy Fletcher – keyboards, vocals * Paul Franklin – pedal steel (studio album and 1990 tour only) *

– bass *

– drums (replaced by Danny Cummings for the four 2002 shows)

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

British folk music groups British country rock musical groups Dire Straits Vertigo Records artists {{UK-band-stub