HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

David Knopfler (born 27 December 1952) is a British singer-songwriter. He was born in Scotland and raised in
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne (Received Pronunciation, RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the la ...
, England, from the age of two. Together with his older brother
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 ...
, John Illsley, and Pick Withers, he founded the rock band
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 pe ...
in 1977, serving as rhythm guitarist on their first two albums. After quitting the band, Knopfler embarked upon a solo career as a recording artist. Knopfler initially created smaller record labels, publishing companies, and indie labels.


Early life

Knopfler was born in
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...
, Scotland, to an English mother, Louisa Mary (née Laidler), a teacher, and a
Hungarian Jew The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived ...
ish father, Erwin Knopfler, an architect. When Knopfler was four, his family moved to
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...
, England, where he grew up and later attended Gosforth Grammar School. By the age of 11, Knopfler owned a guitar, a piano and a drum kit, and by 14 he was playing and singing his own compositions in folk clubs. After attending
Bristol Polytechnic The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...
, Knopfler became a social worker in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.


Career


Dire Straits

Knopfler introduced his older brother, guitarist
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 ...
, to his bassist flatmate John Illsley. After gaining the interest of drummer Pick Withers, the four founded the rock band
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 pe ...
. One of Mark's friends came up with the band's name, which was supposedly a reference to their financial situation at the time the band was beginning to gain notice in the music industry. David however, asserts on his website that " henotion that the band were literally in dire straits is largely retrospective myth making and not really factually supportable. We all had day jobs until we got a whacking big advance from Polygram." Knopfler played rhythm guitar beside his brother, who was lead guitarist in the band. He appeared on Dire Straits' first two albums: ''
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 pe ...
'' (1978) and ''
Communiqué A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...
'' (1979). The stress of composing, arranging songs, recording the then-requisite two albums and tours to support them took its toll on the brothers, and David left the band during the recording of their third album, '' Making Movies'' (1980), leaving him uncredited on the album.


Solo

After leaving Dire Straits, Knopfler released his first solo album in 1983, ''
Release Release may refer to: * Art release, the public distribution of an artistic production, such as a film, album, or song * Legal release, a legal instrument * News release, a communication directed at the news media * Release (ISUP), a code to id ...
''. Mark Knopfler and John Illsley both played on the album. Harry Bogdanovs, a lifelong friend of Knopfler, is credited with having co-written three of the tracks and playing synthesiser. The album was supported by the single "Soul Kissing" on the label of Peach River Records. The single peaked at No. 82 in the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
, after Knopfler retrieved the rights from the bankrupt record label. '' Behind the Lines'', his second album, was released in 1985 and his third solo album, ''Cut the Wire'', followed in 1986. In 1988, the U.S. label
Cypress Records Cypress Records is a record label which was distributed by A&M Records between 1988 and 1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes t ...
released his fourth album, ''Lips Against the Steel''. Knopfler scored the soundtracks for the films ''
Shergar Shergar (3 March 1978 – ) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. After a very successful season in 1981 he was retired to the Ballymany Stud in County Kildare, Ireland. In 1983 he was stolen from the stud, and a ransom ...
'' (1984) and '' Laser Mission'' (1989), and the German productions '' Treffer'' (1984), ''Jakob hinter der blauen Tür'' (1989) and '' The Great Bellheim''. ''Lifelines'' in 1991 released by Phonogram, was recorded in
Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
's
Real World Studios Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World Records record label, Real Worl ...
. That album was followed in 1993 by ''The Giver'', released by MESA/Bluemoon in the U.S., and
Ariola Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerat ...
in Europe. Its sparse, acoustic arrangements received positive reviews, as did 1995's '' Small Mercies'', which Knopfler co-produced with Harry Bogdanovs, featuring Chris White on saxophone. In 2001, Knopfler worked with Bogdanovs again to co-produce the album ''Wishbones'', which has guest appearances by Chris Rea and Eddi Reader. His ninth solo album, ''Ship of Dreams'', which featured Chris Rea as guest guitarist, was released in 2004. In May 2005, Knopfler published a book of poetry, ''Blood Stones and Rhythmic Beasts'', which was released by the UK's BlackWing books (). The Canadian
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
label Justin Time Records released ''Ship of Dreams'' in October 2005 with an alternate rendition of "Tears Fall" featuring Megan Slankard (replacing Julia Neigel on the original European release). Knopfler's tenth solo album ''Songs for the Siren'' was released in 2006. Recent songwriting projects with other artists have included sessions with Amilia Spicer, Mack Starks, Megan Slankard and Wendy Lands. He played various acoustic and electric gigs in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Turkey and Australia from 2007 to 2009 with Harry Bogdanovs and his band. A new double CD ''Acoustic'', which contains unplugged renditions of new and old songs was released in 2011. Knopfler continued to tour in Spain, Germany, the UK, the United States and Canada in 2012 to 2015. The first-ever limited edition live album, ''Made in Germany'' (recorded in Erfurt, Germany during the 2012 tour with Bogdanovs), was released in April 2013 exclusively via CDBaby.com. The album ''Last Train Leaving'' was released in 2020. Another album, ''Songs of Loss and Love'', was released in December 2020.


Discography with Dire Straits

*1978 – ''
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 pe ...
'' *1979 – ''
Communiqué A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...
'' *1980 – '' Making Movies'' (Knopfler left the band toward the end of recording sessions in August 1980, and does not appear on the final release as his contribution was re-recorded. There are, however, a number of pieces of video showing him playing tracks from the album, among them "Solid Rock" and "Les Boys") *1988 – '' Money for Nothing'' (compilation) *1995 – ''
Live at the BBC {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Live at the BBC or BBC Recordings are recordings originally made for or by BBC Radio 1. Many recordings were released under several name variants. Live at the BBC * ''Live at the BBC'' (The Be ...
'' *1998 – '' Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits'' (compilation) *2005 – '' The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations'' (compilation)


Solo discography

*1983 – ''
Release Release may refer to: * Art release, the public distribution of an artistic production, such as a film, album, or song * Legal release, a legal instrument * News release, a communication directed at the news media * Release (ISUP), a code to id ...
'' *1985 – '' Behind the Lines'' *1986 – ''Cut the Wire'' *1988 – ''Lips Against the Steel'' *1991 – ''Lifelines'' *1993 – ''The Giver'' *1995 – ''Small Mercies'' *2001 – ''Wishbones'' *2004 – ''Ship of Dreams'' *2006 – ''Songs for the Siren'' *2009 – '' Anthology: 1983–2008'' *2011 – ''Acoustic'' (with Harry Bogdanovs) *2013 – ''Made in Germany (Live in Erfurt)'' (with Harry Bogdanovs) *2015 – ''Grace'' *2016 – ''Anthology Vol. 2 & 3'' *2019 – ''Heartlands'' *2020 – ''Last Train Leaving'' *2020 – ''Songs of Loss and Love'' *2021 – Anthology Volume Four *2021 – Shooting For The Moon *2022 – Skating On The Lake


See also

* List of film score composers * List of people from Newcastle upon Tyne * List of poets * List of rhythm guitarists


References


External links

* *
Crowdfunding for ''Grace''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knopfler, David 1952 births Living people 20th-century British composers 20th-century British male singers 20th-century British writers 21st-century composers 21st-century British singers 21st-century British writers Alumni of the University of the West of England, Bristol Dire Straits members British jazz guitarists British jazz pianists British jazz singers British male film score composers British male guitarists British male jazz musicians British male pianists British male poets British multi-instrumentalists British people of Hungarian-Jewish descent British record producers British rock guitarists British rock keyboardists British rock singers British male singer-songwriters Founders Musicians from Newcastle upon Tyne People educated at Gosforth Academy Rhythm guitarists