[00:00.20]new live album about to be released and
[00:03.39]unveiled why another live album please
[00:07.29]well what I mean actually when I was you
[00:13.88]know when we were originally talking
[00:15.98]about it I suggested to the record
[00:16.10]companies that put some new things on
[00:18.90]and said no no no it's everybody wants a
[00:20.78]souvenir of the tour so I said fine in
[00:24.39]and and that was the companies all
[00:28.99]around Europe and apparently that's what
[00:33.80]people want they want to have a souvenir
[00:37.90]they want to it's just the same of the
[00:39.50]film the video of the of the show they
[00:42.40]just want to have a souvenir reminder of
[00:46.79]what it was like to be there on the
[00:47.39]event but shouldn't a live album be like
[00:51.79]when I think back to the sort of
[00:52.50]Frampton Comes Alive albums and he and
[00:54.38]the best of the film or and and like you
[00:56.09]know things like that and I think that a
[00:59.00]live album should be an item within
[01:00.80]itself should be something that even if
[01:03.10]you weren't there you can still enjoy
[01:04.69]the atmosphere of the event well I think
[01:06.68]yeah Minister I still think that I mean
[01:09.89]it's relevant as a recording just
[01:12.09]because you know when you once you start
[01:14.49]going out live you're changing the songs
[01:17.88]about I mean as soon as you start
[01:18.00]rehearsing which is my favorite time
[01:21.00]actually and because you know you're
[01:23.50]putting new pieces in here knocking
[01:25.20]things out yeah slicing and cutting and
[01:29.50]sticking pedal steel solos in and this
[01:33.40]that and the other and it's just a
[01:35.88]different thing from the record and
[01:36.88]you've got different people to you've
[01:37.20]got different drummers and you've got
[01:41.69]percussionists and this that and the
[01:44.10]other so it's it's a different
[01:45.29]experience altogether so it's worth
[01:47.89]having just from that point of view I
[01:48.59]think it's it's it's a different entity
[01:51.19]from a live record from frustrate from a
[01:54.80]studio record you know we certainly
[01:57.88]weren't being slavish about being
[02:00.59]retentive about album parts necessarily
[02:05.09]I'm part of the fun is being able to do
[02:09.50]it in different ways you know they moved
[02:11.40]to take the songs and
[02:13.50]change them about and and I mean if you
[02:16.48]take something like : Elvis it just live
[02:18.70]it just became something else that's
[02:23.39]what happens with crowds that's what
[02:25.99]happens with rehearsals you have to put
[02:27.50]endings onto things and all the rest of
[02:28.00]it you're making a show you make it
[02:30.10]something flow so it becomes the show
[02:34.90]itself in a way becomes something with
[02:37.18]its own life made up of different songs
[02:40.09]and the order that they were on and so
[02:43.90]on and so forth you eventually call me
[02:45.09]Elvis now it's been elongated to
[02:47.09]enormous proportions west about ten
[02:49.19]minutes something how do you justify
[02:52.90]that then because surely that could be a
[02:54.00]collection of long solos and how do you
[02:56.39]also say to yourself right calling our
[02:58.39]son any good like this but in rehearsal
[03:00.20]wouldn't it be nice to do this how do
[03:02.00]you how do you pick out those songs that
[03:03.89]you think would suit the extensions that
[03:05.78]you very often give them life you can't
[03:07.89]justify it I think you just say it's
[03:09.19]nothing nothing really short of
[03:13.39]indulgence and time-wasting and you know
[03:18.89]you the only excuse that I could
[03:21.99]possibly make would be that it gets
[03:23.29]everybody played in at the beginning of
[03:24.70]the set you can drummers can bash away
[03:29.80]and percussionists can hit everything
[03:31.39]that they've got as loud as possible and
[03:34.79]as so the sound people can get a chance
[03:38.80]to get the PA sorted out and we get
[03:41.50]played in I mean that's a way of getting
[03:42.40]warmed up really well played in and we
[03:46.79]have had quite a lot of fun with it in
[03:48.30]rehearsal because I just found myself
[03:50.09]adding bits and it's just a failing of
[03:53.70]mine really I think it's just something
[03:54.80]that happens and I have no excuses
[03:56.39]really whatsoever apart from the playing
[03:58.00]in aspect and getting any getting the
[04:00.89]oil warmed up if you like I was nice to
[04:04.69]be honesty and a musician it just says
[04:06.59]well I just having a bit of a go really
[04:07.80]Charlie galette gave you an opportunity
[04:10.39]many many years ago and I actually
[04:13.69]remember the broadcast which is quite an
[04:15.79]amazing situation to be in um and and
[04:18.39]there was just such a good feeling about
[04:20.80]that now he gave you an opportunity do
[04:22.49]you now have the opportunity to give
[04:25.29]our younger musicians a chance do you do
[04:27.29]things for other musicians in the
[04:29.80]position you're now in you do just by
[04:31.28]being successful I mean that's that
[04:32.19]happened that started happening straight
[04:34.28]away in fact in 77 78 when first of all
[04:40.29]that the the record company gets to be
[04:44.59]in a very healthy position cause it's
[04:45.98]got a number-one album all over the
[04:47.89]world and that we'll all the kind of
[04:51.90]signings that they make but apart from
[04:53.79]that what happens when you go out on
[04:55.39]tour for example you take people out on
[04:57.09]support and this and that when you know
[04:59.88]you've begun by supporting opening for
[05:02.99]other people and so that the chain goes
[05:04.49]on down and then you start producing
[05:06.40]people and you start there's a
[05:09.39]circulation of music that goes on after
[05:12.79]a while if you show an interest in any
[05:15.49]particular musician the fact that you've
[05:17.88]shown interest generates an interest in
[05:22.80]turn you know through the game through
[05:25.08]the music game and that's what happens
[05:27.89]really it's just a it's a natural
[05:31.10]impulse I think you certainly don't feel
[05:34.68]threatened by I certainly never have
[05:37.60]felt threatened by anybody else coming
[05:40.40]in the first when you hear something
[05:42.80]great the the natural inclination is to
[05:48.38]rejoice because it's such a refreshing
[05:51.08]thing you're so happy to hear it
[05:54.38]and you can't ignore that and certainly
[05:56.10]you you know the idea of the idea of not
[06:00.10]and not encouraging it was repugnant to
[06:03.00]me not encouraging somebody or not
[06:04.69]trying to help somebody along the same
[06:06.99]thing happens with with the business
[06:09.80]side of it I mean not me but my
[06:10.40]management people help young managers a
[06:14.29]lot demands a lot to be said for that
[06:16.59]and in fact for years I've been pressing
[06:18.99]IDI
[06:19.60]my manager and Porter former managers
[06:21.78]association so that can help young
[06:24.80]managers to find their footing I mean
[06:26.78]when ed started with us he thought that
[06:27.78]mechanicals were something to do with
[06:29.80]cars and he would be quite happy to tell
[06:31.28]you that so you have to knife and fork
[06:33.38]your way through a lot of these things
[06:35.10]and if you can
[06:38.69]put somebody on it on it there ain't
[06:40.79]millions for instance you might get
[06:41.90]somebody from America calling up wanting
[06:44.30]to know which promoter they should deal
[06:46.59]with which venue should they play so on
[06:48.00]and so forth and in fact a lot of ends
[06:50.29]time was spent really it's like you know
[06:53.99]dr. ed you know helping out people that
[06:56.39]happens quite a lot and there is a
[06:58.50]network of like-minded people who
[07:03.80]because of the problems that they've
[07:05.18]encountered they become in a way
[07:09.70]committed to leaving the business in a
[07:11.79]better state than they found it
[07:13.58]excellent and the serious thing well the
[07:16.70]arguments you said that they put some
[07:18.00]money back into the record company which
[07:19.30]there means they can develop new acts
[07:20.89]that's one of the arguments now the
[07:22.59]record companies are saying for the
[07:23.79]price of CDs and yet your management and
[07:26.49]yourself are very much against the costs
[07:29.29]of CDs at the moment doesn't that isn't
[07:32.18]that sort of a reverse argument in there
[07:33.49]somewhere
[07:34.79]well possibly and just in terms of the
[07:36.60]amount of money that they say that
[07:38.90]they've got available for X but in terms
[07:41.90]of the CD theme and I'm talking I'm
[07:43.90]talking before CD even this was in 77 or
[07:46.59]whenever it was that were the first
[07:48.10]album you know did so well around the
[07:51.49]world CD thing has been I think as I'd
[07:56.29]puts it the great North Sea oil of the
[07:58.70]record companies and anybody who really
[08:05.00]has studies the figures and has a look
[08:09.70]well no I mean part of the reason why
[08:13.49]had got involved in all of this is
[08:15.49]because of the galling experiences that
[08:17.18]we've had with compactus you know in
[08:20.49]terms of new formats coming in the only
[08:23.59]thing that I could would say really I
[08:27.89]mean because it's a massive subject but
[08:30.29]and not nearly as important as Bosnia
[08:32.18]but it's a small thing in some respects
[08:36.79]but if you were asked or if you were
[08:40.00]told by your employers that a new
[08:42.90]broadcasting format was going to
[08:46.69]necessitate a 50% cut in your salary
[08:50.00]for an indeterminate period I should
[08:54.40]imagine it'd be for some fairly loud
[08:55.99]squeaking from your direction followed
[08:58.30]by a search for new employment and you
[09:03.70]know it's it's a fairly complex business
[09:07.10]but there seems to be absolutely no
[09:08.10]question whatsoever that that the
[09:11.78]figures that the record company they're
[09:12.58]BPI have been putting out incidentally
[09:15.80]they haven't put any figures out for the
[09:17.39]past three years since the consumer
[09:19.89]Council which magazine or whatever it
[09:21.40]was got on their backs about it though
[09:23.90]the figures are questionable to say the
[09:25.99]least
[09:26.19]and that what they say that artistic
[09:30.09]royalties that they said that artists
[09:32.39]were getting for CDs fictional and even
[09:39.70]though I'm I know that that Edie has
[09:42.69]renegotiated our situation to the point
[09:46.10]where we're probably getting a higher
[09:50.69]rate than a lot of other artists are for
[09:52.60]CDs it's still way under what they say
[09:55.30]all artists are getting and you can bet
[09:57.00]that that we are getting a heck of a lot
[10:01.90]more than Bo Diddley or somebody like
[10:04.28]that only you can I wouldn't mind
[10:06.19]betting that Bo Diddley with all respect
[10:07.50]and all love that I do have for his
[10:09.90]music is getting Diddley and it so in
[10:17.90]that sense they've they have been
[10:18.29]cleaning up interesting you mentioned CD
[10:21.50]it was I remember going to try and get
[10:23.00]my first CD play and I said well there's
[10:25.39]only one album you should listen to on
[10:27.60]CD and the album that sold millions do
[10:31.20]you think possibly that may have with
[10:33.50]the great respect to yourself inflated
[10:35.19]the sales of the album but what it did
[10:37.20]do was it brought it to the ears of a
[10:39.90]lot of people who may not have been into
[10:41.70]the band before that point I really
[10:43.60]don't know I think it probably has more
[10:45.40]to do with singles hits that you get off
[10:47.90]albums and what happened was an American
[10:51.20]that money for nothing and and walk of
[10:55.80]life were both top five hits or whatever
[10:58.60]they were
[10:59.30]I think I have no idea actually where
[11:02.60]they got to you'd have to help me on
[11:04.40]that but that's really what makes the
[11:07.39]big sales differences is whether you
[11:09.50]have these kind of singles hits and I've
[11:12.70]never set out to make a single just do
[11:15.20]records and I think that's that had a
[11:20.80]lot to do with it also the fact that it
[11:22.90]was early in the technology that the
[11:24.69]record came out early in the technology
[11:26.00]of of CD it's just luck I don't I don't
[11:36.30]think it's because it was a particularly
[11:38.40]outstanding record it's just happened to
[11:40.60]be in that place at that time and to do
[11:44.90]with the singles successes that it came
[11:46.50]off it had pushed up album sales in
[11:49.90]America I mean obviously did an awful
[11:52.59]lot better in America and then you know
[11:55.79]other records that we made that beat
[11:57.00]simply because of the singles and the
[11:58.29]radio the radio do you I mean - tracks
[12:05.69]really have made an art form and a
[12:06.29]touring and when you spend so long
[12:08.00]touring and it's it's a natural
[12:09.29]progression there should be a live album
[12:10.29]I you know in danger
[12:12.99]two things one burning yourselves out
[12:15.00]completely we're spending so much time
[12:16.09]on the road because it is a pressure
[12:18.29]thank you to the circular saw okay I
[12:24.00]danger a burning your cells out and also
[12:26.79]saturating the market in that there
[12:28.20]could be too much of dire straits at the
[12:30.80]moment it's like dire straits tickets
[12:32.89]are you know one of the most
[12:34.19]sought-after things people want to try
[12:36.70]to find out when you're gonna play what
[12:37.29]you're gonna do but if you keep touring
[12:39.50]at the level you have been touring those
[12:41.19]two factors could come into play and
[12:43.39]that the week too much of a good thing
[12:44.99]oh yeah I mean I wouldn't do it to the
[12:48.40]same extent as we have done anymore now
[12:51.20]I mean it just seemed like the best way
[12:54.30]of doing it at the time and playing lies
[12:57.30]a very important part of being being a
[12:59.69]musician I think I mean other people can
[13:01.50]think what they like there's nothing
[13:03.40]like being there playing to a crowd
[13:09.20]and it's a very important part of what
[13:11.40]it is it's what you dreamed about when
[13:13.00]you were kid it's a and fans around the
[13:16.20]world let you know how happy they are
[13:18.00]that you've bothered to turn up that's
[13:23.10]oh that's really all I would say about
[13:26.00]it I mean I don't I never think about
[13:28.29]saturation or anything else like it I
[13:30.40]mean you know just you just plan a tour
[13:33.29]and go off and do it and if you're gonna
[13:34.90]do it you might as well do it properly
[13:37.89]you have got an obligation to people but
[13:42.80]when you see it when you actually go to
[13:45.50]France and see it or go to Germany and
[13:47.19]see him you realize what it what it what
[13:51.20]it means to people so there's a
[13:54.49]relationship that's set up if you like
[13:56.89]that you have to put a value on you know
[14:00.10]do you think when you see these holes
[14:02.20]full of people and you think that I mean
[14:04.20]there's a tremendous responsibility
[14:05.60]there that yeah these people have
[14:08.39]welcomed to see and you've got to play
[14:09.50]well that night it's it's got to be a
[14:11.59]good night you've got to do your job
[14:12.90]does that give you a pressure or just
[14:15.19]being happy being a musician does that
[14:18.29]come across on stage do you see what I'm
[14:20.39]getting at yeah I used to feel pressed
[14:22.69]for a lot more than I do now and I think
[14:24.20]that just comes from time spent in the
[14:26.10]driving seat really that the more you do
[14:30.00]it the more you can pay attention to
[14:32.10]other things that are going on and you
[14:35.70]can't you're not just caught up in in
[14:38.40]the performance itself or in what you're
[14:40.09]up to yourself and that's just that that
[14:44.00]sort of thing comes with time spent
[14:45.49]doing it but it's an interesting thing
[14:47.70]pressure people always ask me about that
[14:49.60]and when I was a kid I used to get to me
[14:55.09]a lot more when I was 15 and I went to
[14:59.00]see Chuck Berry at City Hall in
[15:00.39]Newcastle I thought that I thought the
[15:02.89]City Hall was was the biggest place I'd
[15:05.00]ever seen it seemed like a cathedral to
[15:07.40]me yeah a few years later you know you
[15:10.90]go back and look at it and it's it's
[15:12.29]like it's just like a little it seems
[15:17.89]like a small room to you so you grow
[15:19.39]into the big places without
[15:23.20]without realizing it is just time spent
[15:26.00]you grow into and you got to be able to
[15:28.50]do to handle bigger crowds without going
[15:34.80]over the top and or changing anything
[15:36.79]too much and altering what you would do
[15:38.30]too much just to still make it somehow
[15:41.20]intimate at times without without it not
[15:46.00]that too much of the expense of the of
[15:49.09]the of the show you know the performance
[15:53.29]have you had anything on to this because
[15:55.50]it must be very tempting if you're
[15:57.40]listening to a live hour think I was
[15:58.40]just a dreadful no that was awful
[16:01.90]if you docked it I'll play with it at
[16:02.99]all or is it as it happened oh no you
[16:05.79]have to know I mean with but I think
[16:07.50]that one of the problems apart from
[16:09.59]anything else is that when you're
[16:11.99]recording a band that is a little as
[16:13.79]loud as that one was on this last or
[16:16.90]they get leakage coming in and all sorts
[16:18.80]of problems coming in from monitoring
[16:20.10]and certain the other and you do end up
[16:23.00]with live albums I mean all live albums
[16:25.89]have have to be repaired here in there
[16:27.50]and and you can do that the the
[16:31.90]important thing is to try to preserve as
[16:33.79]much of the of what really happened and
[16:36.60]mistakes you know after a while mistake
[16:39.99]start sounding right like chat cans
[16:42.90]I was once doing a an interview with
[16:44.50]Chet and we would we were talking to the
[16:47.50]interviewer together and I'd said
[16:48.00]something about how on the every street
[16:51.80]album I tried to get the whole band to
[16:52.90]play together and if and if I had a cold
[16:56.90]or something
[16:58.20]it didn't you just had to learn to live
[17:00.80]with it or there was leakage a lot of
[17:02.00]leakage from because I was playing a
[17:04.30]guitar and singing into the same mic I
[17:07.80]into in same booth and you know one was
[17:09.49]leaking onto the other which can be an
[17:11.40]engineer's nightmare
[17:12.79]I like leakage and I like mistakes on
[17:15.20]recordings and something comes to the
[17:18.90]air when you're all playing together
[17:19.99]which is I think it's worth having on
[17:23.40]records if you can get it and so and
[17:27.30]I've made all my mistakes in public you
[17:28.30]know before that we'll the separation
[17:30.79]and everything else and
[17:34.99]so mr. mistakes if you have a mistake
[17:37.79]that doesn't really matter too much then
[17:39.80]just just leave it in and it's like Chet
[17:42.90]says for a while then mistake they start
[17:44.09]sounding right I'm interested to you did
[17:48.40]you ever get to produce a never leave
[17:49.80]others album good today
[17:51.10]because the writ this is really strange
[17:52.30]connection now is that Albert Lee plays
[17:54.50]guitar with Everly Brothers and he
[17:56.69]played setting me up on a live Clapton
[17:58.49]album so there's a real weird because I
[18:01.20]think Albert Lee is just one of the
[18:02.80]great musicians and that he now plays
[18:04.60]with the ever least did you get to do
[18:05.39]the Everly's album no I haven't managed
[18:08.90]to get that up laughs talked to the ABS
[18:10.30]about doing a record at some point and
[18:14.39]I'm making a little list of possible
[18:16.90]things that we can do and I don't know
[18:19.40]when it could could possibly be actually
[18:21.29]I'd I'd love to get stuck in it
[18:24.90]something like that I mean the Everly's
[18:25.60]was so important to me you know I mean
[18:31.60]when I started playing I had a little
[18:33.59]friend Vince and he was he was done and
[18:36.50]I was filled I suppose or the other way
[18:38.69]around I think he got higher than I
[18:40.09]could and it was so it's a it's all very
[18:46.49]but I didn't know then that Chet had
[18:47.30]made those records and it was wonderful
[18:52.79]arrangements on those records but it's
[18:56.90]it is important to me and we have talked
[18:58.59]about about it and I would love to that
[19:01.00]you know they would like permitted to
[19:04.20]get something going I think their
[19:07.19]management recently wanted them to
[19:09.90]rerecord some of their old hits which i
[19:11.90]think is a big mistake and I hope I hope
[19:14.90]fervently that they don't that they
[19:18.90]don't go that route I think they should
[19:21.70]be doing new things which still have
[19:28.90]that very special color and that that
[19:34.20]only they can get you varied country
[19:37.30]music and you talk about country music
[19:39.90]and yeah I I just think that a lot of
[19:42.70]your arrangements a lot of your songs
[19:43.60]could be countrified if you will
[19:45.40]you could actually
[19:47.90]but a country arrangement that waka lie
[19:49.50]for example could have a country rose it
[19:50.60]is getting there
[19:52.00]have you ever thought you know you might
[19:53.28]like to do just a country album or doing
[19:55.08]it with very strong country feel to it
[19:57.09]well I mean if we've just been talking
[20:00.89]about the Everly Brothers I mean they
[20:01.30]that's country music really in a way it
[20:04.90]just becomes something else here and
[20:05.69]there and you have R&B elements and the
[20:10.19]Blues is really is how I came up with as
[20:13.78]well so a lot of my songs have been
[20:18.58]recorded by people in Nashville and but
[20:22.28]when you hear them sometimes there's a
[20:24.90]lack of attitude I mean if you hear a
[20:26.39]country version of the buck or something
[20:28.09]they've taken the R&B out if you hear a
[20:31.00]country version of walk of life they've
[20:34.09]taken the R&B out and things can flatten
[20:38.50]out quite a bit I mean my only criticism
[20:41.19]of a lot of the current Nashville music
[20:44.50]is is in fact that that kind of digging
[20:52.29]in and R&B attitude is missing but there
[20:57.19]you know then again some things that get
[20:59.60]recorded there are recorded there are
[21:01.38]absolutely great still and on and on it
[21:04.80]goes I mean a lot of a lot of country
[21:06.88]so-called country artists are making
[21:10.08]records now that are very bluesy and
[21:12.19]rock influenced if you like so this is
[21:16.90]if it's all a bit of a jumble really you
[21:18.28]know just listening to the new wynonna
[21:22.59]judd record the other night and you know
[21:26.80]you can hear all these influences coming
[21:28.60]in there's getting to be a lot more R&B
[21:30.48]influence to say and it's great you know
[21:34.39]that so that's somebody like Bonnie
[21:35.19]Raitt is influencing somebody like why
[21:38.38]no never it's a it's a wonderful thing
[21:40.09]it's a beauty to be happening so I don't
[21:43.28]really know how to and listening to John
[21:46.80]Anderson's new record that well you know
[21:47.39]John recorded one of in Nashville John
[21:51.58]recorded know one of the songs from
[21:53.48]every street record listening to his new
[21:57.88]stuff as well you can hear them more and
[21:58.70]more R&B
[22:00.90]creeping into so-called country music a
[22:05.30]lot of country artists have got to be
[22:06.70]quite careful over there because country
[22:08.80]radio which is probably where they get a
[22:10.39]lot of their bread and butter from is
[22:12.30]quite a conservative setup and they they
[22:15.89]can't really you know they'd get people
[22:17.29]saying things like you know where's a
[22:23.69]pedal steel guitar you know ain't no
[22:25.39]fiddle in that song so you've got to be
[22:27.70]quite careful how they approach things I
[22:30.69]mean there are people who really come
[22:32.90]from more of a rockabilly background
[22:35.90]like mark calling and people like that
[22:36.50]but then they're in some ways that maybe
[22:39.30]being forced into a more well behaved
[22:44.19]area just in order to get played on the
[22:46.69]country radio stations there are so many
[22:49.10]of them around the country and that
[22:51.40]doesn't happen to rock and roll acts and
[22:53.59]I certainly never happened to me you can
[22:55.90]please yourself really the way that
[22:57.60]should go again you know if you're doing
[23:00.79]something in a country ish kind of vein
[23:02.10]I can put a big heavy distorted guitar
[23:04.09]over it and that so that wouldn't really
[23:07.30]wash with country radio which was why
[23:11.19]you know they wouldn't my version
[23:12.70]wouldn't really be played over there and
[23:17.59]they would want something a little more
[23:19.20]well behaved you say these people are
[23:22.09]adhering to the country format and the
[23:24.40]country formula that you have been
[23:25.60]accused on various occasions of playing
[23:29.90]safe of sticking with a tried and tested
[23:31.79]Mark Knopfler formula now do you feel
[23:35.99]that valid criticism or not absolutely
[23:38.40]no I mean nobody's ever I've never done
[23:41.19]anything you know for the radio in fact
[23:44.40]I mean one you know all of my songs
[23:47.29]usually far too long or don't you know
[23:52.80]fall into that radio ability at all and
[23:57.29]in fact I remember one time and being
[24:02.00]told that you know I think we can get
[24:04.90]this they can get this song down to
[24:05.69]so-and-so so-and-so minutes
[24:08.90]and it works because because they've
[24:11.50]done it you know and you just have to
[24:16.20]say no one I mean I wrote it that way
[24:18.79]and I don't want to edit edit ate or
[24:22.69]shortened to the regulation length I
[24:25.60]mean there are all kinds of horror
[24:27.20]stories and you can go over there and
[24:29.00]hear your record being played faster to
[24:33.60]get it into timeframes and all the rest
[24:37.50]of it no I don't think I mean I don't
[24:40.98]think that rock and roll has been
[24:42.69]subject to to let anything like as much
[24:49.80]as country artists have that kind of
[24:52.90]control I mean there are lots of
[24:55.80]drawbacks to to entering into this
[24:59.00]particular arena you know you find that
[25:02.90]radio is because of these radio
[25:06.69]consultancies so-called over in America
[25:08.19]and playlist that DJ's have now become
[25:10.60]just puppets who who play what they're
[25:14.90]told to play they have a playlist and so
[25:15.10]on and so forth but now I got used to
[25:18.00]that fairly quickly in a way and I
[25:20.69]remember when they wouldn't play
[25:21.60]something to swing in England for for
[25:24.90]ages it was it was a hit all over the
[25:26.90]world but it was the last place it was a
[25:28.00]hit was in England because there was a
[25:29.58]committee then with a woman called Doris
[25:32.00]or something at the head of it who said
[25:33.90]it had too many words which is properly
[25:37.79]write it properly does but it was just
[25:39.89]the way that it was it was then and I
[25:43.89]think it only really became a hit in
[25:45.00]England after Paul Gambaccini was
[25:47.80]playing it as part of his an American so
[25:50.19]people heard it and realized eventually
[25:52.50]that it was a British you know effort
[25:55.00]and it sort of took off in England but
[25:59.90]it took off in England miles behind the
[26:01.99]rest of the world do you find a lot of
[26:03.10]these situations that you build up okay
[26:05.00]make you quite rebellious people might
[26:07.90]think you were quite arrogant because
[26:09.09]you do stand up for your music like you
[26:11.80]just said it's a speeded-up artists bit
[26:13.50]to cut out of thing and people might get
[26:15.79]the wrong attitude about a guy who just
[26:17.80]believes that without sorry but that was
[26:19.69]the way it was recorded and that was the
[26:21.00]way it should be her
[26:22.29]no I mean you can't be too you can't be
[26:24.80]too pleased with yourself about any of
[26:26.29]that but the only reason I think that
[26:28.29]I've been allowed to meander about
[26:31.90]relatively unscathed is the fact that we
[26:34.49]were successful from the beginning I
[26:35.19]think for acts who who have a more of a
[26:42.69]borderline thing happening for them at
[26:44.60]the beginning can be subject to a lot
[26:47.80]more bullying from record companies
[26:49.99]people who don't really know what
[26:51.48]they're talking about and that's when
[26:55.90]you get damaged when when when I think
[26:58.68]when people are telling them what to do
[27:01.20]instead they can't just necessarily
[27:02.90]follow their heart so at that point I
[27:07.90]think when that starts to happen you
[27:08.59]lose sight of the truth and what
[27:10.48]actually moves people ultimately is some
[27:13.79]kind of truth isn't it it's something
[27:15.28]that reverberates through the artist in
[27:18.80]to them and they don't necessarily sit
[27:24.38]around and analyze it they just like it
[27:25.70]there's some kind of recognition of
[27:29.90]something and the more you start messing
[27:32.50]about with that and trying to push it
[27:36.89]into some formula for radio or for
[27:40.28]whatever you can run into you can run
[27:44.48]into problems but I do think that one of
[27:47.90]the diseases that there's been allowed
[27:49.78]to happen is energy I mean it probably
[27:50.90]would apply to me now if I was starting
[27:52.78]off now is that a lot of artists
[27:58.80]encouraged to write everything
[28:00.78]themselves you know this doesn't happen
[28:04.09]in Nashville and so that you get
[28:06.29]probably more good tunes on a record and
[28:09.90]then you get with a lot of rock and roll
[28:11.38]records I think a lot of kids are being
[28:15.48]encouraged to write everything
[28:16.49]themselves now whether it's its
[28:18.09]financial it's partly that they can get
[28:21.29]publishing money to bolster their
[28:23.68]recording money in order to stay alive
[28:25.68]that can be part of it that the
[28:28.78]publishing advances can look quite
[28:30.00]attractive to them or it's the idea of
[28:34.09]being an artist you know
[28:35.40]I'm an artist I do all my own writing
[28:37.19]and I think some people you can see that
[28:40.90]some people have actually suffered for
[28:41.69]for that whereas there's a far less
[28:44.19]pretentious atmosphere that goes on in
[28:47.59]in somewhere like Nashville where people
[28:50.79]just take songs and that they don't
[28:52.00]really care who's written them so when
[28:54.88]they die strikes last record somebody
[28:55.80]else's song well I know I mean it
[28:57.39]should've actually I think you're quite
[28:59.69]right I mean I think I think I could
[29:05.78]have made better records half the time
[29:08.80]by by sticking in songs by other people
[29:10.70]for that to be quite honest with you I'm
[29:14.90]interested too about the track listing
[29:15.90]you said that you know it's all stuff on
[29:17.19]there and who do you think a bit more
[29:19.69]upset if and walk of life and
[29:22.09]brothers-in-arms were not on this live
[29:24.20]album you the fans or the record company
[29:28.78]well I wouldn't mind bob was on it
[29:35.59]or you know or not on it really I mean I
[29:38.79]don't I don't know what the record
[29:41.00]company would say because I don't I'm
[29:44.00]just informed occasionally of what they
[29:45.69]think through management company it's
[29:50.79]it's kind of a fan thing really I mean I
[29:55.40]had a couple of little kids in I went
[29:58.49]him see a couple of little kids in the
[30:01.59]office management office the other week
[30:05.19]got cancer and stuff and and and anyway
[30:09.90]I'm showing them some of the some of the
[30:12.29]video that we've done and showed him a
[30:15.48]list of songs I said well would you like
[30:16.78]to would you like to see and they both
[30:18.09]said at the same time money for nothing
[30:21.50]now I mean I for me too
[30:26.78]I'm you know I don't really have much of
[30:30.40]a an emotional attachment to that
[30:32.90]particular song it's so but there's a
[30:37.98]sense when you see that you know there's
[30:40.38]a sense in which you think well it's
[30:41.69]they wanted they wanted that amount of
[30:44.30]it
[30:46.50]bless them it's that I miss the only
[30:48.79]thing you think yeah I really wish that
[30:50.49]was because you obviously had to listen
[30:51.20]to hours and hours of tapes for this
[30:53.20]thing you must have done with all the
[30:54.69]showers and things is there anything you
[30:55.20]thought well you know I really would
[30:57.69]have liked to put that on there but
[30:58.19]maybe it's a little bit off the wall
[31:00.39]well there was a couple overcome the
[31:02.40]things I mean I would have liked to have
[31:03.90]had a sultans on there but I never
[31:05.90]played one that I thought was any good
[31:07.59]and that was my I was just down to me I
[31:09.20]mean I just didn't think I played one
[31:11.39]that was worth particularly that people
[31:15.00]would particularly want to have and also
[31:19.10]we did this little thing where we made
[31:21.80]it a four piece for quite a lot of this
[31:24.10]song and we're little drum kit that came
[31:26.00]came down onto the floor behind so it
[31:29.79]was a bit like playing in the original
[31:30.39]club band but the sound off that kid was
[31:34.70]so bad he we couldn't actually was a big
[31:36.60]too big a problem to record it that way
[31:40.00]it was good fun playing it live but we
[31:42.90]couldn't really get anything that would
[31:44.00]I decided I just thought I never played
[31:46.99]one that was any good so so that's
[31:51.90]that's and also you know people have got
[31:53.69]live recordings of it anyway so I
[31:56.90]thought maybe not that and so that's why
[31:58.40]that's not on there but that's all and
[32:02.00]you can't listen to all I mean I I
[32:04.29]literally would couldn't face listening
[32:07.50]to all the recordings so we're about ten
[32:10.80]of them ten different nights and I just
[32:13.19]couldn't so i i i i slid out of it and
[32:20.79]sneaked it off and got guy from the band
[32:24.30]and and the endorsement to do a lot of
[32:27.90]listening to to that sort of thing i
[32:29.30]mean in the end i mean i I suppose I had
[32:32.00]to listen to a fair bit of it but I'm
[32:34.20]not very good at I mean if you've saw it
[32:37.50]so in other words I haven't really been
[32:39.90]involved in this album anything like as
[32:41.90]much mean I know it really to two guy
[32:43.40]and Neil and more than anything else I
[32:48.50]haven't actually put much time in on it
[32:49.80]I've been nipping off really and riding
[32:55.89]my motorbike I haven't been a very good
[32:57.90]boy on it
[32:59.00]come in you know late and even see is
[33:02.60]everything going alright cross my
[33:03.30]fingers and hope that nothing was too
[33:06.39]far gone but I can't actually bring
[33:09.20]myself even back with alchemy I couldn't
[33:11.79]listen to the tape in 84 I think it was
[33:13.70]I couldn't listen to the tapes I started
[33:16.90]doing it and after 10 minutes as I can't
[33:19.90]listen to 10 nights of this arena so I
[33:21.80]said wow what was the good my Saturday
[33:24.00]night seemed a pretty good night I was
[33:26.00]in the hammersmith odeon and we'll just
[33:29.90]do that just take it from that but and
[33:32.49]it was literally just laziness and if
[33:34.40]I'd been really retentive about it I
[33:37.89]would have probably waded through a
[33:39.69]conscientious I would have probably
[33:40.40]created through it all but I just
[33:42.69]couldn't face it did you get easily
[33:45.50]poured these days for things do you find
[33:47.40]that you you really would love to be out
[33:51.69]like so producing an Evaline album or or
[33:53.60]you know just it it's a bit too much of
[33:56.80]a drag sometimes yep yep I know actually
[34:01.49]I'm sure that my attention span as has
[34:05.00]gone off as certainly as far as my own
[34:07.49]stuff is concerned it certainly has and
[34:11.39]I don't what to do about that I really
[34:13.30]don't know I mean I I just like to have
[34:16.18]a sofa in an acoustic guitar and please
[34:19.48]myself not playing a bit of mandolin at
[34:21.70]the moment I can't get that excited
[34:24.29]about about what I've done already in a
[34:31.49]way and I mean it's the same it's the
[34:34.19]same with rehearsing really is the most
[34:38.99]exciting time for me writing is very
[34:40.10]it's exciting when you've got something
[34:42.39]and then it's exciting rehearsing it and
[34:43.49]it's exciting recording and you've got
[34:45.19]to really want to do it obviously I mean
[34:47.99]you wouldn't be able to take these tours
[34:49.00]on a few unless you loved it and you
[34:51.39]really wanted to do it I suppose I'm
[34:53.19]lucky in a sense that I like of all the
[34:56.20]bits of the cycle if you like but I'm
[35:02.00]always looking ahead to the new thing
[35:03.60]really that's what turns me on is then
[35:06.70]is the the thing that you want to record
[35:09.70]and the other thing that's coming up or
[35:12.00]yes I mean a a Nashville session or a
[35:17.69]blue session a Buddy Guy thing or
[35:20.10]something like that it's great just to
[35:22.49]go off and and just do a one-off like
[35:26.40]that I'm you know the things coming up
[35:28.29]I'm going to play with the Chieftains so
[35:33.49]or maybe get stuck into another film or
[35:37.50]thinking about everything from uilleann
[35:42.90]pipes to fiddles is is exciting to me
[35:47.29]talking to somebody about a theatre
[35:49.90]production it's exciting to me because
[35:51.89]it's different I think when you come off
[35:53.30]these long tours that you need a variety
[35:54.69]to keep you alive to it or you know to
[35:58.69]keep you excited about it all and it's
[36:02.39]I've got some good friends around the
[36:04.50]place and I'm one pal of mine in
[36:06.40]Nashville them sends me these he's got a
[36:09.19]huge record collection and he's a
[36:11.00]songwriter over there and he sends me
[36:12.70]these little care packages of cassettes
[36:14.69]with them with music on from it's got
[36:18.10]and he has these lovely titles and more
[36:21.39]cool stuff or all sorts and this and
[36:27.59]that and there's Appalachian music mixed
[36:34.59]up with obscure hillbilly rockers
[36:38.30]jukebox hits blues R&B thinks Cajun
[36:45.30]music French stuff anything you name it
[36:48.49]just things that turn him on and that's
[36:50.09]what keeps me alive that kind of spread
[36:52.59]and that kind of involvement were the
[36:54.70]roots of music as well as I mean as well
[36:56.89]as it as well as new stuff so it's a
[36:59.89]good time as well when you're away from
[37:01.70]the tour to get back and enjoy music in
[37:06.50]that direct way and it reminds you to
[37:09.49]that it reminds me certainly that a lot
[37:12.00]of my favorite music really it comes
[37:14.90]from however complicated you might end
[37:17.80]up getting that my favorite stuff is
[37:20.10]really very simple music so after 16
[37:25.90]years then is
[37:26.00]it's time to say well it's been all very
[37:28.60]nice and very good but you know now I
[37:30.19]think I'd like to do something else for
[37:31.69]example work a lot more with Brendan
[37:33.80]Croker I'm not quitting I mean I'm gonna
[37:41.00]make records and just play with yeah
[37:43.90]different outfits and and go on with it
[37:47.50]all it's a it's an endless thing and I I
[37:50.19]love it and a very lucky boy to be able
[37:53.69]to do it and that's all I can tell you
[37:57.80]I'm still just as in love with whole
[37:59.99]thing as always was I wouldn't I
[38:04.90]wouldn't tour again or anything like the
[38:06.29]same length and I mean that's not going
[38:08.00]to help me anymore but you just get to a
[38:11.70]stage when you know that that's your
[38:13.00]last shot around the world in a way at
[38:14.10]that level that kind of intensity so you
[38:17.20]might as well go and do it properly but
[38:19.20]that's not going to be happening now
[38:21.00]there are too many other exciting things
[38:24.00]to do do you think if you weren't in the
[38:27.00]band you just be if we go back many many
[38:30.60]years we used to be a strolling minstrel
[38:31.80]just going around and playing a guitar
[38:33.09]or mandolin or whatever and that would
[38:36.69]give you similar rewards to what you're
[38:38.39]getting now oh yes absolutely I'm better
[38:42.10]in some ways I think yes I think that's
[38:46.60]exactly what the deal would have been
[38:51.20]that's exactly what would have happened
[38:53.89]and in a way that's what you still are
[38:56.19]and it's a lot of the things that that
[39:00.60]you end up doing it's you're just going
[39:03.80]off to play the blues it's basically
[39:04.20]what you're doing and a lot of the rest
[39:10.49]of it is nonsense and outside people's
[39:12.69]perceptions things that become confused
[39:17.30]with that I mean that there for example
[39:20.90]a success yes I love I'd recommend it to
[39:23.19]anybody but Fame which is a is a
[39:27.99]completely different thing from success
[39:29.89]has nothing to recommend it whatsoever I
[39:31.30]mean fact in fact if there isn't an
[39:34.80]equation you could say that Fame is the
[39:38.19]price that you pay for
[39:39.39]says Fame itself doesn't have anything
[39:42.40]particularly to nothing in fact I can't
[39:45.00]see anything personally I can't see
[39:47.40]anything
[39:47.89]that's that great about that but success
[39:50.90]or love I mean success is great because
[39:52.00]it's I've been able to meet so many
[39:55.80]fabulous people through it and to share
[39:59.50]their music and to you know to have
[40:02.90]their friendship so and that's that's
[40:07.59]what's important to to you I mean that's
[40:11.59]one of the success and you know being
[40:14.69]able to move around the world in that
[40:16.69]way has been able to and to be able to
[40:18.29]buy a tape machine that you need or
[40:21.50]something like that as is what and to or
[40:26.29]to work with a Paul Franklin for example
[40:28.59]or something like that is this is
[40:32.30]never-ending source of joy to me you
[40:34.39]know but but but ultimately there's
[40:37.69]there's no difference now you know what
[40:41.00]we're feeling now is when I'm sitting in
[40:44.00]like I was last week with Steve from the
[40:46.90]the hillbillies and were just sitting
[40:49.49]playing to an audience of one or an
[40:53.30]audience of two in our case and laughing
[40:57.00]and drinking and playing I mean that is
[40:59.00]there's not enough of that
[41:01.90]when you're out on the road on tour and
[41:03.49]that's what you hunger to get back to
[41:05.49]and that never goes away never will go
[41:08.19]away in strength and there's one
[41:11.69]interesting M edit possibly on the album
[41:13.50]that heavy fuel and to Romeo and Juliet
[41:15.49]sort of goes boom and then it comes and
[41:17.30]I think I wonder if that was the same
[41:19.80]night it just it doesn't seem to work so
[41:21.09]well well it was just one of those tough
[41:24.69]corners that you have to negotiate and
[41:26.40]we did that it did go that way in fact
[41:28.79]that's how it went on on the stage yet
[41:31.59]and in fact I think it might well have
[41:34.00]been from the same night and if it
[41:39.00]sounds like a mistake I'm sorry that's I
[41:45.60]mean we why isn't it a mark knopfler
[41:47.70]solo album when you've done the sound
[41:49.60]tracks you've produced why isn't the now
[41:51.00]Sullivan do you need that band we
[41:53.80]all the songs are written by you and so
[41:55.90]we read anyway the credits are always
[41:56.60]you so why not a solo album why do you
[41:59.10]have to have that band I don't actually
[42:01.69]I'm gonna do one that's good question no
[42:05.30]I mean you know I love bands because it
[42:07.90]grew up wanting to be in a band and I
[42:10.20]mean to make a solo album I'll have to
[42:13.50]get a band together to make it so you're
[42:16.60]doing the same thing really it's just a
[42:18.00]name and that's all it is and I like the
[42:22.20]idea of hiding in a band in a way you
[42:28.00]you just it's a way that it's a
[42:31.39]childhood schoolboy thing you love bands
[42:34.10]and you wanted to be in a band you
[42:36.00]wanted to have a band and but I'm gonna
[42:43.49]do what I'm gonna do a record just the
[42:46.70]same the nice thing about I think about
[42:51.00]you know probably being able to go into
[42:53.20]your own record to xik and you can play
[42:56.09]about with the personnel a lot for
[42:59.60]different songs and that's really what I
[43:01.09]want to be able to do
[43:02.29]would you also play about with the songs
[43:04.20]would you do other people's material
[43:05.69]because that would give you the
[43:06.49]opportunity to do that wouldn't it yeah
[43:08.40]it would be able to do that too or that
[43:10.20]I'd actually actually some point I'd
[43:12.90]really love to do a record of entirely
[43:14.00]if but you know other people's things
[43:17.10]and it's a I'm forever - I mean that's
[43:20.40]what I what I do when I'm at home I was
[43:22.69]just playing other music so I eventually
[43:27.39]I'll get something like that together
[43:29.90]you know like it covers kind of a kind
[43:33.29]of thing or aversions I swing at an
[43:37.70]attempt be great actually when you went
[43:41.19]if you went to this that's all it is
[43:42.69]so it would be fun you know if you go at
[43:44.19]the theater and you're seeing Macbeth
[43:45.40]would be great if somebody came came out
[43:48.10]and said no good evening ladies and
[43:52.80]gentlemen we're about to have a swing at
[43:54.69]Macbeth you know we're taking a stab at
[43:57.20]King Lear or something that's all it is
[43:59.09]it's just when you record anything or
[44:02.19]attempt to play anything that it's only
[44:04.30]there's no such thing as a definitive
[44:06.60]just it's just an attempt on the on the
[44:10.69]day Charlie glass sell on the sleeve
[44:14.30]notes to the honky-tonk demos which has
[44:16.90]got the original thing he he made a
[44:18.60]little comment about the band where he
[44:20.09]said he felt a sense of responsibility
[44:22.10]when you said you'd given up your
[44:24.40]previous careers and would commit
[44:26.49]yourself to music and these note was
[44:29.90]especially with the name like dire
[44:30.50]straits I mean do you feel it's been
[44:33.39]worth it oh yeah of course and I was and
[44:38.89]the music was pushing so hard you know
[44:40.80]for me to do it I was I was in I had to
[44:44.40]do it there and I couldn't go back to
[44:47.89]anything else it's it's a wonderful
[44:53.99]thing to be doing the thing that you
[44:55.70]like to do more than anything else it's
[44:57.39]what I would say to any child or to any
[45:00.30]kid is is matter I know because I spent
[45:06.50]a lot of years doing the opposite is you
[45:11.19]you know to play safe is it's not the
[45:13.50]way I think you have to find what it is
[45:17.30]that you like doing more than anything
[45:18.90]else and then try to do it as well as
[45:20.10]possible and if you can make a living at
[45:25.49]that that's that's great the thing about
[45:27.99]music is you don't have to be a
[45:29.00]professional musician I mean you it
[45:31.30]looked at the thing about music and or
[45:33.50]the guitar or something it is that it
[45:35.99]will be a friend to you all your life
[45:37.80]and when other things can let you down
[45:40.60]or other people might even let you down
[45:45.20]it will be there for you
[45:48.79]it's a great source of comfort to you
[45:53.00]and the other thing is of course that
[45:56.00]you never get to the bottom of it that
[45:59.10]you realize that you've only just
[46:05.90]tickled it really that there's a a
[46:07.39]universe of of of material earth of
[46:13.50]information there that you you never
[46:15.10]really will be be part of it it's an
[46:18.69]endless thing
[46:19.69]you said you the Urim and about on you
[46:22.70]are at motorbike it doesn't want it
[46:25.89]privilege to know what type of motorbike
[46:27.39]this is without making a wild stab it's
[46:30.10]a triumph Trident so it's not the
[46:35.70]holiday recently brilliant I keep my
[46:40.40]enough well thank you very much your new
[46:41.69]thank you