By Carlos Zaldívar
"The music just tends to be a vehicle for that poetry"
MARK KNOPFLER
Dedicated to my brothers of “Sultans of Swing / Fraternity”
Guillermo, Mauricio, René & Ernesto
Knopfler shows up
with a tape in hand, to a radio station, and the DJ programmed a song called
"Sultans of Swing”. What followed is already a great story. It was
Radio London with DJ Charlie Gillett.
And Charlie pressed "play"
on Sultans of Swing, and music history changed.
And from there, they
went to the recording studios to develop their first self-titled album the
following year.
And the fact is that
there are complete live albums that, after listening to them, cause a long
journey through our lives, our minds, in just a few tracks, in moments that we
will never forget. In addition, if the album is repeated, the thoughts are not
repeated, they are always different, even if it is the same song, because the
feelings flow and are transformed to the beat of the music in thousands of
fragments of time.
So, we delightfully
walk through each of the tracks on this huge live album, recorded at the
Hammersmith Odeon, London, U.K. in 1983. A true cerebral and hearing orgasm,
beyond the sentimental and nostalgic that is.
We just put the needle on the turntable and the strings and snares began to play, along with the applause of the attendees, at the Odeon. Then Mark, after presenting his “Dire Straits” and a brief introduction with Tommy's keyboards, takes off with his guitar to start what is my second favourite song from this band: “Once Upon a Time in The West", and... come one, Mr. Knopfler! I just imagined myself in my classic Volkswagen, driving along the Panamericana Highway 57 from Mexico City to the border, at a good speed, without haste and enjoying the Straits.
After almost thirteen
minutes of Once Upon, Mark continues with a masterful performance for “Expresso
Love” and Tommy shines again with the introduction to the key commander.
The Straits head their way to a chance encounter with a feminine beauty, so
perfect they barely saw her and she was gone in no time. Of those beauties,
who, when you look at them, even steal your breath. And I confirm, because of
course it has happened to me, and in almost six minutes I can remember those
moments of suffocation, in my soul.
After pleasant and
lustful thoughts, it is also worth having those eyes, with liquid about to be
spilled and that they run down the cheeks. Mark lets himself fall with slow notes,
to the rhythm of a love tragedy, a classic of world literature. Of course, of
those impossible loves, of those that when we meet, they tell you: "what
you are thinking, will never happen" and then, that and much more happens.
Those are words that, to the rhythm of the Straits, are pure reason: “and then,
when we made love, we used to cry”.
After little more
than eight minutes of “Romeo and Juliet”, the band presents us with a
quiet ballad, to continue with the reminiscences of the heart and soul, to
think and we really do what we want, if we value what we have and if we are
happy with that. A tranquility invades us, precisely, so that after almost
three and a half minutes...
And after much
applause, the great “Private Investigations” will arrive, and Mark,
giving a lecture on why he is one of the best guitarists in the world. Amen to
also know how to compose and do it well. A song of more than seven minutes, and
with just a short story about an investigation and no results, there is nothing
more than simply accompanying them with a good whiskey... and more lies. Small
lyrics, but with a lot of backstories, because music has more meaning than
words. Right now, I remember that phrase of: "Do not look, because surely
you will find." And this is not all, the clapping and ovations and that
huge "Thank you" from Mark, it is just the great start and the
great introduction to:
"Sultans
of Swing", which is exactly the cherry, in the middle of the cake.
The biggest and most iconic song of the band. The one that started the history
of these “hungry” young people in 1977. Because only “an old guitar was what
they could only afford”, and to this day they affirm: “We are the Sultans of
Swing”. Enormous! A masterful work of art, and one of the most famous and
perfect guitar solos in history, of course, by Mr. Knopfler. The almost eleven
minutes are perfect to continue scratching in that deep well of memories and
bring them afloat. Remembering those adventures again, and personally, on that
fourteenth of November of nineteen ninety-eight, when the “Sultans of Swing”
fraternity was founded, and that today, we continue at the “foot of the canyon”
(mexican quote) and with a life full of pure, total and absolute Rock &
Roll. Sultans of Swing is the perfect song by definition; It is the song
that every band wants to cover; It is the story that we all want to live. To
the rhythm of Jazz, Blues, Rock, Metal and whatever we please. Because music is
in the blood, in the soul and is enjoyed, it is never to show off. Because
Diego Mark is called like this, in honour of Mark Knopfler, whom I greet from
these lines: Diego Mark, son of my brother Guillermo “MemoRock” Sandoval.
After a long guitar
finale, of little more than thirty seconds, in Sultans of Swing, another short
song of almost five minutes arrives, to delight us with a rich Rockabilly named
“Two Young Lovers” to remember some summer, on vacation, and have that
adventure of love, sex or both, and that we never had. An experience that, like
many stories, true romance begins when summer ends.
And after a rich
dance (albeit mental) and with another introduction on the keyboards, by Tommy,
comes the longest song on the album (just over fourteen minutes” and one of the
most significant of the band, and for me. “Tunnel of Love”, because we
would all like to take a walk through that tunnel, of love, of surprises, of
having a partner and not having a partner; of being and existing; of always
being for you, and always being apart. We are both a couple of perfect
strangers. Because for love, there is no condition, just tenderness and warmth
(as Arturo Huízar would sing). Of course, this song has a very powerful drums,
and Terry shines on these percussions. A fantastic composition and very
pleasant interpretation. With this song, you always remember that famous scene,
from the movie "An Officer and A Gentleman", where that couple, who
love each other, and at that moment, in front of the jukebox, they know that
they will be the perfect lovers, in the distance, another perfect Straits song;
the perfect strangers.
And the fourteen
minutes of the previous song weren't enough, so immediately “Telegraph Road”
of little more than thirteen minutes was thrown, with a great story to conquer
a place, a town, a city, a country… a love.
And this double album
closes with a couple of songs, one in the hard rock style: “Solid Rock”
and the other, farewell, in the style of the classic “Golondrinas” for a see
you soon, a until the next concert, or simply, a pause to continue meditating,
thinking and enjoying our anecdotes and experiences, with “Going Home”,
of just six minutes each, approximately. "Going Home" is that
nostalgic ballad to leave and return, because it is an advantage of the
instrumental compositions, that we put the lyrics, the feeling and we add the
right emotion to the moment that is lived. And just at this moment, I remember
that couple of Knopfler concerts at the CDMX National Auditorium, which I
attended, together with my brothers from the “Sultans of Swing Fraternity”
and the emotion of seeing one of our idols, make him masterfully love his
beloved guitar.
Wow! Going Home is a
beauty of song, to close any cycle or to start a new one; to enjoy happiness or
sadness; of love or lack of love; Of the whiskey that we drink and the whiskey
that we will never drink. Simply a sublime song.
A couple of songs to
close this huge album with a flourish.
Thanks so much
for reading.
Carlos Zaldívar
ALBUM
CREDITS
Mark Knopfler:
guitar & vocals
John Illsley: bass
Alan Clark: keyboards
Hal Lindes: guitar
Terry Williams: drums
Additional musicians:
Tommy Mandel: additional keyboards
Mel Collins: saxophone
Joop de Korte: percussion
All songs
written and produced by Mark Knopfler
Recorded by Mike McKenna, Rolling Stones Mobile, July 1983
Mixed at Air Studios, London, November 1983
Engineered by Nigel Walker, assisted by Jeremy Allom
Artwork by Brett Whitely, © adapted from Alchemy 1974
Design by C More Tone Studios
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