The one Bob Dylan song Mark Knopfler couldn’t live without
Over his sweeping career, Bob Dylan has collaborated with a broad church of musicians and inspired thousands more. In fact, it is a measure of his magnitude that you’d find it easier to assemble a list of musicians who he hasn’t inspired rather than those he has.
One of the artists who counts Dylan as both a collaborator and an inspiration is Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler. The Geordie guitarist cites Dylan as his musical hero. In fact, he claims his influence is so evident in his work that he barely bothers to hail him anymore. And when he appeared on Desert Island Discs in August this year, Knopfler revealed the one Bob Dylan song he couldn’t live without.
Knopfler has been a Bob Dylan fan “all [his] life, since [Dylan’s] first album”. He credits his big sister Ruth for introducing him to that first self-titled record in 1962, in which the original vagabond cut his teeth, doling out dusty old covers. She was also the one who first showed left-handed Knopfler how to play a guitar right-handed, using a “dodgy little tennis racket” in place of a real guitar.
Ruth bringing the album into the Knopfler family home started Mark’s lifelong love of Dylan’s music. So it’s no surprise that one of his songs would show up on Knopfler’s Desert Island Discs. But the pick is a rather unique one; he chose ‘Duquesne Whistle’, explaining: “To me, it’s totally original. It sums up a beautiful little piece of American life, you know, the whole panorama of it, the richness of it.”
‘Duquesne Whistle’ was the lead single from Dylan’s 2012 album Tempest. It’s a bluesy track with a driving rhythm that evokes the Pennsylvania train line that is the song’s namesake. Knopfler recognised that it’s an “unusual” choice for a favourite Dylan song – people may have been expecting a more classic pick like ‘The Times They Are A-Changin” – but he stuck with it all the same, claiming it captures the essence of Dylan’s mysterious world.
During the 1980s, Knopfler and Dylan collaborated on several records—but it wasn’t always smooth sailing. While producing Dylan’s 1983 album Infidels, Knopfler found that Dylan was easily bored and had little time for Knopfler’s detail-oriented approach. They reunited, though, on 1998’s Down In The Groove and again in 2012 when Knopfler joined Dylan’s Never-Ending Tour across North America.
When Desert Island Discs host Lauren Laverne asked what the original vagabond was like to work with, Knopfler gave a somewhat cryptic answer: “It would vary from song to song, just because all songs are so different. You never know what you’ll be involved with.”
Despite their occasionally strained working relationship, Knopfler clearly still holds a lot of respect for Dylan. ‘Duquesne Whistle’ wasn’t just one of his eight Desert Island Discs, but his favourite from the list. “It would have to be Bob [Dylan], just because I’ve been a Bob fan all my life.” The rest of Knopfler’s castaway records included ‘Ol’ Man River’ by Ray Charles, and The Shadows’ ‘Wonderful Land’. And his luxury item was, of course, a guitar.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.