Dire Straits – Private investigations (Easy Piano solo arr.) sheet music

Dire Straits

One of the most popular names in rock of the 1980s was Dire Straits, a group led by the talented singer, guitarist and composer Mark Knopfler , whose basic essences came from their adoration for the writing of Bob Dylan and their heterogeneous connection to rock’n’roll. classic ‘roll and rock rooted in the most polished blues, with hints of Eric Clapton , Lonnie Johnson or JJ Cale .

Dire Straits emerged in the late 1970s in England.
They were led by lead vocalist and guitarist Mark Freuder Knopfler, a former rock teacher and critic who was born on August 12, 1949, in Glasgow, the capital of Scotland.

At his side were his younger brother, rhythm guitarist David Knopfler (born December 27, 1952), bassist John Illsley (born June 24, 1949), and drummer Pick Withers (born April 4, 1948).

Mark and David were the children of Louisa Mary Knopfler and the architect Erwin Knopfler, a Hungarian of Jewish religion who had emigrated to Scotland at the time of the Nazis.

When Mark and David were still children, the Knopfler family left Glasgow for Newcastle, England.

Both began to be interested in rock music, with Mark listening to people like Hank Marvin of the Shadows , Lonnie Johnson, Robert Johnson , BB King or Scotty Moore, the guitarist for Elvis Presley.

At the age of fifteen, he recorded his first demo in London, which in the end never saw the light of day on vinyl.
The song was “Summer’s Coming In My Way”.

His melomania was combined with his studies in English Philology at the University of Leeds.

There, in the late 1960s, he began writing rock articles for the Yorkshire Evening Post and met Steve Picketts, with whom he formed a duo called The Doulian String Pickers.
After graduating from Leeds in the early 1970s, Mark was a Reader at Loughton College in Essex.

At the end of the 1970s, he traveled to London to live in an apartment with his brother David and his friend, John Illsley.

In the British capital, after reading an advertisement in the Melody Maker, he joined a pub rock band called Brewer’s Droop.

In this band he met drummer Pick Withers.

Within two months, Mark, whose greatest inspirations as a songwriter were Bob Dylan, JJ Cale and blues legends like Robert Johnson, left the group to take up teaching for a while.

In 1977, he created a new group with David called Café Racers, a name derived from a type of motorcycle, in which John Illsley joined as bassist.

Mark then called Pick Withers to form the final quartet, which began playing pubs and college parties.

Their first major gig was opening for Aqueeze.

The band, following a suggestion from a friend of Withers who saw the group with few financial resources, changed its name to Dire Straits (Desperate Situation), a group that recorded its first demos in July 1977, among which were I found the song “Sultans Of Swing”.

These demos ended up in the hands of disc jockey Charlie Gillet.

Their music, with Knopfler’s Fender Stratocaster guitar dominating the sound, reached the ears of Ed Bicknell, who signed the group to the Vertigo label at the same time he became their manager. The first thing he did was get them a spot opening for the Talking Heads .

Shortly after, they recorded their first LP, “Dire Straits” (1978) , an album produced by Muff Winwood, brother of Steve Winwood and former member of The Spencer Davis Group .

The album garnered an excellent critical reception after its presentation with the single “Sultans Of Swing”, a classic of their repertoire, based on rock with evocative and atmospheric keys, Dylanian vocals, a blues base and some country reminiscences.

Some other relevant songs of the album were: “Down To The Waterline”, “Water Of Love”, “Wild West Love” o “SettingMe Up”.

Next year, it appeared in stores “Communiqué” (1979) , an album produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, live keyboardist for Traffic.

The rather underrated LP is another stupendous collection of bluesy rock and literary riff songs with great numbers like “Lady Writer”, “Portobello Belle”, “News” or “Angel Of Mercy”.

They repeat the sound of the first album, but expanding it with the use of keyboards played by Bobby Bear.
The same year as the recording of “Communiqué”, Mark collaborated with his idol Dylan on the latter’s LP, “Slow Train Coming” (1979).

After “Communiqué”, David Knopfler left the group to start a solo career.

Without David they recorded “Making Movies” (1980) , a phenomenal work co-produced between Mark and Jimmy Iovine, who had worked as an engineer for Bruce Springsteen and producer for Tom Petty .

With cuts like “Tunnel Of Love” or “Romeo And Juliet” Dire Straits matured their ability to create epic pieces full of excellently executed lyricism, both vocally and instrumentally. Other tracks on this great album are “Expresso Love”, “Hand In Hand” or “Solid Rock”.

In the year 1980, Knopfler collaborated with another of his influences, Phyl Lynott , playing the guitar on his solo record “Solo In Soho”.

To officially replace David, guitarist Hal Lindes joined the group.

At the same time keyboardist Alan Clark was added, who, together with Lindes, participated in the creation of “Love Over Gold” (1982) , the first album produced solo by Mark Knopfler himself that contains the title track in addition to “Telegraph Road” or the beautiful “Private Investigations”. The songs now spread in extension, turning them into almost progressive and epic pieces.

The album reached number 1 in the UK charts, also achieving significant commercial success in the difficult US market.

After this LP, Pick Withers left his position on drumsticks to Terry Williams, who had played with Man , Nick Lowe or JJ Cale.

In the early 1980s, enjoying international fame and significant status within the music industry, Mark Knopfler began to diversify his career.

In 1983, they released the EP “Twinsting By The Pool”, with the lively title track, a great and danceable tribute to rock’n’roll, surfing and doo woop.

He collaborated with his guitar on records by Phil Everly, the Everly Brothers , Chet Atkins, Brian Ferry, Scott Walker or Van Morrison , he produced records for Lynott, Bob Dylan (“Infidels”) or Tina Turner, for whom he wrote the hit “Private Dancer”.

He also recorded the phenomenal soundtrack for “Local Hero” (1983).

In 1984 another soundtrack appeared, “Cal” (1984), and the Dire Straits live album, the estimable “Alchemy” (1984).

“Brothers In Arms” (1985) , co-produced by Neil Dorfsman, marked their consecration as one of the most notorious and commercial bands of the moment.

Key themes for this success, exceptionally well constructed and with a more ‘mainstream’ approach than in previous recordings, which caused its easy spread through the FM waves around the world, were the homonymous ballad, “So Far Away”, “Walk Of life” or “Money For Nothing” , a song written together by Knopfler and Sting (who also contributes vocals) that was dominated by an unforgettable guitar riff.
After this album, Mark’s work outside the band was accentuated.

He collaborated again in the cinema with “The Princess Bride” (1987) or “Last Exit To Brooklyn” (1989), and in 1990 he formed a country-rock group which he baptized with the name of The Notting Hillbillies.

With this band he recorded an LP of little commercial impact.

The following year he returned with Dire Straits, recording the long-awaited “On Every Street” (1991) , a varied album with cuts like “The Bug”, “On Every Street” or the excellent “Heavy Fuel”, which put an end to the trajectory as a band in studio recordings.

Years later, the direct shows “On The Night” (1993) and “Live At The BBC” (1995) appeared, an album that includes the first recordings of the group.

Mark Knopfler debuted as a solo artist, apart from his work for soundtracks, which he expanded with “Golden Heart” (1996), “Wag The Dog” (1998), “Metroland” (1999), “Sailing To Philadelphia” (2000) , and “A Shot At Glory” (2002), “The Ragpicker’s Dream” (2002), “Guitar Dreams” (2003), “Shangri-la” (2004), “All The Roadrunning” (2006), an album recorded together to Emmylou Harris, “Kill To Get Crimson” (2007), “Get Lucky” (2009), “Privateering” (2012), “Tracker” (2015), “Altamira” (2016), soundtrack of the film starring Antonio Banderas , and “Down The Road Wherever” (2018) .

In 2017, “Romeo And Juliet” was played in the movie “Yo, Tonya” (2017) .

In 2018, “Sultans Of Swing” was heard in “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2018) .

That year they were elected to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Dire Straits – Love Over Gold (1982)

With “Love Over Gold” (1982), an album reissued by Universal Records, the British group Dire Straits expanded their roots rock with progressive sounds with essential influences from Bob Dylan or J. J. Cale.

The LP, produced solo by Mark Knopfler and featuring guitarist Hal Lindes and keyboardist Alan Clark in the band for the first time, contains the long track ‘Private Investigations’, a moody, atmospheric song inspired by reading a novel by Raymond Chandler with the leading role of detective Philip Marlowe.

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