Despite the monumental success of tracks like Sultans of Swing and Money For Nothing, Mark Knopfler says his favorite ever guitar solo from his repertoire is a solo he recorded on a cheap electric guitar and that was far from perfect.
Penned as the theme of Bill Forsyth’s 1983 comedy-drama film, Local Hero, Going Home is up there as one of the greatest instrumental guitar tracks of them all. The song lives on as the walk-out music for soccer team Newcastle United, of whom Knopfler is a childhood supporter, and was the subject of a bumper charity re-release last year.
The film it soundtracked tells the story of a man sent by an oil company to a fictional Scottish coastal town with the vision of buying it. Knopfler was intent on capturing the town’s spirit and landscape in his score while incorporating fragments of traditional Scottish songs.
While speaking to Spanish newspaper El Pais about the 40th anniversary of Dire Straits’ groundbreaking album, Brothers in Arms, he says, “There’s something about Going Home that seems to work.
“It’s [recorded on] a cheap guitar, it sounds very direct. I did everything wrong, but I think they’re perfect notes,” he laughs.
“I think it turned out well because I didn’t take it to the extreme of getting into trouble,” Knopfler continues. “I just said what I had to say. I didn’t go too far. I tried to portray the place, the people, the rocks, and the water. For me, it was a portrait of a place, an idea, a local hero.”
Last year, Knopfler recorded a new charity version of the song with more than 60 musicians, raising funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Alex Lifeson, Brian May, and Jeff Beck (recorded before his death) were just some of the names featured. The song broke the top 20 on the UK singles chart.
“They just kept coming,” Knopfler told Guitar Player of the charity song’s mammoth cast. “Pete [Townshend] came through the door first, armed with a guitar and an amp, and we plugged it in and Pete played a chord. And we were happening, because when Pete plays a chord, it stays played.
“And then I think Eric Clapton came through the doors the next day, and Jeff Beck had recorded something at his place which was so beautiful. Then David Gilmour came over. I thought, ‘This is fantastic!’
“And then all the stuff was coming on from America: Joe Bonamassa, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai," he develops. “Different people, fantastic guitar playing, coming in from all sides. I came in one day and Bruce Springsteen was all over it.”
No wonder then, by the time Steve Lukather came to track his part, he was left asking, “What the hell am I gonna play?”
The song had even planted the seeds for a collaborative record between Mark Knopfler and Jeff Beck, but Beck’s passing brought that enticing concept to an end.
It’s unclear what guitar Knopfler had used for the track, but he has since upgraded to pricier builds. The charity re-recording was tracked on a 2021 Les Paul Standard Goldtop, which later sold at auction for over £400,000 (approx $540,000).
Knopfler's El Pais interview also found him discussing the beauty of individuality in guitar playing.
“It’s wonderful when Jeff Beck or Hank Marvin [of The Shadows] played, because they were so different,” he says. “If we all played the same, it would be terrible. I think Peter Green was just a magnificent musician. It’s not about playing too much, just playing the right thing.
“When you listen to Stevie Ray Vaughan, you’re hearing the right thing. And even if it gets complicated, you know there’s a care and attention that goes into great musicians, which is a wonderful thing. I’ve never tried to play like that, but I think it’s great. When you start at 15, you try to copy, but after a certain amount of time, your own style starts to emerge. That’s part of the beauty of it.”
Knopfler released his latest solo album, One Deep River last year. Speaking to Guitar World, he says its recording changed his relationship with the guitar.
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