''Golden Heart'' is the debut solo studio album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...
, released on 26 March 1996 by
Vertigo Records
Vertigo Records is a record company with United Kingdom origins. It was a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label, launched in 1969 to specialise in progressive rock and other non-mainstream musical styles. Today, it is operated by Uni ...
internationally and
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
in the United States. Following a successful career leading British rock band
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and percuss ...
and composing a string of critically acclaimed film soundtrack albums, Knopfler recorded his first solo album, drawing upon the various musical influences he'd engaged since emerging as a major recording artist in 1978.
The album reached the top-10 position on charts in Austria, Belgium, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The album peaked at 105 on the
''Billboard'' 200 in the United States.
Background
Following the release of Dire Straits' final studio album, ''
On Every Street
''On Every Street'' is the sixth and final studio album by British rock band Dire Straits, released on 9 September 1991 by Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The follow-up to the band's massively ...
'', and a grueling 15-month world tour of Europe, North America and Australia—a tour seen by 7.1 million people that ended in October 1992—Knopfler quietly dissolved the popular British rock band that had become one of the world's most commercially successful bands, with worldwide album sales of more than 120 million.
He would later recall, "I put the thing to bed because I wanted to get back to some kind of reality. It's self-protection, a survival thing. That kind of scale is dehumanizing."
He spent two years recovering from the experience, which had taken a toll on his creative and personal lives. In 1994, he began work on what would become his first solo album.
Singles
"Darling Pretty"
"Darling Pretty" is the first single from the album. It reached number 33 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, and was featured in the 1996 film ''
Twister
Twister may refer to:
Weather
* Tornado
Aviation
* Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike
* Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design
* Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design
Entertainment
* ''Twister'' (198 ...
''. "Gravy Train", the second track on the maxi-single, was featured in the 2001 film ''
America's Sweethearts
''America's Sweethearts'' is a 2001 American romantic comedy film directed by Joe Roth and written by Billy Crystal and Peter Tolan. It stars Julia Roberts, Crystal, John Cusack and Catherine Zeta-Jones, with Hank Azaria, Stanley Tucci, Seth Gre ...
''.
Track listing
"Cannibals"
"Cannibals" is the second single from the album. It is very similar in sound and structure to the
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and percuss ...
hit single "
Walk of Life
"Walk of Life" is a song by the British rock band Dire Straits, the third track on their fifth studio album '' Brothers in Arms'' (1985). It subsequently appeared on their live album '' On the Night'' (1993). It was released as a single October ...
", also written by Knopfler. "Cannibals" is taken from the album. "Tall Order Baby" and "What Have I Got to Do" are outtakes from the album. The song was the concert opener for the Kill to Get Crimson Tour in 2008.
Track listing
"Rüdiger"
"Rüdiger" is the third and final single from the album. "Rüdiger" is taken from the album. Rudiger was used on the soundtrack for the film The Bandits. "My Claim to Fame", "Tall Order Baby", and "What Have I Got to Do" are outtakes from the album.
Track listing
Touring
Knopfler supported the release of ''Golden Heart'' with the Golden Heart Tour of Europe, which started on 24 April 1996 in Galway, Ireland, and included 84 concerts in 66 cities, ending in Antibes, France, on 4 August 1996.
The tour lineup included Mark Knopfler (guitar, vocals),
Guy Fletcher
Guy Edward Fletcher (born 24 May 1960) is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known for his position as one of the two Keyboard instrument, keyboard players in the rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his subs ...
(keyboards),
Richard Bennett (guitar),
Glenn Worf
Glenn Worf is an American bassist known mainly for his work as a session musician. He has recorded with many major country music acts and also tours with Mark Knopfler.
Early life and education
Worf was born in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up in Madis ...
(bass),
Chad Cromwell
Chad Cromwell (born June 14, 1957) is an American rock drummer whose music career has spanned more than 30 years. He is the founding member of a band called Fortunate Sons, which released a self-titled album in 2004.
Cromwell has worked with m ...
(drums) and Jim Cox (keyboards). This initial touring group later became known to Knopfler fans as the 96-ers.
A preview performance with an expanded lineup of players was given on 15 April 1996 at the BBC Building in London. This show was recorded and later released on video as ''
A Night in London
''A Night in London'' is a live concert video by Mark Knopfler released on VHS tape and Laserdisc in 1996 by PolyGram Music and on DVD in 2003 by Universal Music. The setlist includes songs from Knopfler's first solo album, ''Golden Heart'', alon ...
''.
Critical reception
In his review for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, William Ruhlmann gave the album three out of five stars, finding that despite Knopfler's trademark guitar work and sardonic lyrics, there was "little on the album that was new or striking, and Knopfler seemed to fall back on familiar guitar techniques while intoning often obscure lyrics.
Ruhlmann set aside any reference to the musical effect of Knopfler's eclectic and newly introduced acoustic bass, string arrangements or traditional Irish accompaniments and concluded:
Track listing
Personnel
Music
*
Mark Knopfler
Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...
– guitar, vocals
*
Richard Bennett – acoustic guitar (1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 11, 12), guitar (5, 6) tiplé (10)
*
Sonny Landreth
Clide Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Bre ...
– National steel guitar (10), backing vocals (10)
*
Don Potter
Donald Steele Potter (21 April 1902 – 7 June 2004) was an English sculptor, wood carver, potter and teacher.
Don Potter was born in Newington, near Sittingbourne, Kent, the son of a school teacher, and attended a private school. He joined t ...
– acoustic guitar (14)
*
Paul Franklin – pedal steel guitar (1, 9, 11, 12, 14)
*
Derek Bell – Irish harp (1)
*
Paul Brady
Paul Joseph Brady (born 19 May 1947) is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician from Strabane, Northern Ireland. His work straddles folk and pop. He was interested in a wide variety of music from an early age.
Initially popular for playing ...
– whistle (1, 7, 13)
*
Seán Keane – violin (1, 7, 13)
*
Dónal Lunny
Dónal Lunny (born 10 March 1947) is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays left-handed guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozai ...
–
bouzouki
The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...
(1, 7, 13)
*
Máirtín O'Connor
Máirtín O'Connor is an Irish button accordionist from Galway, Ireland, who began playing at the age of nine, and whose career has seen him as a member of many traditional music groups that include Skylark, Midnight Well, De Dannan, and T ...
–
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
(1, 7, 13)
*
Liam O'Flynn
Liam Óg O'Flynn ( ga, Liam Ó Floinn, 15 September 1945 – 14 March 2018) was an Irish uilleann piper and Irish traditional musician. In addition to a solo career and as a member of Planxty, O'Flynn recorded with: Christy Moore, Dónal Lun ...
–
uilleann pipes
The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...
(7, 13)
* Steve Conn – accordion (10)
*
Jo-El Sonnier
Jo-El Sonnier (; born Joel Sonnier; October 2, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and accordionist who performs country music and Cajun music. Originally signed to Mercury Nashville Records, Sonnier charted several minor singles on the ''Bi ...
– accordion (8)
*
Michael Doucet
Michael Louis Doucet (born February 14, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and musician best known as the founder of the Cajun band BeauSoleil.
Early life
Doucet was born in Scott, Louisiana, to a Cajun family. Family parties in the 1950s ...
– fiddle (10)
*
Matt Rollings
Matt Rollings is a Grammy Award-winning American composer, keyboard player and record producer.
Known mainly for playing in Lyle Lovett's Large Band, Rollings has worked with many artists, not all country. Matt won the 'Best Traditional Pop Voca ...
– piano (1, 5, 11)
*
Barry Beckett
Barry Edward Beckett (February 4, 1943 – June 10, 2009) was an American keyboardist, session musician, record producer, and studio founder. He is best known for his work with David Hood, Jimmy Johnson, and Roger Hawkins, his bandmates in th ...
– piano (9, 12)
*
Hargus "Pig" Robbins
Hargus Melvin Robbins (January 18, 1938 – January 30, 2022), known by his nickname "Pig," was an American session keyboard player. Having played on records for many artists, including John Stewart, Dolly Parton, Connie Smith, Patti Page, Lore ...
– piano (14)
* Bill Cuomo – Hammond organ (6)
*
Guy Fletcher
Guy Edward Fletcher (born 24 May 1960) is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known for his position as one of the two Keyboard instrument, keyboard players in the rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his subs ...
– keyboards (3, 4, 8, 12), backing vocals (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8)
*
Steve Nathan
Steven Jay Nathan is an American keyboardist. He is known for his session work in Muscle Shoals and Nashville studios.
Biography
Nathan was born and raised in Buffalo, New York. In 1977, Nathan moved to Muscle Shoals, Alabama. After touring wit ...
– Hammond organ (1, 2, 8, 9, 12, 14), keyboards (3, 5, 9, 11, 14)
* Paul Moore – bass guitar (13), string bass (7)
*
Michael Rhodes – bass guitar (1, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14)
*
Glenn Worf
Glenn Worf is an American bassist known mainly for his work as a session musician. He has recorded with many major country music acts and also tours with Mark Knopfler.
Early life and education
Worf was born in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up in Madis ...
– bass guitar (2, 3, 6), string bass (4, 8)
*
Eddie Bayers
Eddie Bayers (born January 28, 1949) is an American session drummer who has played on 300 gold and platinum albums. He received the Academy of Country Music 'Drummer of the Year Award' for fourteen years, has three times won the Nashville Music ...
– drums (1, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14)
* Robbie Casserly – drums (13)
*
Chad Cromwell
Chad Cromwell (born June 14, 1957) is an American rock drummer whose music career has spanned more than 30 years. He is the founding member of a band called Fortunate Sons, which released a self-titled album in 2004.
Cromwell has worked with m ...
– drums (2, 3, 4, 6, 8)
* Danny Cummings – backing vocals (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11), percussion (2, 4, 5, 11, 12, 14)
*
Terry McMillan
Terry McMillan (born October 18, 1951) is an American novelist. Her work centers around the experiences of Black women in the United States.
Early life
McMillan was born in Port Huron, Michigan. She received a B.A. in journalism in 1977 from ...
–
djembe
A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa.
According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...
(5)
* Billy Ware – triangle (10)
*
Brendan Croker
Brendan Croker (born 15 August 1953 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England) is an English musician, who has recorded albums under his own name and with occasional backing band; The Five O'Clock Shadows. He was also a member of The Notting Hillbillies. ...
– backing vocals (4, 8)
*
Vince Gill
Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist b ...
– backing vocals (12, 14)
Production
* Mark Knopfler – producer
*
Chuck Ainlay
Chuck Ainlay is an American record producer and audio engineer. He has worked with Mark Knopfler on much of Knopfler's solo work, in addition to some Dire Straits material. He has 4 Grammy Awards and 5 nominations.
Along with Knopfler and Bob Ludw ...
– producer, engineer, mixing
* Brian Masterson – engineer
* Graham Lewis – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
* Denny Purcell – mastering
* Jonathan Russell – mastering assistant
* David Scheinmann – photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
External links
''Golden Heart''a
Mark Knopfler official website
{{Authority control
1996 debut albums
Albums produced by Chuck Ainlay
Albums produced by Mark Knopfler
Mark Knopfler albums
Vertigo Records albums
Warner Records albums
Songs about Napoleon