Didn't know this - Vince Gill declined to join Dire Straits

Danny Tse

While I have noticed that Vince Gill have guested on Mark Knopfler's solo albums, I didn't know that MK had previously invited VG to join Dire Straits as a full time member. VG declined in order to concentrate on his solo career, but imagine that band with 2 smoking guitarists and one of them can actually sing

AsSiMiLaTeD

Oh I'm so glad he didn't join, could not not imagine Vince as the voice for Dire Straits, he would just suck the cool factor right out of that band

shack

Gill had just won his first Grammy and his most recent album had just sold a million copies. His next two or three were platinum sellers as well. It was probably the right move for him.

Here is the reason from Gill himself:

When it happened -- it happened I think in 1989 or 1990. And he came to see me play in New York. I was a huge fan of Mark Knopfler's and the band (Dire Straits) and loved their records, and loved the way he played the guitar. Once again, that common bond that would have drawn him to me and me to him was that we liked the way each other played. So there was that, we had something in common. And at the time it was a fork in the road. And the obvious choice, because of what had happened up until then, would have been go and go play with this nationally known band, do a world tour, make a bunch of money, get your family healthy and pay for your house and all that. But I chose the other one, just because I believed in myself. And it was not the decision that would have probably made the most sense for the circumstances that I was in. But once again, I just felt like making that decision was the acceptance of failure.

I don't know that I was willing to accept that failure. To me, it would have derailed what I was trying to accomplish. And most people would have thought the smart decision would be go get healed up. Musically, I wish I could have. I wanted to badly, just because I would have loved the experience musically. But like I said, in a sense it kind of accepted defeat, that I had not done what I'd hoped I would do. So I kept believing in myself, and that's why I think that I made that decision.

Does anyone remember when That Vince actually got his big break in the late 70s as the frontman for Pure Prairie League? He was part of the "second wave" of musicians who made up the group and recorded three albums with the group. I have a couple of those albums.

I enjoy Gill's voice as it is very unique. One of my favorite SACD is Gill's "High Lonesome Sound". It is an excellent recording.



Of course he is now married to Amy Grant...another of my favorite artists.

mesquitehead

Gill is a picker for sho! I just saw Brad Paisley on Letterman this morning (dvr), he had a smoking band and did some ripping...looked like he had 100k worth of Dr Z amps behind him. My daughter is a violin/fiddle player and dad was using Paisleys band to show her how a "fiddle" player gets down! I am a huge fan of all those guys and Knopfler is an interesting study when it comes to picking styles. Another chicken pickin fool is Ricky Scaggs...and of course the late Mr. Gatton.

Danny Tse

shack wrote: »

Gill had just won his first Grammy and his most recent album had just sold a million copies. His next two or three were platinum sellers as well. It was probably the right move for him.

19 Grammies later and his latest album was also a platinum seller (the 4 CD "These Days") :eek:

Yeah, I first noticed VG because of his voice....sounded very different from the typical male country singer voice. I had VG on a couple of CD compilations and, of course, on Amy Grant's CD (she's one of my favorites as well). Despite having the "High Lonesome Sound" SACD, I just picked up my first Vince Gill CD compilation to sample his earlier work....



I need to pick up that "These Days" 4 CD set. I'd love to see VG make an instrumental album, like Brad Paisley did.

dkg999

I don't have any of his albums, however I have went to his Christmas concerts a few times as it used to come to Ames IA every year. One hell of an entertainer and musician. I'm not big on Christmas music, but Vince does a very enjoyable Christmas concert.

vc69

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

Oh I'm so glad he didn't join, could not not imagine Vince as the voice for Dire Straits, he would just suck the cool factor right out of that band

Gotta agree on this one. While I respect Gill as a musician and performer, his musical direction is a complete departure from what I would consider "Dire Straits".

Mark is probably in my top three favorite guitar players. He is the proverbial "****" and by any standards the real deal. I have heard that Vince Gill is highly respected among the guitar slinging elite, but that cookie cutter **** he does just turns me off. I have no beef with making the money though. I certainly understand the choices he made. I just don't listen to that stuff. Knopfler's solo stuff kinda leaves me flat too. I just don't enjoy it as much as the Dire Straits stuff at all. Of course BIA is a step toward that and by far my least favorite DS record.

shack

You kinda got me fired up for some VG. I've got "Next Big Thing" (2003) in the CDP now. Good Stuff

Danny Tse wrote:

I need to pick up that "These Days" 4 CD set.

Certainly worth putting on my Christmas List. Just look at the vocalists he has to work with on this set. Some "superstars" and some "new talent". Impressive to say the least.


THESE DAYS

Disc 1. Workin' On A Big Chill (The Rockin' Record)

1. Workin’ On A Big Chill
2. Love’s Standin’
3. Cowboy Up (featuring Gretchen Wilson)
4. Sweet Thing
5. Bet It All On You
6. Nothin’ For A Broken Heart (Duet w/Rodney Crowell)
7. Son Of A Ramblin’ Man (featuring Del McCoury)
8. Smilin’ Song (featuring Michael McDonald)
9. The Rhythm Of The Pourin’ Rain (featuring Bekka Bramlett)
10. Nothin’ Left To Say

Disc 2. The Reason Why (The Groovy Record)

1. What You Don't Say (featuring LeAnn Rimes)
2. The Reason Why (featuring Alison Krauss)
3. The Rock Of Your Love (featuring Bonnie Raitt)
4. What You Give Away (featuring Sheryl Crow)
5. Faint Of Heart (Duet w/Diana Krall)
6. Time To Carry On (featuring Jenny Gill)
7. No Easy Way
8. This Memory Of You (featuring Trisha Yearwood)
9. How Lonely Looks
10. Tell Me One More Time About Jesus (featuring Amy Grant)
11. Everything And Nothing (featuring Katrina Elam)
12. Which Way Will You Go
13. These Days

Disc 3. Some Things Never Get Old (The Country & Western Record)

1. This New Heartache
2. The Only Love
3. Out Of My Mind (featuring Patty Loveless)
4. The Sight Of Me Without You
5. I Can’t Let Go (featuring Alison Krauss & Dan Tyminski)
6. Don’t Pretend With Me
7. Some Things Never Get Old (featuring Emmylou Harris)
8. Sweet Little Corrina (featuring Phil Everly)
9. If I Can Make Mississippi (featuring Lee Ann Womack)
10. Take This Country Back (Duet w/John Anderson)

Disc 4. Little Brother (The Acoustic Record)

1. All Prayed Up
2. Cold Gray Light Of Gone (featuring The Del McCoury Band)
3. A River Like You (featuring Jenny Gill)
4. Ace Up Your Pretty Sleeve
5. Molly Brown
6. Girl (Guest Vocalist: Rebecca Lynn Howard)
7. Give Me The Highway (featuring The Del McCoury Band)
8. Sweet Augusta Darlin’
9. Little Brother
10. Almost Home (Duet w/Guy Clark)

Conradicles

Man I'm picking up "These Days" for sure. Thanks Shack!

shack

vc69 wrote:

I have heard that Vince Gill is highly respected among the guitar slinging elite, but that cookie cutter **** he does just turns me off. .

Then we will have to disagree. Nothing "cookie cutter" about it. It is a very diverse mix of county, bluegrass and rock. He and performers like Ricky Skaggs (with whom Vince played with briefly in the early days) are innovators in the country genre IMO. They may be better instrumentalist than singers...although it's Vince's voice that gets noticed. Maybe the fact that so many copy him makes it sound cookie cutter.

vc69 wrote:

Knopfler's solo stuff kinda leaves me flat too. I just don't enjoy it as much as the Dire Straits stuff at all. Of course BIA is a step toward that and by far my least favorite DS record

Brothers In Arms is the only Dire Straits album I own. It is a classic IMO. The rest just aren't on my "must have" list. I however own several of Mark Knophler's solo efforts and like them very much. His collaberation with Emmylou Harris "All The Roadrunning" is one of my favorites.

vc69

I really can't/won't argue the VG point's you make. They are quite valid. I am not familiar enough with his stuff to make any coherent case. Perhaps I will pick up the box set and give him another shot. I agree that his talent seems far over the head of the pop-country stuff I have heard.

I think our differing opinions of the DS stuff could possibly be explained along the same lines. Early DS was groundbreaking for me in that it changed my perception of what rock and roll was "supposed" to sound like. Mark with a rock band is what I prefer.

Mark lives in Nashville now and it has obviously had a profound effect on his writing. There are so many amazing musicians there and some great studios. I am not knocking VG, I am just a dyed-in-the-wool rocker.

shack

vc69 wrote:

There are so many amazing musicians there and some great studios. I am not knocking VG, I am just a dyed-in-the-wool rocker.

My first album purchased was the Magical Mystery Tour by the Beatles. My vinyl collection consists of hundreds of albums purchased in the late 60s and 70s...most all of which are rock. Cream, Led Zep, Savoy Brown, Jimi Hendrix to the Eagles, Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd...and everthing in between.

They still get regular play...but my tastes have...broadened...and while the country music standards of the likes of George Jones, Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn such don't do it for me, I enjoy much of the bluegrass oriented country and some of the more progressive country. I find some of the good stuff today has a lot of roots in some of my favorite "rock" bands of the past...ie: Eagles, Pure Prairie League, The Band, Flying Burrito Brothers, Skynyrd, Allmans, etc...

And yes...some of the best recording studios and engineers are in Nashville.

mesquitehead

shack wrote: »

My first album purchased was the Magical Mystery Tour by the Beatles. My vinyl collection consists of hundreds of albums purchased in the late 60s and 70s...most all of which are rock. Cream, Led Zep, Savoy Brown, Jimi Hendrix to the Eagles, Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd...and everthing in between.

They still get regular play...but my tastes have...broadened...and while the country music standards of the likes of George Jones, Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn such don't do it for me, I enjoy much of the bluegrass oriented country and some of the more progressive country. I find some of the good stuff today has a lot of roots in some of my favorite "rock" bands of the past...ie: Eagles, Pure Prairie League, The Band, Flying Burrito Brothers, Skynyrd, Allmans, etc...


And yes...some of the best recording studios and engineers are in Nashville.

A large part of my musical upbringing was listening to The Flying Burrito Brothers and Gram Parsons...good stuff!;) My dad was a club owner back then and my Uncle Roky had a little band called the 13th Floor Elevators from Austin...great place to be back in the days when the hippies and the rednecks all hung out together.

John30_30

shack wrote: »

Does anyone remember when That Vince actually got his big break in the late 70s as the frontman for Pure Prairie League? He was part of the "second wave" of musicians who made up the group and recorded three albums with the group. I have a couple of those albums.

I enjoy Gill's voice as it is very unique. One of my favorite SACD is Gill's "High Lonesome Sound". It is an excellent recording.

I remember seeing a 19 year old Vince Gill fronting for a bluegrass group ( I believe it was Mountain Smoke- I was like, 23 or so)
at an all-day free shindig down at OU's Duckpond. That was before he sang.

Reality Check. One thing that kid did for me was illustrate the difference between a born guitar player and a wannabe (me).
Soon after that, yeah, you'd see that big PPL 18 wheeler from time to time parked out in the yard of the house he rented on Boyd Street. Still, no one could have predicted him getting that big except him.

nooshinjohn

As I remember it, Reba McIntyre had a lot to do with his success as a solo artist...

Conradicles

Conradicles wrote: »

Man I'm picking up "These Days" for sure. Thanks Shack!

Finally got this 4 disc set and this is a real treat. Tons of talent here.