DIRE STRAITS - "Sultans of Swing"

Dire Straits
"Sultans of Swing"
Single / B-side: "Eastbound Train" (UK), "Southbound Again"(U.S.)
Released: May 1978
Album: Dire Straits (Released: 7 Oktober 1978)
Writer: Mark Knopfler
Label: Vertigo Records, Warner Bros. Records (US)

The song was recorded at Pathway Studios, North London, in July 1977 and quickly acquired a following after it was put on Radio London. Its popularity soon reached record executives, and Dire Straits were offered a contract with Phonogram Records. The song was then re-recorded in February 1978 at Basing Street Studios for the band's debut album. It was produced by Steve Winwood's brother Muff Winwood. The record company wanted a less-polished rock sound for the radio, so an alternative version was recorded at Pathway Studios in April 1978 and released as the single in some countries including the United Kingdom and Germany. Mark Knopfler used the guitar technique of finger picking on the recording. The song was a marked change from the waning Disco style and the nascent Punk movement.

Single Dire Straits' "Sultans of Swing", 1978

Dire Straits, "Sultans of Swing" (vinyl)

Group leader Mark Knopfler got the idea for song this from watching a lousy club band perform. As the story goes, Knopfler was in Ipswich on a rainy night. He ducked into a bar where a mediocre band was closing out the night to an audience that was maybe four or five drunks unaware of their surroundings. The hapless band ended their set with the lead singer announcing, with no apparent irony, "Goodnight and thank you. We are the sultans of swing." Knopfler got a lot of songwriting ideas from observing everyday people, something that got harder to do when he became famous.

Folk singer and Columbia recording artist Bill Wilson (1947–1993) made the unsubstantiated claim that he had helped write some of the lyrics to the song while he and Knopfler were both studio musicians working a session in Nashville. Wilson did not get a songwriting credit on the release, but claimed to have received some monetary compensation for his input. 

Dire Straits, "Sultans of Swing"(single cover) 

Dire Straits, "Sultans of Swing" (music video)

Critical reception to the track was universally positive. Ken Tucker of Rolling Stone singled out "Sultans of Swing" as a highlight of the album for its "inescapable hook" and compared Knopfler's vocal stylings to that of Bob Dylan. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide called the song "an insinuating bit of bar-band mythmaking" whose lyrics "paint a vivid picture of an overlooked and underappreciated pub combo". The Spokane Chronicle's Jim Kershner wrote that "Sultans of Swing" is "remarkable, both for its lyrics that made fun of hip young Londoners and the phenomenal guitar sound of Knopfler", which "sounded like no other guitar on radio". Jon Marlowe of The Palm Beach Post called it "an infectious, sounds-damn-good-on-the-car-radio ode to every bar band who has ever done four sets a night, seven nights a week".

Dire Straits, "Sultans of Swing"

(promo poster)

Dire Straits, "Sultans of Swing" (Alchemy live)

Record Mirror ranked the song tenth in its end-of-year countdown of the best songs of the year. In 1992, Life named "Sultans of Swing" one of the top five songs of 1979. In 1993, Paul Williams included "Sultans of Swing" in his book "Rock and Roll: The 100 Best Singles". The song is on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list, Dire Straits' only appearance. In 2006, Mojo included "Sultans of Swing" in its list of the 50 best British songs. The song's guitar solo reached #22 on Guitar World's list of the greatest guitar solos and #32 on Rolling Stone's list of greatest guitar songs.

Line-up/Musicians:

Mark Knopfler – vocals, lead and rhythm guitars

David Knopfler – rhythm guitar, vocals

John Illsley – bass, vocals

Pick Withers – drums

Link/Review:

Wikipedia: Dire Straits - "Sultans of Swing"
Songfacts: Dire Straits "Sultan Of Swings"
Society of Rock: Dire Straits Sultans of Swing
Ultimate ClassicRock: Dire Straits "Sultans of Swing" Top 100 Classic Rock Songs