Who Were the Sultans of Swing (and where?)

Comments · 686

• JA

  @jamesbellcentraltv · 5 years ago

  Well, here's a story I've been waiting 30 years to tell. I learnt the song Sultans of Swing from my French teacher, name of George Walker, who told me that he was the subject of that song. He said he met Knopfler when he came into the pub, and he and the band had a nice chat afterwards. He would have been in his 40s in the late 80s (I'm guessing), and his jazz band played occasionally at our school (in West Sussex). Yes, he was a rhythm player, and yes he knew all the chords. I think he played a sunburst Gibson 335. I don't think he was professional or ever released a record. He was a very down-to-earth bloke, and he didn't seem to be bragging when he said this story – he just mentioned it as an interesting anecdote to a keen young guitar player (i.e. me!) The teachers seemed to know this story and no one seemed to doubt it. Of course, he might have been mistaken, it might not have been Knopfler, or I might have remembered it wrong. But I've been boring the socks off people for decades now with that bit of trivia.

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• MA

  @matthewbenton1630 · 5 years ago

  Here&apos;s my Dire Straits true story. In 1987 my dad was on a train in the home counties. He got talking with an older gentleman there. They talked about the trains and the weather and compared notes about family. My dad mentioned that I was doing my A&apos;levels, and they both agreed on the importance of education and that there are no jobs for life any more, because things aren&apos;t like they were back in their day, etc, etc. The older gentleman said he was concerned about his nephew, who he thought really ought to get a proper career instead of messing about with music. The nephew is in a band, apparently they are quite well known, my dad might even have heard of them.... Dire Straits or something like that? <br> <br>My dad reassured the older gentleman his nephew would probably be ok for a few quid for now.

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• JA

  @jameswayne3564 · 5 years ago

  A former boss of mine was on long island a long time ago driving with his dad. He had to use the bathroom so they stopped at a place. My boss went to the bathroom and his dad listened to the piano man playing. When my boss came out he said &quot;ok dad let&apos;s go&quot;. His father told him to hold on a minute because he wanted to listen to the piano man play a little bit more. The piano man turned out to be the piano man himself Billy Joel. To this day they couldn&apos;t tell you the name of the place but they still can tell you how great the guy at the piano was.

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• BA

  @barrytaylor7510 · 5 years ago

  I bought a Marshall amp from David in July 1977 while they were living at Farrar House - I still have the receipt. My recollection was that they were living on the ground floor, not the first, although this was 43 years ago. &nbsp;I checked the receipt this evening and it says they were at number 1, which I assume was (and probably still is) on the ground floor. There were three guys living there and the flat was littered with empty beer cans. I was just learning to play the guitar and had bought a cheap Stratocaster copy. Mark brought out a string of wonderful Gibsons and Fenders to demonstrate the amp and after hearing him play, I had to buy it. He said they were doing a gig at a pub in Deptford High Street that evening (it was a Saturday) and invited me to the gig. Unfortunately, it would have been too far to come back, so I asked the name of the band and told them I&apos;d look out for them if they did any gigs on the other side of London. I did regret not going.

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• TU

  @turnsout689 · 6 years ago

  this channel is like when you visit a friend in an unfamiliar city who takes you on a tour and shows you the little known bits and pieces that you&apos;d never see on a regular tour

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• RI

  @richardpotter712 · 5 years ago

  Extract from Mark Knopler 1983 Dire Straits biography. <br> <br>Through the spring and early summer of 1977 the songs kept coming. Wild West End’ was written about Mark’s wanderings around London; ’Southbound Again&apos; came from memories of trips to the capital. Of ‘Sultans of Swing&apos;, Mark says: &quot;Sultans&quot; was written quite a long time before the band; I hadn&apos;t met John then. Dave was living somewhere down in Greenwich and we just went out to the pub - I think it was called the &quot;Swan,&quot; something like that, in Greenwich High Road - and had a game of pool and a couple of pints. There was a jazz band playing, and there was nobody in there except us and a couple of kids in the comer. <br> <br>They did a couple of requests. I asked them for &quot;Creole Love Call&quot;, and it was great. There are loads of bands like that. They&apos;re postmen, milkmen, accountants, draughtsmen, teachers. They just get together Sunday lunchtimes, night-times, and they play trad. <br> <br>And it&apos;s funny because they play this New Orleans music note for note - in Greenwich.&apos; <br> <br>John remembers that originally &apos;Sultans’ was very different. The lyrics were the same but the tune was completely different. &apos;I have the feeling that he wrote some music one day and said, Hey, I&apos;ve got some great new chords for “Sultans&quot;!&apos;

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• GE

  @geofflc-q4t · 5 years ago

  It&apos;s been known since Knopfler&apos;s 1983 bio that it was the White Swan in Greenwich High Rd, and the jazz band there in 1977 were a motley outfit of part-time muso&apos;s playing trad jazz standards, no doubts about that.

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• SO

  @soundhobo · 5 years ago

  The pub rock scene in London was a truly fantastic period. I just like the title...Sultans of Swing, it’s fabulous 👌

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• ST

  @stashyjon · 6 years ago

  I think what makes the song a classic, especially to musicians, is the way its a tale we all can relate. I once traveled 100 miles to do a gig in Southampton, where there were 3 people in the &apos;crowd&apos;. We were a 5 piece band, so even if we added the bar man into the equation we still out numbered the audience. I ended up singing the lead vocal from a bar stool at the bar just so there were more folk watching than playing!!<br><br>Rock and roll can be a vicious game... but great fun.

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• LO

  @LostSpringBand · 5 years ago

  Thanks Jago! This song is the anthem of all the amazing guitarists we see in pubs and wonder how come they didn&apos;t hit the big time. I don&apos;t think Knoppfler thought of them as a &apos;mediocre&apos; band (Harry could play the Honky Tonk like anything). It&apos;s also important for beginner musicians, as this is the kind of stage life they can reasonably expect, given the amount of high quality competition out there. Knoppfler made it to the very top, but in those early days he might have composed this as a personal pep-talk!

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• IX

  @ix-Xafra · 5 years ago

  It evokes images of an era almost long gone<br>Live music in old pubs seems to be dying everywhere as we head toward another &apos;dark ages&apos;...

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• RE

  @rebellion2054 · 5 years ago

  Loved this simply to see my old stomping ground again, lived on Lewisham Way. Football amongst the Fordham Park potholes. Lucky the pub wasn’t the Marquis of Granby or Knopfler would still be stuck to the carpet.

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