Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler has never discussed his love of The Beatles at length, despite once sharing a stage with Paul McCartney to perform tracks by the legendary band. However, there is one under-appreciated song in their back catalogue, which he has shone a light upon, demonstrating his inner Beatlemaniac.
McCartney briefly recruited Knopfler in 1997 to participate in a supergroup for a one-off performance at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall. The concert was for a vital cause, with all proceeds from the show sent to the Caribbean island of Montserrat, which had recently suffered a volcanic eruption which caused horrific damage.
Former Beatles producer George Martin was the catalyst for bringing the set of famous musicians together, which also included Eric Clapton, Sting, Elton John and Phil Collins. Each artist took to the stage to perform their biggest hits, with McCartney closing the show in style with an Abbey Road medley featuring help from Knopfler and Clapton.
Remarkably, apart from that one special moment at the Royal Albert Hall, their paths have never overlapped in public, which is surprising considering they are two leading figures in British music history. Nevertheless, Knopfler has previously displayed his credentials as a fan of McCartney and his famous outfit.
During a broadcast of his Sirius XM radio show, The British Grove Broadcast, in 2020, Knopfler took time to play ‘I Will’ by The Beatles, which appeared on The White Album. Although the track was never released as a single, it’s a personal favourite of the Dire Straits musician and of McCartney, who wrote the composition.
While introducing the track, Knopfler said: “‘I Will’ by The Beatles from The White Album. There is something in there that seems to me to be pure. The Beatles were splitting apart about that time. It only sounds to me as though Paul put most of the work in on that one. And I don’t believe there is any George on there at all.”
As Knopfler stated, Harrison was omitted from the recording process of ‘I Will’, which was entirely completed by his three bandmates. The session for the track began during the evening of September 16th, continuing into the early hours of the following morning, with The Beatles attempting the song 67 times before finally being content enough to call it a night.
McCartney explained how the track initially arose from an evening he spent in India in Donovan, but eventually rewrote the lyrics upon returning home to London. In the book Many Years From Now, Macca explained: “We kicked around a few lyrics, something about the moon, but they weren’t very satisfactory, and I thought the melody was better than the words, so I didn’t use them. I kept searching for better words, and I wrote my own set in the end; very simple words, straight love-song words, really.”
He concluded: “I think they’re quite effective. It’s still one of my favourite melodies that I’ve written. You just occasionally get lucky with a melody, and it becomes rather complete, and I think this is one of them; quite a complete tune.”
