About the book
The story of Dire Straits as told for the first time by one of its founding members, John Illsley, the group’s famous bassist.
Dire Straits filled gigantic stadiums around the world and sold hundreds of millions of records. During the 1980s, they were one of the biggest bands on the planet. In My Life with Dire Straits, John Illsley, founding member, bassist and pillar of the band, evokes the spirit of that time and narrates the trajectory of one of the greatest groups in the history of rock.
The story chronicles the band’s rise from humble origins to selling out stadiums around the world, and the devastating demands of global touring and living in the spotlight that inevitably took their toll on the group. .
Told with profound honesty, moving introspection and wry humor, this is the first and only telling of the incredible story, told from within the group.
«For us it was a great adventure and an incredible journey, with all its comedy, absurdity, fatigue, madness and sadness. And John has remembered a lot of it.” MARK KNOPFLER
Dire Straits is one of the most successful bands of all time and has received numerous awards (Brit Awards, Grammys and a Heritage Award). This book is an invaluable, direct testimony to the band’s rise in the music business and the side effects of fame, and an extraordinary account of the importance of rock & roll to author John Illsley’s generation.
To have led such an extraordinary, creative and rewarding life with such a fabulous family and friends makes me feel truly lucky.
The Dire Straits phenomenon began after a chance meeting with Mark Knopfler in a council flat in south London. There was a man lying on the cement floor fast asleep—the promised rug had never come true—and his head, resting against the only chair we had, was at a right angle to his body. The guy had an electric guitar on his chest. On one side, a giant square ashtray overflowing with a thousand cigarette butts; on the other, a couple of empty Newcastle Brown beer bottles. His face, white as a sheet, looked like Dave. He must be the brother he had mentioned. He stirred and groaned; one eyelid peeled off.
«One night, while I was having a pint after a gig, Mark proposed that we form a band together. Not much later he played me a song he had been working on. He had called it “Sultans of Swing,” which was the name of an amateur jazz band he and Dave had seen playing in a half-empty pub in Greenwich; a modest group of older guys who played simply because they loved music. He played that song with his newly acquired red Fender Stratocaster and a 1960s Vibrolux amplifier that I had recently given him.
Source: https://algunoslibrosbuenos.com/mi-vida-con-dire-straits
