Dire Straits
Live At The BBC

THE REVIEW

Summer or its proximity has played an important role in the career of the Dire Straits. In fact, besides being the preferred season for tours, it is also the chosen period for releasing albums. This was the case for this "Live At The BBC" which appeared on the market on June 26, 1995, composed of no fewer than six tracks taken from their first eponymous work, from "What's The Matter, Baby?" (a perfectly fitting link between "Sultans Of Swing" and "Lady Writer" and the only testimony composed by the then brothers Mark&David) and from a version of about eleven minutes of "Tunnel Of Love" performed in Germany on January 31, 1981.

This nice little disc brings back to light an evening in July 1977 during which the four-member formation of the DS (Mark Knopfler: vocals-lead&rhythm guitar, David Knopfler: rhythm guitar, John Illsley: bass, and Pick Withers: drums) almost entirely presents their debut work, giving tracks like "Down To The Waterline", "Six Blade Knife", and "Water Of Love" an ambiance not so different from the studio versions, yet equally fluid and pleasantly raw. The absence of keyboards (except for "Tunnel Of Love" where the runaway David is no longer present, but Hal Lindes on guitar and Alan Clark on keyboards) makes it so the basic instruments of every respectable rock band tattoo that sound which, for the Straits, will be like DNA for human beings. The veiled melancholy behind the performance of "Wild West End" reveals the less-known side of the band, helping the listener understand how vast the musical ground is on which to move; through "Lions" we are drawn to harmonious sounds where Mark Knopfler's country sympathies, filtered with the right electricity, yield remarkable results. The version of "Sultans Of Swing" (announced without applause), I believe, is one of the most beautiful live versions captured on CD, showing itself in its entirety enriched with a rougher sound and a typically aggressive rhythm that certainly does not lose the comparison with the original.

There is no doubt that with this release there was an intention to make up for the lack of worldwide release of "Live In U.S.A." (published only for the U.S. market in 1979), but also to satisfy that state of addiction of many ardent fans, who craved to know that very brief period of "non-popularity" of a band that almost immediately secured a permanent spot in the world rock firmament. In essence, to date, the only official testimony to appreciate the skill and mastery of... four craftsmen just doing their job: Making Music!