The Notting Hillbillies
Missing...Presumed Having A Good Time

THE REVIEW

Four awkward guys, leaning on their big guitars, force a smile in the mugshot.

THE NOTTING HILLBILLIES

Lost...........
Yeah, where have the hillbillies, the farmers, and the mythical house parties gone?
Why on earth did I buy this CD?

Mark Knopfler might be the reason, it’s definitely the reason. It was 1990 when Knopfler founded this supergroup, bringing together three other exceptional guitarists: Brendan Croker, Steve Phillips, Paul Franklin, plus keyboardist Guy Fletcher.

This work finds its roots in North American Folk, rehashing traditional Country and Western songs, rearranged and made more accessible to a European audience. The songs, almost all steeped in a veil of sadness and melancholy, are supported by the four guitars that continuously weave and build melodies.
The railroad song opens the CD. Sweet with its mandolins and choruses, it feels so Far-West, here I already begin to wonder: "What the hell did I buy! I'm an idiot." The next track is a Blues; I've never understood Blues, but gradually I let myself be carried away, the cotton fields, Kunta Kinte*, the black slaves, I bow, I stand, I bow again and stand**, I sing along.

"Your Own Sweet Way" is the only track written by Knopfler and is heavily influenced by the former Dire Straits guitarist’s style, just like the beautiful "Will You Miss Me" later on, in this case written by S. Phillips. After these first three "whines," I'm catapulted into a dusty yard with "Run Me Down", a driving track where the keyboardist gets a chance to shine. I'm only at the fifth track but I feel more and more American, like a protagonist in a Morricone western.
It continues with folk song adaptations that seem almost rock. The journey continues through deserted and dusty roads of Alabama, Texas. Without rhythmic section yet there’s rhythm even in the slowness of certain tracks. Without a harmonica, without frills, everything revolves around the guitars. Throughout the work, what echoes the most is perhaps the sense of freedom.

Mark K. seems almost to want to say: "No more Straits, no more business, I'm tired." Then, well...... What remains in history is this unique record, like a loose cannon nonetheless, ultimately, a timeless album that, sixteen years after I purchased it, still is part of my personal playlist, unlike the Dire Straits works, which I haven't listened to for years.

* Kunta Kinte, the slave from the book/film Roots.
**I bow, I stand... the motion of cotton pickers. They tell me that from their laborious and rhythmic breathing comes Blues.