A portion of Mark Knopfler’s upcoming album Tracker grew out of shared experiences on the road with Bob Dylan, he says.
The pair, who earlier collaborated on Bob Dylan’s Slow Train Coming in 1979 and Infidels in 1983, reunited for a tour 2011-12, with Mark Knopfler serving as Dylan’s opening act on dates in both Europe and the U.S. Two tunes on Tracker, due March 16, 2015, emerged from the period — “Lights of Taormina” and “Silver Eagle.”
“I wouldn’t have written those songs,” Knopfler tells Rolling Stone, “without doing two tours with Bob on buses.” A photograph inside the booklet for Tracker finds him at the mic with Dylan.
After opening each show, Mark Knopfler would sit in to begin Bob Dylan’s set, making notable contributions to classics like “Tangled Up in Blue.” Then, Knopfler would race ahead in his tour bus to the next destination.
“Bob was quite thoughtful about it,” Knopfler says. “I’d play and then change my shirt and jump with Bob and his band. I’d play about four songs and then I’d get on my coach and get on down the road and get a running start on Bob. Then they’d get on their buses and come on down the road after us.”
Rekindling their friendship served to underscore certain things they have in common, Knopfler says. They share a passion for “the same roots music,” and for keeping to themselves. As illustrated by their separate journeys to each new show, Dylan is not inclined to hang out. “No,” Knopfler says, “but then, neither am I.”
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