Sultans of Swing

"Sultans of Swing"
Single by Dire Straits
from the album Dire Straits
B-side	"Eastbound Train" (UK) "Southbound Again" (U.S.)
Released	May 1978 (Original) January 1979 (Reissue)
Format	7"
Recorded	July 1977 (Pathway Studios)
Genre	Roots rock, pub rock, blues rock
Length	5:48 6:00 (Original version)
Label	Vertigo Records Warner Bros. Records (U.S.)
Writer(s)	Mark Knopfler
Producer(s)	Dire Straits (Demo) Muff Winwood
Dire Straits singles chronology
"Sultans of Swing" (1978) "Water of Love" (1978)
Dire Straits track listing "Southbound Again" (5) "Sultans of Swing" (6) "In the Gallery" (7) Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits track listing "Sultans of Swing" (1) "Down to the Waterline" (2) Audio sample file info · help

"Sultans of Swing" is a song by the British rock band Dire Straits from their eponymous debut album, which band frontman Mark Knopfler wrote and composed. Although it was first released in 1978, it was its 1979 re-release that caused it to become a hit in both the UK and U.S.

The song was recorded at Pathway Studios, North London, in July 1977 and quickly acquired a following after it was put on rotation at Radio London. Its popularity soon reached record executives, and Dire Straits were offered a contract with Phonogram Records. The song was then re-recorded in February 1978 at Basing Street Studios for the band's debut album. The record company wanted a less-polished rock sound for the radio, so an alternative version was recorded at Pathway Studios in April 1978 and released as the single in some countries including the United Kingdom and Germany.

Background and composition

The music for "Sultans of Swing" was composed by Mark Knopfler on a National Steel guitar in an open tuning, though Knopfler did not think very highly of it at first. As he remembered, "I thought it was dull, but as soon as I bought my first Strat in 1977, the whole thing changed, though the lyrics remained the same. It just came alive as soon as I played it on that ’61 Strat which remained my main guitar for many years and was basically the only thing I played on the first album and the new chord changes just presented themselves and fell into place."^[1]

Inspiration for the song came from witnessing a jazz band playing in the corner of a practically deserted pub in Deptford, South London. At the end of their performance, the lead singer announced that they were the "Sultans of Swing", and Knopfler found the contrast between the group's dowdy appearance and surroundings and their grandiose name amusing.^[2]

Columbia recording artist Bill Wilson allegedly made an unsubstantiated claim to many of the lyrics to the song while he and Knopfler were both studio musicians working a session in Nashville.^[3][4] His claim was dismissed as being highly improbable, since Knopfler had not first visited Nashville until long after the song was released.

According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is set in the time signature of common time, with a tempo of 149 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of D minor with Knopfler's vocal range spanning from G₂ to D₄. The song has a basic sequence of Dm–C–B♭–A as its chord progression for the verses, and F–C–B♭ for the choruses.^[5] The song's riff makes use of triads, particularly second inversions. The song is in the andalusian cadence or diatonic phrygian tetrachord.^[6] Knopfler would later use similar triads on "Lady Writer".^[7]

Recording

Shortly after the band formed in 1977, a musician flatmate of drummer Pick Withers having given the team the name "Dire Straits", they recorded a five-song demo tape at Pathway Studios, which included "Sultans of Swing" in addition to "Water of Love", "Down to the Waterline", "Wild West End", and David Knopfler's "Sacred Loving".^[8][9] They took the tape to influential DJ Charlie Gillett, who had a radio show called Honky Tonk on BBC Radio London. The band simply wanted advice, but Gillett liked the music and put "Sultans of Swing" on his rotation. Two months later, Dire Straits signed a recording contract with Phonogram Records.^[8]

"Sultans of Swing" was then re-recorded in February 1978 at Basing Street Studios for the band's debut album Dire Straits. It was produced by Steve Winwood's brother Muff Winwood.^[10] Knopfler used the guitar technique of finger picking on the recording.

Chart success

The song was originally released in May 1978, but it did not chart at the time. Following its re-issue in January 1979, the song entered the American music pop chart. Unusually, the success of this single release came more than six months after the relatively unheralded release of the band's debut album in October 1978. BBC Radio was initially unwilling to play the song due to its high lyrical content but after it became a U.S. hit, their line softened.^[11] The song reached the top 10 in both the UK and the U.S., reaching number 8 on the UK Singles Chart and number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped drive sales of the album, which also became a hit.

"Sultans of Swing" was re-issued again as a single in November 1988, a month after it appeared on the band's greatest hits album Money for Nothing, when it peaked at No. 62. It was also included on Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits and The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations.

Chart (1978-1979)	Peak position
Belgium Singles Chart[12]	14
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary[13]	26
Canadian RPM Top Singles[14]	4
France (SNEP)[15]	36
German Singles Chart[16]	20
Ireland Singles Chart[17]	6
Italian Singles Chart[18]	12
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[19]	11
New Zealand Singles Chart[20]	12
South African Chart[21]	3
UK Singles Chart[22]	8
US Billboard Hot 100[23]	4

Certifications

Region	Certification
Canada (Music Canada)[24]	Gold
Italy (FIMI)[25]	Platinum
United Kingdom (BPI)[26]	Silver

Reception

Critical reception to the track was universally positive. Ken Tucker of Rolling Stone singled out "Sultans of Swing" as a highlight of the album for its "inescapable hook" and compared Knopfler's vocal stylings to that of Bob Dylan.^[27] The New Rolling Stone Album Guide called the song "an insinuating bit of bar-band mythmaking" whose lyrics "paint a vivid picture of an overlooked and underappreciated pub combo".^[28] The Spokane Chronicle's Jim Kershner wrote that "Sultans of Swing" is "remarkable, both for its lyrics that made fun of hip young Londoners and the phenomenal guitar sound of Knopfler", which "sounded like no other guitar on radio".^[29] Jon Marlowe of The Palm Beach Post called it "an infectious, sounds-damn-good-on-the-car-radio ode to every bar band who has ever done four sets a night, seven nights a week".^[30]

Writing in 2013 on the impact of the song, Rick Moore of American Songwriter reflected:

With "Sultans of Swing" a breath of fresh air was exhaled into the airwaves in the late ’70s. Sure, Donald Fagen and Tom Waits were writing great lyrics about characters you’d love to meet and Jeff Beck and Eddie Van Halen were great guitar players. But Knopfler, he could do both things as well or better than anybody out there in his own way, and didn’t seem to have any obvious rock influences unless you try to include Dylan. Like his contemporary and future duet partner Sting, Knopfler’s ideas were intellectually and musically stimulating, but were also accessible to the average listener. It was almost like jazz for the layman. "Sultans of Swing" was a lesson in prosody and tasty guitar playing that has seldom been equaled since. If you aren’t familiar with "Sultans of Swing" or haven’t listened to it in a while, you should definitely check it out.^[31]

Record Mirror ranked the song tenth in its end-of-year countdown of the best songs of the year.^[32] In 1992, Life named "Sultans of Swing" one of the top five songs of 1979.^[33] In 1993, Paul Williams included "Sultans of Swing" in his book "Rock and Roll: The 100 Best Singles".^[34] The song is on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list, Dire Straits' only appearance.^[35] In 2006, Mojo included "Sultans of Swing" in its list of the 50 best British songs.^[36] The song's guitar solo reached #22 on Guitar World's list of the greatest guitar solos and #32 on Rolling Stone's list of greatest guitar songs.^[1][37]

Other versions

Knopfler improvised and expanded that solo during live performances. The coda of the live recording on the 1984 album Alchemy features one of Knopfler's most notable guitar improvisations, stretching the song to nearly 11 minutes.^[38] Another memorable live version of the song came at the 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert in London when Eric Clapton teamed up with the band to play the song, providing rhythm guitar.^[39]

The master track of the song (with a longer, "cold" ending) is featured in the video game Guitar Hero 5 as a playable song and in the 2012 film Argo.

System of a Down have included a short version of the song in some of their live sets, with the words changed from 'We are the Sultans of Swing' to 'we are System of a Down'.

Notes

1. "100 Greatest Guitar Solos: No. 22 "Sultans of Swing" (Mark Knopfler)". Guitar World. 21 October 2008. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
2. "Song Stories - "Sultans of Swing"". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
3. "Say Good-bye to a legend" (PDF). Stringdancer.com. December 16, 1993. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
4. Nichols, Rob. "Bill Wilson's back | Local Music Profiles | NUVO News | Indianapolis, IN". Nuvo.net. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
5. "Digital Sheet Music – Dire Straits – Sultans of Swing". Musicnotes.com. Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
6. "Spinning on Air". WNYC.org.
7. Rooksby 2002, p. 104
8. Oldfield 1984, p. 42
9. Wooldridge 2002, p. 1962
10. "On Every Street" official tour programme.
11. "Humble guitar hero in Istanbul tonight". Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
12. "Sultans of swing in Belgian Chart". Ultratop and Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
13. "Sultans of swing in Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
14. "Sultans of swing in Canadian Top Singles Chart". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
15. Hung Medien. "Sultans of swing in French Chart". Retrieved 13 June 2013. You have to use the index at the top of the page and search "Dire Straits"
16. "Sultans of swing in German Chart". Media control. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
17. "Sultans of swing in Irish Chart". IRMA. Retrieved 13 June 2013. Only one result when searching "Sultans of swing"
18. "Indice per Interprete: D". HitParadeItalia (it). Retrieved 13 June 2013.
19. "Sultans of swing in Netherlands Chart". Nederlandse Top 40. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
20. Hung Medien. "Sultans of swing in New Zealand Chart". Retrieved 13 June 2013.
21. John Samson. "Sultans of swing in South African Chart". Retrieved 13 June 2013.
22. "Dire Straits". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
23. "Dire Straits awards on Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
24. "Canadian single certifications – Dire Straits – Sultans of Swing". Music Canada. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
25. "Italian single certifications – Dire Straits – Sultans of Swing" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 3 October 2016. Select Online in the field Sezione. Enter Dire Straits in the field Filtra. The certification will load automatically
26. "British single certifications – Dire Straits – Sultans of Swing". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 October 2016. Enter Sultans of Swing in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
27. Tucker, Ken (25 January 1979). "Dire Straits". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
28. Brackett 2004, p. 242
29. Kershner, Jim (3 April 1992). "Dire Straits: Tour Provides A Great Opportunity to See a Great Band". Spokane Chronicle. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
30. Marlowe, Jon (26 November 1980). "Dire Straits 'Making Movies' Stcks to a Reality That Really Sticks to Your Heart". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
31. Moore, Rick (7 January 2013). "Dire Straits - "Sultans of Swing"". American Songwriter. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
32. "Record Mirror End of Year Lists". Rock List Music. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
33. "Life". Rock List Music. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
34. Williams 1993, p. 166-167
35. "Experience The Music: One Hit Wonders and The Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll". Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
36. "Mojo". Rock List Music. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
37. "Music News: Latest and Breaking Music News". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
38. Ruhlmann, William. "Alchemy: Dire Straits Live Review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
39. Dougherty, Margot (27 June 1988). "South African Freedomfest". People. Retrieved 24 May 2014.

References

• Nathan Brackett, ed. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0743201698.
• Molenda, Mike (2007). The Guitar Player Book. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 087930782X.
• Rooksby, Rikky (2002). Riffs: How to Create and Play Great Guitar Riffs. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0879307102.
• Oldfield, Mike (1984). Dire Straits. Sidgwick and Jackson. ISBN 978-0-283-98995-7.
• Williams, Paul (1993). Rock and Roll: The 100 Best Singles. Entwhistle Books. ISBN 0934558361.
• Wooldridge, Max (2002). Rock 'n' Roll London. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-312-30442-0.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics