I've
posted this elsewhere in this forum a few times ... but since the
Love Over Gold album has gotten a few call-outs in this thread, I'll share my favorite Dire Straits story:
Mark Knopfler originally wrote the music and lyrics to Tina Turner's "Private Dancer" as the second half of
the title track to the Dire Straits album
Love Over Gold.
You can hear where “Private Dancer” was meant to pick up, building up gradually between 2:05 and 3:20.
During the sessions for
Love Over Gold, Dire Straits laid down the “Love Over Gold/Private Dancer” music as originally written. Knopfler went to record the vocals, but then got self-conscious about them – he decided those vocals should be sung by a woman. Rather than add a guest vocalist to the track, Knopfler shelved the “Private Dancer” section and reworked the second half of “Love Over Gold”.
A few years later, Knopfler had a chance to pitch “Private Dancer” to Tina Turner. She was looking for material for a comeback album, and her manager and Knopfler’s manager were friends. A meeting was arranged, and Knopfler played a personal demo copy** of “Private Dancer” for Turner, apologizing in advance that his vocals weren’t suited to the lyrics. His rendition led to mutual laughter and quick agreement from Turner that, yes, it should be a woman’s song to sing.
Here's a guitarist aiming to replicate Knopfler's playing style, pedals, etc. doing a version of "Private Dancer" as Knopfler would play it. Interesting listen.
This YouTuber took the two finished recordings of "Love Over Gold" and "Private Dancer" and stitched them together. In this version, "Private Dancer" kicks in fairly late, at about 5:24, after a nice bit of soloing by Knopfler.
**
Knopfler's demo copy of "Private Dancer" -- with his vocals -- is like the Holy Grail for the most ardent of Dire Straits fans. Only a few people are even known to have ever heard it: Knopfler himself, of course. And Tina Turner. Probably their respective managers. Whoever may have been working with Knopfler on the demo -- bandmates, studio engineers, production staff. Knopfler himself has said he suspects there's a tape of his "Private Dancer" vocals out there somewhere, but he hopes it never sees the light of day. He has refused to give the recording an official release.