Before ‘Sultans of Swing’, one blues album gave Mark Knopfler his “big turning point”

At 16, Mark Knopfler heard B.B. King’s live album *Live at the Regal*, a moment he later called a “big turning point” in his musical life. The record showed him how guitar could answer a singer with expressive bends and phrasing, helping shape the distinctive, understated style he later brought to Dire Straits.

Knopfler said he absorbed the spirit of Chicago blues rather than copying solos note for note. He also traced connections between King and earlier guitarist Lonnie Johnson, whose music he explored in his early twenties. That blues influence can be heard in “Sultans of Swing”, whose guitar interjections give the song a conversational feel; Knopfler said switching from a National steel guitar to a Stratocaster helped the song come alive.