Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott

Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. Following his commercial breakthrough with the science-fiction horror film Alien (1979), his better-known works are the neo-noir dystopian science fiction film Blade Runner (1982), crime drama Thelma & Louise (1991), historical drama and Best Picture Oscar winner Gladiator (2000), war film Black Hawk Down (2001), crime thriller Hannibal (2001), biographical film American Gangster (2007), and science fiction films Prometheus (2012) and The Martian (2015).

Scott is known for his atmospheric, highly concentrated visual style. Though his films range widely in setting and period, they frequently showcase memorable imagery of urban environments, whether 2nd century Rome (Gladiator), 12th century Jerusalem (Kingdom of Heaven), medieval England (Robin Hood), contemporary Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down), or the future cityscapes of Blade Runner. Scott has been nominated for three Academy Awards for Directing (for Thelma and Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down). In 1995, both Ridley and his brother Tony received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. In 2003, Scott was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for his «services to the British film industry». In 2015, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Royal College of Art in London

Early Life and Career

Scott was born in South Shields in County Durham, North East England, the son of Elizabeth (Williams) and Colonel Francis Percy Scott. He was brought up in an army family, so for most of his early life, his father – an officer in the Royal Engineers – was absent. His elder brother, Frank, joined the Merchant Navy when he was still young and the pair had little contact. During this time the family moved around, living in (among other areas) Cumberland, Wales and Germany. He had a younger brother, Tony, who also became a film director. After the Second World War, the Scott family moved back to their native North East, eventually settling on Greens Beck Road in Hartburn, County Durham, whose industrial landscape would later inspire similar scenes in Blade Runner. He studied at Grangefield Grammar School and West Hartlepool College of Art from 1954 to 1958, obtaining a diploma in design.

Scott went on to study at the Royal College of Art in London, contributing to college magazine ARK and helping to establish the college film department. For his final show, he made a black and white short film, Boy and Bicycle, starring both his younger brother and his father (the film was later released on the «Extras» section of The Duellists DVD). In February 1963 Scott was named in title credits as «Designer» for the BBC television programme Tonight, about the severe winter of 1963. After graduation in 1963, he secured a job as a trainee set designer with the BBC, leading to work on the popular television police series Z-Cars and science fiction series Out of the Unknown. He was originally assigned to design the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks, which would have entailed realising the famous alien creatures. However, shortly before Scott was due to start work, a schedule conflict meant he was replaced by Raymond Cusick. In 1965, he began directing episodes of television series for the BBC, only one of which, an episode ofAdam Adamant Lives!, is available commercially.

In 1968, Ridley and Tony Scott founded Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), a film and commercial production company. Working alongside Alan Parker, Hugh Hudson and cinematographer Hugh Johnson, Ridley Scott made many commercials at RSA during the 1970s, including a notable 1974 Hovis advert, «Bike Round» (featuring the New World Symphony), set in the north of England but filmed in Shaftesbury, Dorset. An evocative television advertisement that captured the public imagination, it was voted the UK’s all-time favourite commercial in a 2006 poll. In the 1970s the Chanel No. 5 brand name needed revitalisation having run the risk of being labelled as mass market and passé. Directed by Scott in the 1970s and 1980s, Chanel television commercials were inventive mini-films with production values of surreal fantasy and seduction, which «played on the same visual imagery, with the same silhouette of the bottle.»

Five members of the Scott family are directors, and all have worked for RSA. His brother Tony was a successful film director whose career spanned more than two decades; his sons Jake and Luke are both acclaimed directors of commercials, as is his daughter, Jordan Scott. Jake and Jordan both work from Los Angeles; Luke is based in London. In 1995, Shepperton Studios was purchased by a consortium headed by Ridley and Tony Scott, which extensively renovated the studios while also expanding and improving its grounds.

Early films

The Duellists marked Ridley Scott’s first feature as director. Shot in Europe, it was nominated for the main prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and won an award for best film. The Duellists had limited commercial impact internationally. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, it follows two French Hussar officers, D’Hubert and Feraud (Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel) whose quarrel over an initially minor incident turns into a bitter extended feud spanning fifteen years, interwoven with the larger conflict that provides its backdrop. The film has been acclaimed for providing a historically authentic portrayal of Napoleonic uniforms and military conduct. The 2013 release of the film on Blu-ray coincided with the publication of an essay on the film in a collection of scholarly essays on Scott.

Alien Scott had originally planned next to adapt a version of Tristan and Iseult, but after seeing Star Wars, he became convinced of the potential of large scale, effects-driven films. He accepted the job of directing Alien, the 1979 horror/science-fiction film that would win him international success. The female action hero Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver), who appeared in the first four Alien films, would become a cinematic icon. The final scene of John Hurt’s character has been named by a number of publications as one of the most memorable in cinematic history. Filmed at Shepperton Studios in England, Alien was the sixth highest grossing film of 1979, earning over $104 million worldwide. Scott was involved in the 2003 restoration and re-release of the original film. In promotional interviews at the time, Scott indicated he had been in discussions to make a fifth film in the Alien franchise. However, in a later (2006) interview, the director remarked that he had been unhappy about Alien: The Director’s Cut, feeling that the original was «pretty flawless» and that the additions were merely a marketing tool. Scott would later return to an Alien-related project when he directed Prometheus three decades after the original film’s release.

Blade Runner. After a year working on the film adaptation of Dune, and following the sudden death of his brother Frank, Scott signed to direct the film version of Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Starring Harrison Ford, Blade Runner was a commercial disappointment in cinemas in 1982, but is now regarded as a classic. In 1991 Scott’s notes were used by Warner Brothers to create a rushed director’s cut which removed the main character’s voiceover and made a number of other small changes, including to the ending. Later Scott personally supervised a digital restoration of Blade Runner and approved what was called The Final Cut. This version was released in Los Angeles, New York City and Toronto cinemas on 5 October 2007, and as an elaborate DVD release in December 2007. Today, Blade Runner is ranked by many critics as one of the most important and influential science fiction films ever made, partly thanks to its much imitated portraits of a future cityscape. It is often discussed along with William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer as initiating the cyberpunk genre. Scott has described Blade Runner as his «most complete and personal film»

In 1985 Scott directed Legend, a fantasy film produced by Arnon Milchan. Scott decided to create a «once upon a time» tale set in a world of princesses, unicorns and goblins, filming almost entirely inside the studio. Scott cast Tom Cruise as the film’s hero, Jack, Mia Sara as Princess Lili and Tim Curry as the Satan-horned Lord of Darkness. Scott had a forest set built on the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, with trees 60 feet high and trunks 30 feet in diameter. In the final stages of filming, the forest set was destroyed by fire; Jerry Goldsmith’s original score was used for European release, but replaced in North America with a score by Tangerine Dream. Rob Bottin provided the film’s Academy Award-nominated make-up effects, most notably Curry’s red-coloured Satan figure. Though a major commercial failure on release, the film has gone on to become a cult classic. The 2002 Director’s Cut restored Goldsmith’s original score

Subsquent Films

1987-1992

Scott made Someone to Watch Over Me, a romantic thriller starring Tom Berenger and Mimi Rogers in 1987, and Black Rain (1989), a police drama starring Michael Douglas and Andy García, shot partially in Japan. Both achieved mild success at the box office. Black Rain was the first of Scott’s six collaborations with the composer Hans Zimmer.

Road film Thelma & Louise (1991) starring Geena Davis as Thelma, Susan Sarandon as Louise, in addition to the breakthrough role for Brad Pitt as J.D, proved to be one of Scott’s biggest critical successes, helping revive the director’s reputation and receiving his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director. His next project, independently-funded historical epic 1492: Conquest of Paradise, was a box office failure. The film recounts the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus (French star Gérard Depardieu). Scott did not release another film for four years.

1993-1999

In 1995 Ridley and his brother Tony formed a production company, Scott Free Productions, in Los Angeles. All Ridley’s subsequent feature films, starting with White Squall and G.I. Jane have been produced under the Scott Free banner. In 1995 the two brothers purchased a controlling interest in the British film studio, Shepperton Studios, which in 2001 merged with Pinewood Studios to become The Pinewood Studios Group which is headquartered in Buckinghamshire, England.

2000-2005

Scott’s historical drama Gladiator (2000) proved to be one of his biggest critical and commercial successes. It won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for the film’s star Russell Crowe, and saw Scott nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. Some have credited Gladiator with reviving the nearly defunct «sword and sandal» historical genre. The film was named the fifth best action film of all time in the ABC special Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time. Scott then turned to Hannibal (2001) starring Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. The film was commercially successful despite receiving mixed reviews. Scott’s next film, Black Hawk Down (2001), based on a group of stranded American soldiers fighting for their lives in Somalia, saw him receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.

In 2003, Scott directed a smaller scale project, Matchstick Men, adapted from the novel by Eric Garcia and starring Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell and Alison Lohman. It received mostly positive reviews, but performed moderately at the box office. In 2005, he made the modestly successful Kingdom of Heaven, a film about the Crusades. The film starredOrlando Bloom, and marked Scott’s first collaboration with the composer Harry Gregson-Williams.

2006-Present

Scott teamed up again with Gladiator star Russell Crowe, for A Good Year, based on the best-selling book by Peter Mayle about an investment banker who finds a new life in Provence. The film was released on 10 November 2006. A few days later Rupert Murdoch, chairman of studio 20th Century Fox (who backed the film) dismissed A Good Year as «a flop» at a shareholders’ meeting.

Scott’s next film was American Gangster, based on the story of real-life drug kingpin Frank Lucas. Scott took over the project in early 2006, and had screenwriter Steven Zaillian rewrite his script to focus on the dynamic between Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts. Denzel Washington signed on to the project as Lucas, with Russell Crowe co-starring. The film premiered in November 2007 to positive reviews and box office success, and Scott was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director.

In late 2008 Scott’s espionage thriller Body of Lies, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, opened to luke-warm ticket-sales and mixed reviews. Scott directed a revisionist adaptation of Robin Hood, which starred Russell Crowe as Robin Hood and Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian.
On 31 July 2009, news surfaced of a two-part prequel to Alien with Scott attached to direct. The project, ultimately reduced to a single film called Prometheus, which Scott described as sharing «strands of Alien’s DNA» while not being a direct prequel, was released in June 2012. A sequel is in development for 2017.

In 2009, the TV Series The Good Wife premiered with Ridley and his brother Tony credited as executive producers. On 6 July 2010, YouTube announced the launch of Life in a Day, an experimental documentary executive produced by Scott. Released at the Sundance Film Festival on 27 January 2011, it incorporates footage shot on 24 July 2010 submitted by YouTube users from around the world. As part of the buildup to the 2012 London Olympics, Scott produced Britain in a Day, a documentary film consisting of footage shot by the British public on 12 November 2011.

On 24 June 2013, Scott’s series Crimes of the Century debuted on CNN. In November 2012 it was announced that Scott would produce the documentary, Springsteen & I directed by Baillie Walsh and inspired byLife in a Day, which Scott also produced. The film featured fan footage from throughout the world on what musician Bruce Springsteen meant to them and how he impacted their lives. The film was released for one day only in 50 countries and on over 2000 film screens on 22 July 2013

Scott directed the biblically-inspired epic film Exodus: Gods and Kings, released in December 2014. Filmed at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, the film starred Christian Bale in the lead role. In March 2013, Twentieth Century Fox optioned the film rights for the novel The Martian, and hired screenwriter Drew Goddard to adapt and direct the film. In May 2014, it was reported that Scott was in negotiations to direct the adaptation, set to star Matt Damon as Mark Watney. The Martian was a critical and commercial success, and has grossed over $620 million worldwide, becoming Scott’s highest-grossing film to date.

Television Projects

Scott and his brother have produced CBS series Numb3rs (2005–10), a crime drama about a genius mathematician who helps the FBI solve crimes, and The Good Wife (2009–), a legal drama about an attorney balancing her job with her husband, a former state attorney trying to rebuild his political career after a major scandal. The two Scotts also produced a 2010 film adaptation of 1980s television show The A-Team, directed by Joe Carnahan.

Scott was an executive producer of the first season of Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle (2015-16)

Personal Life

Ridley Scott was married to Felicity Heywood from 1964 to 1975. The couple had two sons, Jake and Luke, both of whom work as directors on Scott’s production company, Ridley Scott Associates. Scott later married advertising executive Sandy Watson in 1979, with whom he had a daughter, Jordan Scott, and divorced in 1989. His current partner is the actress Giannina Facio, whom he has cast in all his films since White Squall except American Gangster and The Martian. He divides his time between homes in London, France and Los Angeles.

Scott received a knighthood in honour of his substantial contribution to the British film industry, from the Queen at Buckingham Palace on 8 July 2003.

His eldest brother Frank died, aged 45, of skin cancer in 1980. His younger brother Tony, who was also his business partner in their company Scott Free, died on 19 August 2012 after jumping from the Vincent Thomas Bridge which spans Los Angeles Harbor. Before Tony’s death, he and Ridley collaborated on a miniseries based on Robin Cook’s novel, Coma for A&E.

Ridley has dedicated several of his films in memory of his family: Blade Runner to his brother Frank, Black Hawk Down to his mother, and The Counselor and Exodus: Gods and Kings to his brother Tony. He also paid tribute to his late brother Tony at the 2016 Golden Globes, after his film, The Martian, won Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

Kings and Queens of England and Britain vol III

Kings and Queens of England and Britain

There have been 66 monarchs of England and Britain spread over a period of 1500 years. In today´s post we are going to keep talking about the Saxon Kings.

EDWARD THE MARTYR 975 – 978

Eldest son of Edgar, Edward was crowned king when aged just 12. Although supported by Archbishop Dunstan, his claim to the throne was contested by supporters of his much younger half-brother Aethelred. The resulting dispute between rival factions within the church and nobility almost led to civil war in England. Edward’s short reign ended when he was murdered at Corfe Castle by followers of Aethelred, after just two and half years as king. The title ‘martyr’ was a consequence of him being seen as a victim of his stepmother’s ambitions for her own son Aethelred.

AETHELRED II THE UNREADY 978 – 1016

Aethelred was unable to organise resistance against the Danes, earning him the nickname ‘unready’, or ‘badly advised’. He became king aged about 10, but fled to Normandy in 1013 when Sweyn Forkbeard, King of the Danes invaded England.
Sweyn was pronounced King of England on Christmas Day 1013 and made his capital at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire. He died just 5 weeks later.

Aethelred returned in 1014 after Sweyn’s death. The remainder of Aethelred’s reign was one of a constant state of war with Sweyn’s son Canute.

EDMUND II IRONSIDE 1016 – 1016

The son of Aethelred II, Edmund had led the resistance to Canute’s invasion of England since 1015. Following the death of his father, he was chosen king by the good folk of London. The Witan (the king’s council) however elected Canute. Following his defeat at the Battle of Assandun, Aethelred made a pact with Canute to divide the kingdom between them. Edmund died later that year, probably assassinated.

CANUTE (CNUT THE GREAT) THE DANE 1016 – 1035

Canute became king of all England following the death of Edmund II. The son of Sweyn Forkbeard, he ruled well and gained favour with his English subjects by sending most of his army back to Denmark. In 1017, Canute married Emma of Normandy, the widow of Aethelred II and divided England into the four earldoms of East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria and Wessex. Perhaps inspired by his pilgrimage to Rome in 1027, legend has it that he wanted to demonstrate to his subjects that as a king he was not a god, he ordered the tide not to come in, knowing this would fail.

HAROLD I 1035 – 1040

Also known as Harold Harefoot, in recognition of his speed and skill as a hunter. Harold was the illegitimate son of Canute, he claimed the English crown on the death of his father whilst his half-brother Harthacanute, the rightful heir, was in Denmark fighting to protect his Danish kingdom. Harold died three years into his reign, just weeks before Harthacanute was due to invade England with an army of Danes. He was buried in Westminster Abbey before Harthacanute had his body dug up, beheaded, and thrown into the Thames. His bits were later gathered and re-buried at St. Clement Danes in London.

HARTHACANUTE 1040 – 1042

The son of Cnut the Great and Emma of Normandy, Harthacanute sailed to England with his mother, accompanied by a fleet of 62 warships, and was immediately accepted as king. Perhaps to appease his mother, the year before he died Harthacanute invited his half-brother Edward, Emma’s son from her first marriage to Aethelred the Unready, back from exile in Normandy. Harthacanute died at a wedding whilst toasting the health of the bride; he was aged just 24 and was the last Danish king to rule England

Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler

Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, lead singer and songwriter for the rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded with his younger brother, David Knopfler, in 1977.

Since Dire Straits disbanded in 1995, Knopfler has recorded and produced eight solo albums, and, as with his previous band, produced many hit songs. He has composed and produced film scores for eight films, including Local Hero (1983), Cal (1984), The Princess Bride (1987), and Wag the Dog (1997).

Knopfler is a fingerstyle guitarist and was ranked 27th on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Knopfler and Dire Straits have sold in excess of 120 million albums to date. A four-time Grammy Award winner, Knopfler is the recipient of the Edison Award, the Steiger Award and the Ivor Novello Award, as well as holding three honorary doctorate degrees in music from universities in the United Kingdom.

Early Life

Mark Freuder Knopfler was born on 12 August 1949 in Glasgow, Scotland, to an English mother, Louisa Mary, and a Hungarian-Jewish father, Erwin Knopfler. His mother was a teacher and his father was an architect and a chess player whose anti-fascist sympathies and Jewish parentage forced him to flee from his native Hungary in 1939. Knopfler later described his father as a Marxist agnostic.

The Knopflers originally lived in the Glasgow area and Mark Knopfler’s younger brother David was also born there, on 27 December 1952. The family re-settled in Knopfler’s mother’s home town of Blyth, Northumberland, in North East England when he was seven years old. Mark had attended Bearsden Primary school in Scotland for two years, but both brothers attended Gosforth Grammar School.

Inspired by his uncle Kingsley’s harmonica and boogie-woogie piano playing, Mark wanted to buy an expensive Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster just like Hank Marvin’s, but had to settle for a £50 twin-pick-up Höfner Super Solid.

In 1968, after studying journalism for a year at Harlow College, Knopfler was hired as a junior reporter in Leeds for theYorkshire Evening Post. Two years later, he decided to further his studies, and went on to graduate with a degree in English at theUniversity of Leeds. In April 1970, while living in Leeds, Knopfler recorded a demo disk of an original song he had written, «Summer’s Coming My Way».

On graduation in 1973, Knopfler moved to London and joined a High Wycombe-based band called Brewers Droop, appearing on the album The Booze Brothers. After a brief stint with Brewers Droop, Knopfler took a job as a lecturer at Loughton College in Essex — a position he held for three years. Throughout this time, he continued performing with local pub bands, including the Café Racers. He also formed a duo with long-time associate bluesman Steve Phillips called The Duolian String Pickers.

By the mid-1970s, Knopfler devoted much of his musical energies to his group, the Café Racers. His brother David moved to London, where he shared a flat with John Illsley; a guitarist who changed over to playing bass guitar. In April 1977, Mark gave up his flat in Buckhurst Hill and moved in with David and John. The three began playing music together, and soon Mark invited John to join the Café Racers

Dire Straits

Dire Straits’ first demos were done in three sessions during 1977, with Pick Withers as drummer, David Knopfler as rhythm guitarist, and John Illsley on bass guitar. On 27 July 1977 they recorded the now famous demo tapes of five songs: «Wild West End», «Sultans of Swing», «Down to the Waterline», «Sacred Loving» (a David Knopfler song), and «Water of Love». On its initial release, Dire Straits received little fanfare in the UK, but when «Sultans of Swing» was released as a single, it became a chart hit in the Netherlands and album sales took off — first across Europe, and then in the United States and Canada, and finally the UK. The group’s second album, Communiqué, produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett, followed in 1979, reaching number one in France while the first album was still at number three.

There were frequent personnel changes within Dire Straits after the release of their third album, Making Movies, with Mark Knopfler remaining a constant member. Released in 1980, Making Movies moved towards more complex arrangements and production, which continued for the remainder of the group’s career. The album included many of Mark Knopfler’s most personal compositions, most notably «Romeo and Juliet» and «Tunnel of Love».

The studio album which followed was Love Over Gold, released in 1982. This featured the tracks «Private Investigations», «Telegraph Road», «Industrial Disease», «It Never Rains», and the title track to the same album.

With Love Over Gold still in the albums charts, the band released a four-song EP titled ExtendedancEPlay in early 1983. Featuring the hit single «Twisting by the Pool», this was the first output by the band that featured new drummer Terry Williams.

An eight-month-long world tour followed, which finished in July 1983 with two sold out concerts at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, and in March 1984 the double album Alchemy Live was released, which documented the recordings of these final two live shows. It was also released in VHS video and reached number three in the UK Albums Chart.

During 1983 and 1984, Knopfler was involved with other projects as well, including writing and producing the music score to the film Local Hero, which was a great success, and it was followed in 1984 by his scores for the films Cal and Comfort and Joy. Also during this time Knopfler produced Bob Dylan’s Infidels album. He also wrote the song «Private Dancer» for Tina Turner’s comeback album of the same name.

Dire Straits’ biggest studio album by far was their fifth, Brothers in Arms, recorded at Air Studios Montserrat and released in May 1985. It became an international blockbuster that has now sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, and is the fourth best selling album in UK chart history.

After the Brothers in Arms tour Dire Straits ceased to work together for some time, Knopfler concentrating mainly on film soundtracks. Knopfler joined the charity ensemble Ferry Aid on «Let It Be» in the wake of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster. The song reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart in March 1987. Knopfler wrote the music score for the film The Princess Bride, released at the end of 1987.

Dire Straits regrouped for 11 June 1988 Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at Wembley Stadium, in which they were the headline act, and were accompanied by Elton John and Eric Clapton, who by this time had developed a strong friendship with Knopfler. Shortly after this, drummer Terry Williams left the band. In September 1988 Mark Knopfler announced the official dissolution of Dire Straits, saying that he «needed a rest». In October 1988, a compilation album, Money for Nothing, was released and reached number one in the United Kingdom.

In 1989, Knopfler formed the Notting Hillbillies, a band at the other end of the commercial spectrum. It leaned heavily towards American roots music – folk, blues and country music. The band members included keyboardist Guy Fletcher, with Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. For both the album and the tour Paul Franklin was added to the line-up on pedal steel. The Notting Hillbillies sole studio album, Missing…Presumed Having a Good Time was released in 1990, and Knopfler then toured with the Notting Hillbillies for the remainder of that year. He further emphasised his country music influences with his 1990s collaboration with Chet Atkins, Neck and Neck, which won three Grammy awards. The Hillbillies toured the UK in early 1990 with a limited number of shows. In this low-key tour the band packed out smaller venues such as Newcastle University.

In 1990, Knopfler, John Illsley, and Alan Clark performed as Dire Straits at Knebworth, joined by Eric Clapton, Ray Cooper, and guitarist Phil Palmer, and in January the following year, Knopfler, John Illsley and manager Ed Bicknell decided to reform Dire Straits. Knopfler, Illsley, Alan Clark, and Guy Fletcher set about recording what turned out to be their final studio album accompanied by several part-time sidemen, including Phil Palmer, pedal steel guitarist Paul Franklin, percussionist Danny Cummings and Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro.

The follow-up to Brothers in Arms was finally released in September 1991. On Every Street was nowhere near as popular as its predecessor, and met with a mixed critical reaction, with some reviewers regarding the album as an underwhelming comeback after a six-year break. Nonetheless, the album sold well and reached No. 1 in the UK. A gruelling world tour to accompany the album followed, which lasted until the end of 1992. This was to be Dire Straits’ final world tour; it was not as well received as the previous Brothers in Arms tour, and by this time Mark Knopfler had had enough of such huge operations. This drove the band into the ground, and ultimately led to the group’s final dissolution in 1995.

Following the tour, Knopfler took some time off from the music business. In 1993, he received an honorary music doctorate from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Two more Dire Straits albums were released, both live albums. On the Night, released in May 1993, documented Dire Straits’ final world tour. In 1995, following the release of Live at the BBC (a contractual release to Vertigo Records), Mark Knopfler quietly dissolved Dire Straits and launched his career as a solo artist.

Since the break-up of Dire Straits, Knopfler has shown no interest in reforming the group. However, keyboardist Guy Fletcher has been associated with almost every piece of Knopfler’s solo material to date, while Danny Cummings has also contributed frequently, playing on three of Knopfler’s most recent solo album releases All the Roadrunning, Kill to Get Crimson, and Get Lucky.

Solo career

Mark Knopfler’s first solo album, Golden Heart, was released in March 1996. It featured the UK single «Darling Pretty». The album’s recording sessions helped create Knopfler’s backing band, which is also known as The 96ers. It features Knopfler’s old bandmate Guy Fletcher on keyboards. This band’s main line-up has lasted much longer than any Dire Straits line-up. Also in 1996, Knopfler recorded guitar for Ted Christopher’s Dunblane massacre tribute cover, Knocking on Heaven’s Door.

In 1997, Knopfler recorded the soundtrack for the movie Wag the Dog. During that same year Rolling Stone magazine listed Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll, which included Sultans of Swing, Dire Straits’ first hit. 2000 saw the release of Knopfler’s next solo album, Sailing to Philadelphia. This has been his most successful to date, possibly helped by the number of collaborators to the album like Van Morrison. On 15 September 1997, Knopfler appeared at the Music for Montserrat concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London, performing alongside artists such as Sting, Phil Collins, Elton John, Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney.

In 2002, Knopfler gave four charity concerts with former Dire Straits members John Illsley, Chris White, Danny Cummings and Guy Fletcher, playing old material from the Dire Straits years. The concerts also featured The Notting Hillbillies with Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips.

Also in 2002, Knopfler released his third solo album, The Ragpicker’s Dream. However, in March 2003 he was involved in a motorbike crash in Grosvenor Road, Belgravia and suffered a broken collarbone, broken shoulder blade and seven broken ribs. The planned Ragpicker’s Dream tour was subsequently cancelled, but Knopfler recovered and returned to the stage in 2004 for his fourth album, Shangri-La.

Knopfler released his fifth solo studio-album Kill to Get Crimson on 2007. During the autumn of 2007 he played a series of intimate ‘showcases’ in various European cities to promote the album. A tour of Europe and North America followed in 2008.

Knopfler’s solo live performances can be characterised as relaxed—almost workmanlike. He uses very little stage production, other than some lighting effects to enhance the music’s dynamics. He has been known to sip tea on stage during live performances. Richard Bennett, who has been playing with him on tour since 1996, has also joined in drinking tea with him on stage. On 31 July 2005, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver, BC, the tea was replaced with whisky as a «last show of tour» sort of joke.

On 3 September 2012, Knopfler’s seventh solo album, Privateering, was released. This was Knopfler’s first double album solo release and contained 20 new songs. After a further tour with Bob Dylan in the US during October and November, the Privateering tour of Europe followed in Spring/Summer 2013. A short run of five shows were played in the US that Autumn.

Country music

In addition to his work in Dire Straits and solo, Mark Knopfler has made several contributions to country music. In 1988 he formed country-focused band the Notting Hillbillies, with Guy Fletcher, Brendan Croker and Steve Phillips. The Notting Hillbillies sole studio album, Missing…Presumed Having a Good Time was released in 1990 and featured the minor hit single «Your Own Sweet Way». Knopfler further emphasised his country music influences with his collaboration with Chet Atkins, Neck and Neck, which was also released in 1990. Knopfler’s other contributions include writing and playing guitar on John Anderson’s 1992 single «When It Comes to You».

Personal Life

Mark Knopfler has been married three times, first to Kathy White, his long-time girlfriend from school days. They separated before Knopfler moved to London to join Brewers Droop in 1973. In November 1983, Knopfler married Lourdes Salomone. Their marriage produced twin sons, Benji and Joseph (born 1987), both of whom are aspiring musicians, according to Knopfler. His marriage to Salomone ended in 1993. On Valentine’s Day 1997 in Barbados, Knopfler married British actress and writer Kitty Aldridge, whom he had known for three years. They have two daughters

Knopfler has a collection of classic cars which he races and exhibits at shows, including a Maserati 300S and an Austin-Healey 100S. He is left-handed, but plays the guitar right-handed.

 

Kings and Queens of England and Britain vol II

Kings and Queens of England and Britain

There have been 66 monarchs of England and Britain spread over a period of 1500 years. In today´s post we are going to keep talking about the Saxon Kings.

EDWARD (The Elder) 899 – 924

Succeeded his father Alfred the Great. Edward retook southeast England and the Midlands from the Danes. Following the the death of his sister Aethelflaed of Mercia, Edward unites the kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia. In 923, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles record that the Scottish King Constantine II recognises Edward as «father and lord». The following year, Edward is killed in a battle against the Welsh near Chester. His body is returned to Winchester for burial.

ATHELSTAN 924 – 939

Son of Edward the Elder, Athelstan extended the boundaries of his kingdom at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937. In what is said to be one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on British soil, Athelstan defeated a combined army of Scots, Celts, Danes and Vikings, claiming the title of King of all Britain. The battle saw for the first time individual Anglo-Saxon kingdoms being brought together to create a single and unified England. Athelstan is buried in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.

EDMUND 939 – 946

Succeeded his half-bother Athelastan as king at the tender age of 18, having already fought alongside him at the Batlle of Brunanburh two years earlier. He re-established Anglo-Saxon control over northern England, which had fallen back under Scandanavian rule following the death of Athelstan. Aged just 25, and whilst celebrating the feast of Augustine, Edmund was stabbed by a robber in his royal hall at Pucklechurch near Bath. His two sons, Eadwig and Edgar, were perhaps considered too young to become kings.

EADRED 946 – 955

The son of Edward the Elder by his third marriage to Eadgifu, Eadred succeeded his brother Edmund following his premature death. He followed in the family tradition of defeating Norsemen, expelling the last Scandanavian King of York, Eric Bloodaxe, in 954. A deeply religious man, Eadred suffered a serious stomach ailment that would eventually prove fatal. Eadred died in his early 30s, unmarried and without an heir, at Frome in Somerset. He is buried in Winchester.

EADWIG 955 – 959

The eldest son of Edmund I, Eadwig was about 16 when he was crowned king at Kingston-upon-Thames in southeast London. Legend has it that his coronation had to be delayed to allow Bishop Dunstan to prise Eadwig from his bed, and from between the arms of his «strumpet» and the strumpets’ mother. Perhaps unimpressed by the interruption, Eadwig had Dunstan exiled to France. Eadwig died in Gloucester when he was just 20, the circumstances of his death are not recorded.

EDGAR 959 – 975

The youngest son of Edmund I, Edgar had been in dispute with his brother concerning succession to the throne for some years. Following Eadwig’s mysterious death, Edgar immediately recalled Dunstan from exile, making himArchbishop of Canterbury as well as his personal advisor. Following his carefully planned (by Dunstan) coronation in Bath in 973, Edgar marched his army to Chester, to be met by six kings of Britain. The kings, including the King of Scots, King of Strathclyde and various princes of Wales, are said to have signalled their allegience to Edgar by rowing him in his state barge accross the River Dee.

Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes

A study in Scarlet

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle KStJ, DL (22 May 1859–7 July 1930) was a Scottish writer and physician, most noted for his fictional stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.

He is also known for writing the fictional adventures of a second character he invented, Professor Challenger, and for popularising the mystery of the Mary Celeste. He was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.

Early Life

Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 at 11 Picardy Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. His father, Charles Altamont Doyle, was English, of Irish Catholic descent, and his mother, Mary, was Irish Catholic. His parents married in 1855. In 1864 the family dispersed due to Charles’s growing alcoholism and the children were temporarily housed across Edinburgh. In 1867, the family came together again and lived in squalid tenement flats at 3 Sciennes Place. Doyle’s father died in 1893, in the Crichton Royal, Dumfries, after many years of psychiatric illness.

Supported by wealthy uncles, Doyle was sent to the Jesuit preparatory school Hodder Place, Stonyhurst, at the age of nine (1868–70). He then went on to Stonyhurst College until 1875. From 1875 to 1876, he was educated at the Jesuit school Stella Matutina in Feldkirch, Austria. He later rejected the Catholic faith and become an agnostic. He also later became a spiritualist mystic.

Medical Career

From 1876 to 1881 he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, including periods working in Aston Sheffield and Ruyton-XI-Towns, Shropshire. During that time he studied practical botany at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. While studying, Doyle began writing short stories. His earliest extant fiction, «The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe», was unsuccessfully submitted to Blackwood’s Magazine. His first published piece, «The Mystery of Sasassa Valley», a story set in South Africa, was printed in Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal on 6 September 1879.

On 20 September 1879, he published his first academic article, «Gelsemium as a Poison» in the British Medical Journal, a study which the Daily Telegraph regarded as potentially useful in a 21st-century alleged murder investigation.

Doyle was employed as a doctor on the Greenland whaler Hope of Peterhead in 1880 and, after his graduation from university in 1881 as M.B., C.M., as a ship’s surgeon on the SS Mayumba during a voyage to the West African coast. He completed his M.D. degree (an advanced degree in Scotland beyond the usual medical degrees) on the subject of tabes dorsalis in 1885.

In 1882 he joined former classmate George Turnavine Budd as his partner at a medical practice in Plymouth, but their relationship proved difficult, and Doyle soon left to set up an independent practice. Arriving in Portsmouth in June 1882 with less than £10 to his name, he set up a medical practice at 1 Bush Villas in Elm Grove, Southsea. The practice was initially not very successful. While waiting for patients, Doyle again began writing fiction.

In 1890 Doyle studied ophthalmology in Vienna, and moved to London, first living in Montague Place and then in South Norwood. He set up a practice as an ophthalmologist at No. 2 Upper Wimpole St, London W1.

Literary Career

Sherlock Holmes

Doyle struggled to find a publisher for his work. His first work featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, A Study in Scarlet, was taken by Ward Lock & Co on 20 November 1886, giving Doyle £25 (£2875, in 2015, or $4,279.44) for all rights to the story. The piece appeared one year later in the Beeton’s Christmas Annual and received good reviews in The Scotsman and the Glasgow Herald.

A sequel to A Study in Scarlet was commissioned and The Sign of the Four appeared in Lippincott’s Magazine in February 1890, under agreement with the Ward Lock company. Doyle felt grievously exploited by Ward Lock as an author new to the publishing world and he left them. Short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes were published in the Strand Magazine. Doyle wrote the first five Holmes short stories from his office at 2 Upper Wimpole Street (then known as Devonshire Place), which is now marked by a memorial plaque.

Doyle’s attitude towards his most famous creation was ambivalent. In November 1891 he wrote to his mother: «I think of slaying Holmes…and winding him up for good and all. He takes my mind from better things.» His mother responded, «You won’t! You can’t! You mustn’t!» In an attempt to deflect publishers’ demands for more Holmes stories, he raised his price to a level intended to discourage them, but found they were willing to pay even the large sums he asked. As a result, he became one of the best-paid authors of his time.

In December 1893, to dedicate more of his time to his historical novels, Doyle had Holmes and Professor Moriarty plunge to their deaths together down the Reichenbach Falls in the story «The Final Problem». Public outcry, however, led him to feature Holmes in 1901 in the novelThe Hound of the Baskervilles.

In 1903, Doyle published his first Holmes short story in ten years, The Adventure of the Empty House, in which it was explained that only Moriarty had fallen; but since Holmes had other dangerous enemies—especially Colonel Sebastian Moran—he had arranged to also be perceived as dead. Holmes was ultimately featured in a total of 56 short stories—the last published in 1927—and four novels by Doyle, and has since appeared in many novels and stories by other authors.

Jane Stanford compares some of Moriarty’s characteristics to those of the Fenian John O’Connor Power. ‘The Final Problem’ was published the year the Second Home Rule Bill passed through the House of Commons. ‘The Valley of Fear’ was serialised in 1914, the year Home Rule, theGovernment of Ireland Act was placed on the Statute Book.

Other works

Short stories including «The Captain of the Pole-Star» and «J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement», both inspired by Doyle’s time at sea. The latter popularised the mystery of the Mary Celeste and added fictional details such as the perfect condition of the ship (which had actually taken on water by the time it was discovered) and its boats remaining on board (the one boat was in fact missing) that have come to dominate popular accounts of the incident. Doyle’s spelling of the ship’s name as Marie Celeste has become commoner in everyday use than the original form.

Between 1888 and 1906, Doyle wrote seven historical novels, which he and many critics regarded as his best work. He also authored nine other novels, and later in his career (1912-1929) five stories, two of novella length, featuring the irascible scientist Professor Challenger. The Challenger stories include what is probably his best-known work after the Holmes oeuvre, The Lost World. He was a prolific author of short stories, including two collections set in Napoleonic times featuring the French character Brigadier Gerard.

Doyle’s stage works include Waterloo, the reminiscences of an English veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, the character of Gregory Brewster being written for Henry Irving; The House of Temperley, the plot of which reflects his abiding interest of boxing; The Speckled Band, after the short story of that name; and the 1893 collaboration with J.M. Barrie on the libretto of Jane Annie.

Sporting Career

While living in Southsea, Doyle played football as a goalkeeper for Portsmouth Association Football Club, an amateur side, under the pseudonym A. C. Smith. (This club, disbanded in 1896, has no connection with the present-day Portsmouth F.C., which was founded in 1898.) Doyle was a keen cricketer, and between 1899 and 1907 he played 10 first-class matches for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He also played for the amateur cricket team the Allahakbarries alongside authors J. M. Barrie and A. A. Milne.

His highest score, in 1902 against London County, was 43. He was an occasional bowler who took just one first-class wicket (although one of the highest pedigree—it was W. G. Grace). Also a keen golfer, Doyle was elected captain of the Crowborough Beacon Golf Club in Sussex for 1910.

Personal Life

In 1885 Doyle married Mary Louise (sometimes called «Louisa») Hawkins, the youngest daughter of J. Hawkins, of Minsterworth, Gloucestershire, and sister of one of Doyle’s patients. She suffered from tuberculosis and died on 4 July 1906. The following year he married Jean Elizabeth Leckie, whom he had first met and fallen in love with in 1897. He had maintained a platonic relationship with Jean while his first wife was still alive, out of loyalty to her. Jean died in London on 27 June 1940.

Doyle fathered five children. He had two with his first wife: Mary Louise (28 January 1889 – 12 June 1976) and Arthur Alleyne Kingsley, known as Kingsley (15 November 1892 – 28 October 1918). He also had three with his second wife: Denis Percy Stewart (17 March 1909 – 9 March 1955), second husband of Georgian Princess Nina Mdivani; Adrian Malcolm (19 November 1910 – 3 June 1970); and Jean Lena Annette (21 December 1912–18 November 1997).