Notting Hillbillies

The Notting Hillbillies was a country rock project formed by British singer-songwriter Mark Knopfler in May 1986. The group consisted of Knopfler (guitar and vocals), Steve Phillips (guitar and vocals), Brendan Croker (guitar and vocals), Guy Fletcher (keyboards and vocals), Paul Franklin (pedal steel), Marcus Cliffe (bass), and Ed Bicknell (drums)…

The Notting Hillbillies was a country rock project formed by British singer-songwriter Mark Knopfler in May 1986. The group consisted of Knopfler (guitar and vocals), Steve Phillips (guitar and vocals), Brendan Croker (guitar and vocals), Guy Fletcher (keyboards and vocals), Paul Franklin (pedal steel), Marcus Cliffe (bass), and Ed Bicknell (drums)…

On hiatus from Dire Straits, guitarist Mark Knopfler joined with Brendan Croker, Steve Phillips, and Guy Fletcher for 1990's Missing…Presumed Having a Good Time. The result is a low-key, joyous run-through of mostly traditional, blues-based songs with a handful of originals…

Featuring a wide variaty of Dire Straits tours and a very good recording of the last concert of The Notting Hillbillies tour from 1990. All songs are taken from soundboard recordings, good to very good sound quality.

Great compilation. Featuring a wide variaty of Dire Straits tours and a very good recording of the last concert of The Notting Hillbillies tour from 1990. All songs are taken from soundboard recordings, good to very good sound quality.

Probably best known as a member of the Notting Hillbillies, Brendan Croker was also a well-respected singer/songwriter and session guitarist both before and after his involvement with that band. Drawing on strong folk, blues, and country roots, Yorkshireman Croker brought a strong, Woody Guthrie-ish lyrical outlook to his musical palette, and was equally at home with Van Morrison-style blues or American country music of any era. In fact, his deep knowledge of and affection for American roots music, coupled with his fine singing and guitar playing, at one point gave rise to Croker being hailed as "the British Ry Cooder".

Brendan Croker is a musician from Leeds who has recorded albums under his own name and with occasional backing band; The Five O'Clock Shadows. He was also a member of The Notting Hillbillies. During the late 1980s he was an auxiliary member of The Mekons and a full-time member of Sally Timms and the Drifting Cowgirls. He has recorded with Eric Clapton, Tanita Tikaram, Mark Knopfler, Kevin Coyne, and Chet Atkins. Guy Edward Fletcher is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known for his position as the Synthesizer player in the rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his involvement in many parts of Mark Knopfler's solo work.