Keith Richards is one of the greatest guitarists of all time and also one of the most sincere musicians in the business. He has always been honest in interviews about any subject journalists ask him, including his opinions on other bands and artists. The Rolling Stones were extremely important for aspiring musicians all over the world, but especially in the United Kingdom. They inspired an entire new generation of artists, including Dire Straits and guitarist Mark Knopfler, about whom Richards has already given his opinion. What is Keith Richards' opinion on Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler Keith Richards is a big fan of Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler and already said he rates the musician “very highly,” repeating the praise twice and adding that he was impressed by Knopfler as a songwriter as well. "How highly do you rate Mark Knopfler?" BBC asked him. "Very high, very high. I love his sound, love the touch and I love the stuff he's writing too these days. I'm very impressed with it and he is working with Bob (Dylan) for a while too. I think you got a lot out of that," Keith Richards said. He praised the band and Mark, after picking "Money for Nothing" as one of his favorite songs to be played on the "My Top 10" radio show in 1986. In the previous year, during a recorded rehearsal before the Live Aid charity festival, Richards talked with Ronnie Wood and Bob Dylan about Dire Straits and their frontman. During the conversation, Wood asked: “Did you hear the new Mark Knopfler stuff? The new Dire Straits song about the microwave ovens and MTV (‘Money for Nothing’).” Both said they had not heard it yet, and Keith replied: “All I know about Dire Straits is they are working in London and our truck is recording them. (…) I mean, it is good music. How is this Mark Knopfler? I have never met him, lovely guitar player,” he said. Dylan and Wood then responded that Knopfler is a quiet person. "Money For Nothing" was released in 1985 being featured on Dire Straits' fifth studio album "Brothers in Arms". Two years before, in 1983, the band had used the Rolling Stones mobile studio to record "Alchemy: Dire Straits Live". That record became one of the most praised live albums of all time. The Rolling Stones used Mark's studio record one of their albums Curiously, a couple of decades later, in 2016, The Rolling Stones would be the ones to use Mark Knopfler's studio. Part of their covers album "Blue & Lonesome" was recorded at British Grove Studios, owned by the musician and located in London. “Yeah, it seems to have grown (the studio). I think it’s because it’s so flexible. You can use the place for high-tech things like movies and surround sound, so it’s great for that brigade. I think we’ve done the last three Warner Brothers musicals here. And it’s great for rock’n’roll recording." “So you can use tons and tons of vintage recording gear, and the band can all play together. You can do lots of different set-ups. It has the latest digital recording gear, but it also has analogue gear from 1954 onwards. In fact the microphones go back even further, they go back into the 30s, even,” he told UDiscover Music. Like most Rock and Roll musicians, Mark was also influenced by The Rolling Stones, especially when growing up. He is six years younger than Keith and started his musical career in 1965, one year after the Rolling Stones released their first albums. When talking about how much The Beatles influenced him, Mark mentioned the Stones saying he also liked them and The Kinks. "Oh, (The Beatles were a) huge (influence)! 'Please, Please Me' was one of the first records that I bought. It's funny now, because while I've been working with Aztec Camera at Ayre Studio, I've been playing Asteroids about every other day with Paul McCartney. It's slightly strange to think 'Oh, that's him' (laughs). But I also liked the Rolling Stones, and I absolutely loved the Kinks. And I got into trouble for writing 'The Kinks' on notebooks and desks in school." Mark Knopfler continued: "I loved songs like 'Where Have All the Good Times Gone', 'Waterloo Sunset', and 'You Really Got Me'. I enjoyed that period, and then a few years later, when I was 18 or 19, I got into a lot of the American bands, like The Doors. (Also) some of the English bands that didn't necessarily make it as big. (One of them was) Head, Hands & Feet (with Albert Lee). I never really got into deep record collecting, because I was always moving around and was too impoverished," he told Guitar Player magazine in 1984. Although Dire Straits were active only from 1977 to 1992 and released just six albums, they are still one of the best-selling bands of all time. The group has sold an estimated total of more than 120 million records worldwide. These days, on Spotify, they have more than 24 million monthly listeners. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 but Knopfler didn't attend the ceremony. He remains focused on his solo career and recently organized the charity single “Going Home (Theme From Local Hero).” A large number of rock stars took part in the project, including Keith’s bandmate Ronnie Wood. https://youtu.be/IKfDFmpL7TEThe post Keith Richards’ opinion on Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.