Shangri-La (Mark Knopfler album)

Shangri-La is the fourth solo album by Mark Knopfler, released on 28 September 2004.^[3] The album features Knopfler's signature storytelling style of songwriting. The album's first single, "Boom, Like That", was inspired by Ray Kroc's autobiography Grinding It Out and the starting of McDonald's, using many of Mr. Kroc's exact words. "Song for Sonny Liston" is a song about the famous boxer of the same name. "Donegan's Gone" is about the Scottish musician and singer Lonnie Donegan. "5.15 AM" tells the story of the 1967 "one-armed bandit murder". "Back To Tupelo" is about the life of Elvis Presley and his acting career. The album was released on HDCD and in 5.1 Surround Sound on Super Audio CD (SACD) and DVD-Audio.

Track listing

All songs were written by Mark Knopfler.

1. "5.15 A.M." – 5:54
2. "Boom, Like That" – 5:49
3. "Sucker Row" – 4:56
4. "The Trawlerman's Song" – 5:02
5. "Back to Tupelo" – 4:31
6. "Our Shangri-La" – 5:41
7. "Everybody Pays" – 5:24
8. "Song for Sonny Liston" – 5:06
9. "Whoop De Doo" – 3:53
10. "Postcards from Paraguay" – 4:07
11. "All That Matters" – 3:08
12. "Stand Up Guy" – 4:32
13. "Donegan's Gone" – 3:05
14. "Don't Crash the Ambulance" – 5:06^[3]

Credits

Music

• Mark Knopfler – vocals, guitar, producer
• Richard Bennett – guitars
• Jim Cox – organ, piano, harmonica
• Chad Cromwell – drums, percussion
• Glenn Worf – bass guitar, bass
• Paul Franklin – pedal steel guitar
• Guy Fletcher – organ, piano, clavinet, harmonium, engineer

Production

• Chuck Ainlay – producer, engineer
• Rupert Coulson – assistant engineer
• Bob Ludwig – mastering^[3]

Charts and certifications

Album charts

Certifications

Tour

From February to July 2005, Mark Knopfler set out on a world tour to promote the album, performing both solo material and old Dire Straits numbers.
The setlist remained nearly unchanged and was as follows:

• "Why Aye Man"
• "Walk of Life"
• "What It Is"
• "Sailing to Philadelphia"
• "Romeo and Juliet"
• "Sultans of Swing"
• "Done With Bonaparte"
• "Song for Sonny Liston"
• "Boom, Like That"
• "Speedway at Nazareth"
• "Telegraph Road"

Encores

• "Brothers in Arms"
• "Money for Nothing"
• "So Far Away"

Other songs

• "The Trawlerman's Song" (a couple of times, after "Sailing to Philadelphia")
• "Donegan's Gone" (very often, after "Song for Sonny Liston")
• "Rüdiger" (very often, after "Donegan's Gone")
• "All That Matters" (a couple of times, after "Rüdiger")
• "Baloney Again" (rarely)
• "A Night in Summer Long Ago" (only once, in Johannesburg, after "Done With Bonaparte")
• "Our Shangri-La" (approx. 50% of the shows, after "So Far Away")
• "The Mist Covered Mountains" & "Wild Theme" from Local Hero (approx. 50% of the shows, as a 2nd encore)

References