AN ACOUSTIC GUITAR, EVERLY BROTHERS J-180

Acquired in 1998, Mark Knopfler kept this guitar in his study for home use. Knopfler told us: 'I loved the Everlys so much, you know, that I always wanted to have an Everlys Gibson.' The gentle ballad 'Why Worry', recorded by Dire Straits for their 1985 album Brothers In Arms, was reportedly originally written by Knopfler with the Everly Brothers in mind. The brothers recorded their own version of 'Why Worry' the following year for their 1986 album Born Yesterday. Knopfler was thrilled to perform the song with Don and Phil Everly themselves when Chet Atkins invited all three to take part in the Cinemax television special Chet Atkins and Friends at Vanderbilt University in Nashville on 1 May 1987. 'The Everly Brothers had already figured very big in my life,' Knopfler told Tom Redmond in 2014. 'I had a little friend in Newcastle when I was growing up and as kids, we would pretend we were the Everly Brothers… A lot of my first chords were singing Everly Brothers songs so it was a real thrill to be on that show because the Everlys had recorded one of my songs and I had the chance to play it with them on the stage and that was fantastic.' Reflecting on the passing of Phil Everly in January 2014, Knopfler wrote: 'The Everly Brothers played a huge part in my young life, helped shape my musical upbringing and influenced so many singers and players, bringing joy to millions. I’m proud to have worked with them.'

THE GIBSON EVERLY BROTHERS
The J-180 Everly Brothers was first introduced by Gibson in late 1962 and was produced specifically at the request of Phil and Don Everly. The design was based on the popular and curvaceous J-200 but built around a slightly more diminutive body outline measuring 16¼ inches in width and a scale length of 24¾ inches. With its double moustache faux tortoiseshell pickguard, star pearl inlays on the fingerboard and headstock, and finished in either a natural or all black lacquer, it presented a dramatic and graphic outline on stage. For artists, this instrument excelled tonally as a rhythm guitar and was comfortable to play.