01	Railroad Worksong						05:30
	02	Bewildered						02:38
	03	Your Own Sweet Way						04:34
	04	Run Me Down						02:26
	05	One Way Gal						03:12
	06	Blues Stay Away From Me						03:52
	07	Will You Miss Me						03:52
	08	Please Baby						03:52
	09	Weapon of Prayer						03:11
	10	That's Where I Belong						02:53
	11	Feel Like Going Home						04:52

1990 Warner Bros. 26147-2


The Notting Hillbillies
Formed 1990
Group Members Brendan Croker Ed Bicknell Guy Fletcher Paul Franklin Mark Knopfler Steve Phillips

by Jason Ankeny

After the mega-platinum success of Dire Straits' 1984 Brothers in Arms LP, the group's frontman, guitarist extraordinaire Mark Knopfler, opted to temporarily shift gears by forming the Notting Hillbillies, a one-off country side project. Among the band's first recruits was Steve Phillips, a fellow guitar player whom Knopfler had first met in Yorkshire in 1968 when both men interviewed a local country and blues musician (also named, curiously enough, Steve Phillips). Soon, the two aspiring journalists formed the two-man Duolian String Pickers and continued performing together until Knopfler entered college in 1970; after graduating three years later, he moved to London to start Dire Straits.
Phillips, in the meantime, formed a rockabilly outfit, the Steve Phillips Juke Band. In 1976, he met Brendan Croker, a onetime member of the Juke Band, and the pair began performing as Nev and Norris. By 1980, Phillips had left the music scene to focus on an art career, leaving Croker to form Five O'Clock Shadow. In 1986, Knopfler came calling, and in May of that year the Notting Hillbillies played their first gig at a tiny Leeds club with a lineup featuring Knopfler, Phillips, and Croker as well as drummer Ed Bicknell (moonlighting from his day job as Dire Straits' manager), guitarist Guy Fletcher, pedal steel guitarist Paul Franklin, and Croker's fellow Five O'Clock Shadow Marcus Cliff on bass. A tour followed, although the group's lone album, Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time, did not appear until 1990, at which point the members of the Notting Hillbillies had already returned to their main projects.

1990 Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time Warner


Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time
Artist The Notting Hillbillies

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. Despite the high-profile presence of Knopfler, The Notting Hillbillies succeed in sounding like a band with Knopfler often taking a backseat to his bandmates, although he does sing lead on the lovely "Your Own Sweet Way." The styles range from the gorgeous harmonies of "Railroad Worksong" with some mournful guitar from Knopfler, to the '50s-style rock ballad "Bewildered," to the breezy, tropical-flavored "One Way Gal." Missing: Presumed Having a Good Time is a delightful record that doesn't overstay its welcome. - Tom Demalon

1. Railroad Worksong - 5:27
2. Bewildered (Powell/Whitcup) - 2:35
3. Your Own Sweet Way (Knopfler) - 4:30
4. Run Me Down - 2:23
5. One Way Gal - 3:08
6. Blues Stay Away from Me (Delmore/Delmore/Glover/Raney) - 3:49
7. Will You Miss Me? (Phillips) - 3:49
8. Please Baby - 3:49
9. Weapon of Prayer (Louvin/Louvin) - 3:08
10. That's Where I Belong (Croker) - 2:50
11. Feel Like Going Home (Rich) - 4:51


Brendan Croker - Guitar, Vocals
Guy Fletcher - Keyboards, Vocals, Producer
Paul Franklin - Guitar, Pedal Steel
Mark Knopfler - Guitar, Vocals, Producer
Bill Schnee - Engineer
Steve Phillips - Guitar, Vocals

1990 LP Warner Brothers 26147
1988 CS Warner Brothers 4-26147
1988 CD Warner Brothers 2-26147