Sailing to Philadelphia
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Sailing to Philadelphia is the second solo studio album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 25 September 2000<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> by Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States.<ref name="allmusic-stp">Template:Cite web</ref> The album contains featured vocal performances by James Taylor, Van Morrison, and Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze.
The title track is drawn from Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon, a novel about Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon,<ref name="independent">Template:Cite news</ref> the two English surveyors who established the border separating Pennsylvania and Delaware from Maryland and Virginia in the 1760s. This border later became known as the Mason–Dixon line and has been used since the 1820s to denote the border between the Southern United States and the Northern United States.
Critical reception
Template:Music ratings In his review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann gave the album three out of five stars, writing that "in one song after another on this album, you get the feeling that he started out playing some familiar song in a specific genre and eventually extrapolated upon it enough to call it an original."<ref name="allmusic-stp"/> In his review for Rolling Stone magazine, David Wild gave the album three and a half out of five stars, writing that the album is "a welcome flashback" to Knopfler's earlier work with Dire Straits.<ref name="rs-stp"/> Wild continued Template:Blockquote
By 2002, the album had sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="delafont">Template:Cite web</ref> In some territories—Western Europe for example—the album was released as an HDCD and a 5.1 Surround Sound DVD-A.
Touring
Template:Main In 2001, Knopfler supported the release of the album with his Sailing to Philadelphia Tour, which started on 27 March 2001 in Mexico City, Mexico, included 80 concerts in 68 cities, and ended on 31 July 2001 in Moscow, Russia. The tour consisted of three legs: Mexico and South America, North America, and Europe and Russia. The tour lineup included Mark Knopfler (guitar, vocals), Guy Fletcher (keyboards), Richard Bennett (guitar), Glenn Worf (bass), Chad Cromwell (drums), Geraint Watkins (piano, accordion), and Mike Henderson (guitar, mandolin, violin, harmonica).<ref name="mkinfo-stpt">Template:Cite web</ref>
The Madrid concert on 2 July 2001 was filmed but never released. The Toronto concert at Massey Hall on 3 May 2001 was also recorded, but only four tracks were officially released: "Speedway At Nazareth" (the B-side of "Why Aye Man"), "Who's Your Baby Now" (the B-side of "Boom, Like That"), "Sailing to Philadelphia" and "Brothers in Arms" (both available on a limited edition version of the album The Ragpicker's Dream).<ref name="mkinfo-stpt"/>
Track listing
All songs were written by Mark Knopfler.
- International version<ref group="Note">The standard Mercury international release has thirteen tracks as shown. The Mercury/Universal Distribution release has fourteen tracks and includes the bonus song "Do America" as track 6.<ref name="allmusic-stp"/></ref>
- United States version
(including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and other digital platforms)
Personnel
- Mark Knopfler – vocals, guitar
- Richard Bennett – guitar
- Jim Cox – piano, Hammond organ
- Guy Fletcher – keyboards, backing vocals
- Glenn Worf – bass guitar
- Chad Cromwell – drums
- Danny Cummings – percussion
- Paul Franklin – pedal steel guitar, lap steel guitar
- Frank Ricotti – marimba
- Aubrey Haynie – violin (1,10)
- Jim Hoke – autoharp, harmonica
- Wayne Jackson – trumpet
- Mike Haynes – flugelhorn
- Harvey Thompson – tenor saxophone
- Jim Horn – baritone saxophone, tenor saxophone
- James Taylor – vocals (2)
- Van Morrison – vocals (5)
- Gillian Welch and David Rawlings – vocals (8,10)
- Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford – vocals (International 6)
- Duane Starling – vocals
- Gillian Welch – vocals
- Chris Willis – vocals<ref name="album-notes">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>
- Production
- Mark Knopfler – producer
- Chuck Ainlay – producer, engineer, mixing
- Chubba Petocz – engineer
- Jon Bailey – assistant engineer
- Graham Lewis – assistant
- Mark Ralston – assistant
- Aaron Swihart – assistant
- Denny Purcell – mastering
- Jonathan Russell – mastering assistant
- Andrew Williams – portrait photography
- Eric Conn – editing
- Sandy Choron – art direction
- Harry Choron – design
- Jose Molina – photography (front cover)
- James Gritz – photography (back cover)
- Andrew Williams – photography (portrait)
- Ben Mikaelsen – photography (additional)<ref name="album-notes"/>
Charts
Weekly
| Chart (2000) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | 3 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | 2 |
| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| German Rock & Metal Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 12 |
Year-end
| Chart (2000) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 100 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 46 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 44 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 57 |
| Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 177 |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 14 |
| Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 10 |
| European Albums (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 21 |
| French Albums (SNEP)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 29 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 26 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 11 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 18 |
| Chart (2001) | Position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 98 |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 98 |
| Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 10 |
| European Albums (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 40 |
| French Albums (SNEP)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 125 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 62 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 93 |
Certifications
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References
- Notes
- Citations