Mark Knopfler on how he enlisted Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and dozens more for the all-star Local Hero theme

While Mark Knopfler was busy making One Deep River, he also found time – along with partner in crime Guy Fletcher – to produce a remarkable recording in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust charity.

Taking his well-known theme music from the 1983 film Local Hero as its basis, over 60 of the world’s greatest guitar players contributed parts to the single, including Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Pete Townshend and Slash. Poignantly, it also features the last known studio guitar session by Jeff Beck.

The project, which was released under the name Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes, made plenty of headlines when it finally came out in March, so we asked Mark for his behind-the-scenes account of how it all came together.

“I mean, the organisers knew more people than I do,” Mark says with a smile. “I couldn’t believe it. And yet it seemed that the more people the organisers suggested to me and Guy, the more people were getting on it. Poor Guy did great – I mean, he worked a lot harder than I did on this thing.

“We did have time to discuss the way something felt occasionally and where it might go, but a lot of the hands-on work had to go to Guy because he’s got all the recording and engineering skills at his disposal. Thank goodness he does.

“Guy did a great job, really. Because [the list of contributing players] could have gone from here to Leeds,” Mark chuckles, adding that the number of players who got involved meant that two separate edits had to be made for release.

“Cutting it down to two [versions] was the solution, really,” Mark explains. “Just one for the radio – which would be desperately savage cutting – and the other one that lets the track stretch out a bit… I think it’s about eight or nine minutes. But we used to make records that long anyway, in the old days [laughs], so it’s fine.

“But I just really want to thank everybody for such fabulous input and such great session playing from beginning to end. Pete Townshend came in first and did what only Pete Townshend can do with a chord – or two or three. And then Eric Clapton came and played some lovely guitar and different licks.

“After that, it was David Gilmour… and people like Joe Bonamassa would just send stuff in from their studios. But it was all fantastic.”

Of the process of making such disparate contributions hang together in something like a coherent, musical fashion, he says: “All you have to do is just try to treat it the way you would treat your own playing. And, I mean, it’s your baby, you just want the best thing you can for it. Obviously, it’s a little crowded down there in the vegetable market [sic], but I think Guy did a sterling job, considering, and I’m really pleased with the way it came out.”

• Going Home (Theme from Local Hero) is out now via BMG.