I've always loved Dire Straights too, and have benefitted greatly from all of your suggestions.
As to JJ Cale - IMHO, he's one of the most underrated artists of our times! I had the pleasure of seeing him live back in '95 or so at a very small forum in Kansas City. Not to turn the thread, but does anyone know of any well recorded JJ Cale disks? Most of his CD's are a bit murky to my taste.