I was bored last night, flipping through the channels as usual, and I came across the Voltswagon Cabrio commercial with the Nick Drake song “Pink Moon” in it. So, I looked him up on Amazon.com, and I was completely blown away. His music is incredible! Anybody else a fan? Just wondering.
I was still fairly young when he died but remember the news in the local paper (he lived 3-4 miles up the road). Then I made a point of checking out his music a few years later when I had some kind of appreciation and found he grew and grew on me.
Definitely of the English folkie tradition (like, perhaps, Richard Thompson) and a total craftsmanship. Everything I’ve read suggests his character pretty much reflected the gentle nature but deep quality of his work and you imagine his song writing was a very natural extension of the man himself. Very sad.
Couldn’t recommend one of the three albums over another – just part of the whole.
Glad to see his name again and I hope people take the time to check out Nick’s music.
On seeing this thread I dug out my vinyl box set of Nicks albums (“Fruit Tree”) and I am listening to it now.
I don’t know how much you have listened to yet but there should be four albums available at the minute. These are;
[ul]
[li]Five leaves left.[/li][li]Bryter Layter.[/li][li]Pink Moon.[/li][li]Time of no reply.[/li][/ul]
For a complete issued body of work to hold together so well is remarkable, he was a very special and talented chap. As you might imagone, there are several fan sites around, like this.
Although he signed to Island way back, the way to find his stuff now is via Rykodisc. (Island now being a lackey of the mighty Universal / Seagram and spitting on their heritage, bastards.)
Little known fact is his sister is actress Gabrielle Drake who is quite the cutie and appeared in things like “UFO” and “The Avengers”. I wont link to her sites because she did quite a bit of softcore stuff and, this being the Internet, the nudie pics seem to be the first thing you see… Although she did a lot of cheeseball stuff, she is actually a good actress, honest! 
Happy listening.
The Cabrio commercial led me (and many, many others) to an appreciation of Nick Drake. There were many articles written about this phenomenon in business and advertising magazines when the commercial first came out. Three years ago it was unlikely that a large music store would carry Drake’s albums as regular stock; now they aren’t #1 sellers but they’re pretty much always available.
BTW, Drake issued three albums of original music; Time of No Reply is, IIRC, a posthumous album of previously unreleased songs put together for the box set (although it was released separately as well). Also available are Way to Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake – which is sort of a greatest hits album – as well as the Tarnworth in Arden album, which I believe is just a bunch of covers he recorded in his basement before his real albums came out.
–Cliffy
Nick Drake (IMVHO) is one of the most incredible singer/songwriters I’ve ever heard. I remember the ephiphany when I first heard some of his stuff back in 1988; the hairs stood up on the back of my neck.
Sometimes I wonder if the tragedy of his life makes his music the more poignant, but then I listen to it and realise it was amazingly haunting in the first place.
IMHO the later albums, when his depression was really kicking in, are the best; some of the earlier songs were arranged by um… can’t remember his name… that dude out of Fairport Convention, and can be a bit cheesy; that doesn’t denigrate the songs though. Northern Sky was voted ‘best love song of all time’ in the NME.
I’d better stop or could I go on all day. He’s my favourite, one of the few people to whom the epithet ‘genius’ could be applied. Guaranteed to upset and uplift at the same time.
I can’t say whether or not he arranged for Nick Drake but Ashley Hutchings, who featured on the first four Fairport Convention albums, is thought to have discovered Drake. Various other members of Fairport played on his recordings.
Way To Blue is a ‘best of’ compilation but it features one previously unreleased track in From The Morning.
Nick Drake was produced by Joe Boyd for his Witchseason label. When Boyd sold Witchseason to Island records he stipulated that, as part of the deal, Drake’s recordings were never to be deleted.
That actually sums up my first impression of his music. Haunting, yet it makes you very happy.