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Nick Drake A-Z
An exploration into the world of the English singer & song-writer Nick Drake.

I'm only going to say this once: Of all the fine singer & song-writers emerging out of the late 60's and the 70's, Nick Drake is the greatest. During his short lifetime (he died 1974 at age 26), he produced three of the most beautiful, haunting and complex records of all times - works of sheer sincerity, with a timeless aura of pure genius. These pages are dedicated to his memory.

Categories that you will find in this Nick Drake A-Z section:
Appearance / Articles & Books / Birth & Upbringing / Boyd, Joe / Bryter Layter - the story 1969-70 / Cale, John / Cover versions & Tributes / Death / Drake, Gabrielle / Drake, Molly & Rodney / Education & Early song-writing / Fanzine / Five Leaves Left - the story 1968-69 / Guitar tabs / Guitar technique / Influences / Interviews / Kirby, Robert / Last years 1972-74 / Le Mythe de Sisyphe / Live performances / Lubow, Arthur / Martyn, John / Photos / Pink Moon - the story 1970-72 / Posthumous appreciation / Real Audio / Related music / Reviews / Robinson, Harry / Tanworth-in-Arden / Thompson, Richard / Wheeler, Paul / Witchseason

A B C F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A
Appearance
Paul Wheeler, a friend of Nick:


Nick's mother Molly:




Articles & Books








Here is a non-complete list of articles and books on the subject of Nick Drake:



Nick's interest in music awakened at an early stage of his life. Molly and Rodney Drake:


Boyd, Joe
Born 1943 in Boston. Producer of Nick's two first albums, 'Five Leaves Left' and 'Bryter Layter'. Boyd was in the sixties the manager and producer of Fairport Convention. He also produced Pink Floyd's debut single Arnold Layne in 1967. During the seventies and eightes, Boyd has produced various acts, like Richard Thompson, John martyn, Eric Clapton, 10 000 Maniacs and R.E.M. He is now running the record company Hannibal Records, currently working with a Cuban and a Hungarian female singer. Boyd about Nick Drake:

Read also this excellent interview with Joe Boyd


Bryter Layter - the record
Nick's second album, released in 1970 on Island Records. Also the title track of that album, an instrumental. The title, according to Chas Keep, is "a dire pun on the enunciation of BBC weather broadcasters at the time". (Keep, p. 72)

See Reviews for contemporary reviews of 'Bryter Layter'.


Bryter Layter - the story - 1969-70
The Hampstead room, where Nick composes the songs of this album, is on the ground floor of a Victorian building, in a room with towering ceilings and a single hanging light-bulb for light. In the winter the room is so cold that he takes the mattress off the bed, drags it near the gas fire, and piles up blankets for warmth. He says he wants to be alone to work. During a couple of months he writes all the songs for the album.

In the studio, Nick's search for perfection continues. Not satisfied with the sound and the arrangements of violins, he rejects the finished recordings. The date of release is postponed until March 5, and then postponed again. Joe Boyd and Nick return to the studio. All in all, the recording of the album lasts about nine months.

There are no existing outtakes from 'Bryter Layter', indicating that Nick had no more songs than the ten on the record, but there is also a theory saying that he had more songs, but didn't want to play them. The reason being that he was so proud of the three instrumentals on the record that he was afraid of being forced to leave out any of them in favor of a non-instrumental.

He doesn't have to worry, though. Producer Joe Boyd and engineer John Wood calls 'Bryter Layter' the one perfect album they have made, a masterpiece. Boyd is now convinced it's going to make Nick Drake a star, but he is wrong. It doesn't sell good either. Nick is crushed, although Island Records is satisfied with the 15.000 copies sold.

One critic calls 'Bryter layter' "the most intelligently produced album of its kind I've ever heard", whilst others describe the music as "near perfect" (Zig Zag) and " a triumph of eclecticism" (Rolling Stone).


C
Cale, John
Born 1940 in Garnant, South Wales. The early member of The Velvet Underground plays viola and harpsichord on Fly and celeste, piano and organ on Northern Sky (both from 'Bryter Layter')

The following anecdote was told by Richard Ross who snapped it up from a radio interview with Joe Boyd aired in July 1996: "Boyd was doing some work with John Cale, and during a break in recording Cale asked to hear some of the other artistes Boyd was working with, so he played him some of Nick's work. Cale was very enthusiastic and more or less demanded to meet Nick. He made Boyd phone Nick up there and then to tell him that Cale was on his way in a taxi to see him. A few days later the two of them returned with the arrangements for "Northern Sky".

Cover versions & Tributes
A list of cover versions of Nick Drake songs

 Of songs about or dedicated to Nick Drake can be mentioned Solid Air by John Martyn:

Martyn wrote this song (from album 'Solid Air', Island, 1973) as a kind of reply to the "fight" between him and Nick around 1973. (see under Last years).

More John Martyn: On his first album, 'London Conversation' (1968), Martyn recorded a song by Robin Frederick - Sandy Grey - which, apparently without Martyn's knowledge, was written about Nick Drake.

SANDY GREY

Oh, Sandy Grey
Are you going away?
Leave me a message before parting.
Time has changed you
And the things that pained you
Are the things you think of as you're starting.

Oh, Sandy Grey
It's only this I pray
That you would stay here one more day in laughter.
Won't you hang around and hold me
Repeat all the lies you told me
Do your rambling after.

Oh, Sandy Grey
Don't leave me just today
Don't think of the road you'll be going
Think of all the time
And the days we've had to mind
And a future there's no way of knowing.

Oh, Sandy Grey
I thought I heard you say
You haven't heard a word I've been speaking
There's no use in tryin'
You're escaping from my mind
And I'll never see the world you're seeking.

Oh, Sandy Grey
Are you going away?
Leave me a message before parting
Time has changed you
And the things that pained you
Are the things you think of as you're starting.


© 1967 Robin Frederick

The Boor Boy Is Taken Away is the title of a Richard Thompson song, which apparently seems to be about Nick. It's sung by Linda Thompson, and included on her compilation album 'Dreams Fly Away', but originally released on Richard and Linda's 1975 album, 'Pour Down Like Silver' (thanks to Suellen Holland for the transcription).

THE POOR BOY IS TAKEN AWAY

Hold him, poor boy, you took him for fun
He dressed for the tinkering trade
He dressed for the tinkering trade
Now the poor boy is taken away.

No use waiting like a ghost in a dream
The world has no comfort to bring
The world has no comfort to bring
He left you, took everything.

No use standing, waving adieu
The penny won't drop in your mind
The penny won't drop in your mind
The old flame has left you behind.

No use crying in a room full of memories
You'll never find yesterday
You'll never find yesterday
And the poor boy is taken away.

River Man featured in Dreams With The Fishes movie soundtrack
English singer/song-writer Robyn Hitchcock has recently (June, 1997) written a song about Nick, "I Saw Nick Drake". It's not yet released on any album (thanks to Hal Brandt for the transcription). I've heard Robyn perform the song on a radio show and on a live recording, and it's absolutely brilliant.

I SAW NICK DRAKE

I Saw Nick Drake
At the corner of time and motion
I caught his eye
And he caught mine
I said, "You're tall!"
He said, "No deeper than tomorrow's ocean"
I saw Nick Drake
And he was fine

And we're in bloom
Yes we're in bloom

I saw Nick Drake
As we were carrying the ice together
I saw his face
Beneath the glass
The net was gone
And all his strawberries of English weather (?)
I saw Nick Drake
I saw him pass

And we're in bloom
Yeah we're in bloom

I saw Nick Drake
The habits of a lifetime
Will lay you low
Into your grave
And when you're gone
You take the whole world with you
I saw Nick Drake
I saw him wave.
English group The Kitchen Cynics have written a song about Nick, called Now's The Time. It's included on a casstte called 'The Quiet Ones' (available from Bliss/Aquamarine, 68 Barlich Way, Lodge Park, Redditch, Worcs, B98 7JP, England).

NOW'S THE TIME

Clouds have passed now, see the wind blow hairy witches through the air
He went to bed when trees were green but felt the blackness everywhere
He couldn't seem to find the rhyme
Watched the seasons for a sign
But now, now's the time
Now's the time for Nicholas.

Shoulders hunched he walked the pathway through the alley to the pond
Sending signals, shunning small talk, hoping someone would respond
He couldn't seem to find the rhyme
Watched the seasons for a sign
But now, now's the time
Now's the time for Nicholas.

Skimming stones and counting ripples, he waited for the breeze to die
So much effort just to feel things, eventually he didn't try
He couldn't seem to find the rhyme

Miscellaneous use of Nick's music the recent years include Nike's use of Know for a training-shoe commercial, the appearance of Fruit Tree and Time Has Told Me in TV drama 'Heartbeat', Horn in a documentary about skinheads (!) and Hazey Jane I, used as background music on the 'Food and Drink Programme' in the UK.
British group The Lilac Time, with singer Stephen Duffy, took their name from Nick's song River Man.
Another tribute to Nick Drake is The Dream Academy's hit Life In A Northern Town from 1985. The Dream Academy also dedicated their debut album, 'The Dream Academy' (Blanco Y Negro, 1985), to Nick.
The Cure performed a Nick Drake song in 1991 when they were recording their MTV's unplugged concert. The song was Time Has Told Me. It wasn't in the broadcast but the song was performed. (thanks to Tomi Tarkiainen for this info)
English group Faith Over Reason has recorded songs by Drake. Their vocalist Moira Lambert sang on St Etiennes debut hit Only Love Can Break Your Heart.
Brooklyn group Ida have a song called Nick Drake on their debut album 'Tales Of Brave Ida' (Simple Machines, 1994) and they also include a song from 'Pink Moon' in their live set.
Brazilian singer Renato Russo has done a cover of Clothes Of Sand. His records are distributed by EMI.
According to Juan Maniel of Spain, the Spanish indie group Los Planetas has done a beautiful cover of "Northern Sky" translating the lyrics into spanish: "Cielo del Norte" on their "Punk" single.
New Zeeland band The Chills:

(Song For Randy Newman Etc, from 'Soft Bomb', Slash, 1992)

On Porcupine Tres's album 'The Sky Moves Sideways' (Delerium Records, 1996) the dedication reads:

Composer Andrew Keeling has written two pieces dedicated to Nick Drake's memory: 'Nekiya', a Chamber Concerto for solo percussion and chamber orchestra, and 'Auguries of Innocence', written for the Hilliard Ensemble in 1993. He has also dedicated an organ piece called "Assumptio" to the memory of Molly Drake. It will be performed by Robert Fielding in Clifton Cathedral, Bristol on January 11th, 1997. Keeling: "Molly said that she often used to play it at the piano. Molly was of great encouragement to me, because for one reason or another, I began to compose rather late. As a thankyou, I dedicated Assumptio to her".
Nick's music, 30 seconds of Saturday Sun, is included in the soundtrack to the movie "En avoir (ou pas)" (1995) aka "To Have (or not)" (1995). It's the debut film of French director Laetitia Masson, and has been described as a love story in the vein of "Reality Bites", only better.
Horror/fantasy writer Poppy Z. Brites mentions Nick Drake in her debut novel 'Lost Souls' (Penguin, 1993). This modern vampire story includes a lot of references to rock music, such as Tom Waits, Velvet Underground and Bauhaus, and the following quote is from a scene in which the main character, called Nothing, shoots up heroin for the first time:

Although it's not unlikely he did at some time, I have never seen or heard anyone suggesting Nick used heroin.

(Boston-based?) singer Jabe Beyer frequently includes a version of "Things Behind The Sun" in his live set. It's not yet on any record.
According to the McGrath article in Dirty Linen, another tribute album has been mentioned, not yet made. The contributors were supposed to include Elton John, Phil Collins, John Martyn, Robyn Hitchcock, Henry Kaiser and Richard Thompson. As in the case of Phil Collins, I sincerely hope this project will never see the daylight...

A B C F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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