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Nick Drake Home page | Discography | Lyrics | A-Z | Interviews | News | Links
Nick Drake Home page | Discography | Lyrics | A-Z | Interviews | News | Links
Cover versions
Here is a list of cover versions of Nick Drake songs known to me:
| Artist/Group | Song | Album | Year | Record company |
| Alexis Korner | Saturday Sun | Alexis Korner | 1971 | Metronome LMLP 15 802 |
| Millie* | Mayfair | Time Will Tell | 1972 | ? |
| Andrew Johns | Time Has Told Me | The Machine Stops | 1972 | CBS |
| Tir Na Nog | Free Ride | Strong In The Sun | 1973 | Island |
| Mick Linnard and David Hughes | River Man | Russel Square | 1978 | Transatlantic |
| Scott Appel | Bird Flew By | Nine Of Swords | 1989 | Schoolkids Records |
| - | Place To Be | - | - | - |
| - | Parasite | - | - | - |
| - | Nearly/Far Leys | - | - | - |
| - | Blossom | - | - | - |
| - | Our Season | - | - | - |
| Casell Webb | Time Has Told Me | Songs Of A Stranger | 1989 | Venture VE45A |
| Lucinda Williams | Which Will | True Voices | 1990 | Demon Fiend CD 165 |
| Lucinda Williams | Which Will | Life In The Folk Lane | 1992 | Demon Fiend CD 722 |
| Lucinda Williams | Which Will | Rare On Air (1) / Live performances | 1994 | Mammoth Mr 0074-2 |
| Skin | Black Eyed Dog | Ten Songs For Another World | 1990 | Young God YG CD 2 |
| Drive | Road | Out Freakage | 1992 | First Strike Fst 020 |
| Walt Mink | Pink Moon | Miss Happiness | 1992 | Caroline Carcd 19 |
| - | - | Brittle Days** | 1992 | Imaginary illcd 026 |
| The Changelings | River Man | - | - | - |
| The High Llamas | At The Chime Of A City Clock | - | - | - |
| Loop | Pink Moon | - | - | - |
| No Man | Road | - | - | - |
| The Walkabouts | Cello Song | - | - | - |
| Shelleyan Orphan | Joey | - | - | - |
| Scott Appel | From The Morning | - | - | - |
| The Times | Fruit Tree | - | - | - |
| Martyn Bates | Know | - | - | - |
| The Swinging Swine | Voice From The Mountain | - | - | - |
| Nikki Sudden & The French Revolution | Time Has Told me | - | - | - |
| Tracy Santa | Fly | - | - | - |
| Clive Gregson | Northern Sky | - | - | - |
| Scott Appel | Hazey Jane | - | - | - |
| Stevie R Moore | River Man | - | - | - |
| Sebadoh | Pink Moon | Sebadoh Versus Helmet | 1992 | 20 Recordings Wigcd 3 |
| Swans | Black Eyed Dog | Omniscience | 1992 | Young GodYg CD7 |
| House On Stilts | Place To Be | 7" EP, b-side | ? | Swank Records |
| Ray Carmen & Ken Clinger | Fly | Hopes and Fears (cassette) | 1995 | POP-5 |
| Run On | Road | No Way | 1997 | Matador OLE-229 |
| Star Hustler | Clothes Of Sand | Vapid Drivel | 1997 | Dirt Records |
Footnotes
* Yes, it's the same (Jamaican) Millie, who did My Boy Lollipop in
the sixties. 'Time Will Tell' was her come-back attempt.
** 'Brittle Days' is a tribute album.
The first one ever to cover Nick Drake has got to be Elton John,
since he recorded four Drake songs (Day Is Done, Saturday Sun, Way To Blue
and Time Has Told Me) on a demo way back in 1968. As far as I know these
songs are available on bootlegs only - 'Nick Drake Sessions' (Tontonkain,
1994) and 'Saturday Sun Sessions' (Sound Techniques EJCD 348).
Peter Holsapple: Horn
Peter Blegvad: Been Smoking Too Long
Susan Cowsill: Way To Blue
Katell Keineg: Time Has Told Me
Peter Blegvad: Clothes Of Sand
Mimi Goese: Black Eyed Dog
Sloan Wainwright: Time Of No Reply
Richard Barone: Northern Sky
Richard Davies: Fly
Duncan Sheik: Hazey Jane I
Rebecca Moore: Fruit Tree
Musicians: Peter Holsapple (guitar, piano, bass), Chris Cunningham (guitar),
Michelle Kinney (cello), David Mansfield (violin, mandolin), Deni Bonet
(violin)
The concert was recorded and broadcasted Nov 25 on WFUV-FM in New York.
Brittle Days - Song by song review (by Mikael
Ledin)
Ratings 0-10
The Changelings - River Man
It's not a great mistake to give River Man a world-music arrangement
like these guys do, but it's a terrible mistake to let this anemic girlsinger
perform it without any sense of affection whatsoever. Rating: 3
The High llamas - At The Chime Of A City Clock
The High Llamas must in some inverted way be accomplished for turning
this masterpiece into elevator music; you know the kind of background music
you hear in shopping malls, making you buy more stuff. Music made not to
disturb anyone. They think. Well, I certainly am disturbed by this crap
version. Rating: 0
Loop - Pink Moon
Slackers transforming Pink Moon into slacker pop. Not very good, actually.
Rating: 3
No Man - Road
No Man? Never heard of before, but this is quite a decent version.
Stark, again with a touch of world-music, and a singer who sounds like
David Sylvian. Very nice piano interplay. Rating: 6
The Walkabouts - 'Cello song
This is the most well-known act on this record, which says something
about its underground status. They are also one of the few that adds something
fresh to the original with successful outcoming. Modern American country
rock meets English eccentrity, with a slice of The Velvet Underground.
Rating:7
Shellyann Orphan - Joey
Shelly...who?? Anyway, now we're getting somewhere. This makes my heart
melt. A superb piano version that puts the beautiful melody in the foreground.
CD on repeat. Rating: 9
Scott Appel - From The Morning & Hazey Jane I
Scott Appel, the author of the sleeve notes, is also the artist that
is most faithful to the originals. What he lacks in originality is compensated
by respect for the Drake versions. Maybe a little too much respect. Ratings:
5 / 6
The Times - Fruit Tree
Another anemic girl singing the perhaps most complex song of them all
in the Drake catalogue. A kind of spooky gothrock version that could have
been by Lush. I can't really decide if it's intense or just hysteric...
Rating: 5
Martyn Bates - Know
Some words just don't fit toghether. In my book, Nick Drake and Barbershop
are...like, three of them. This is a minimalistic masterpiece turned into
an annoying a cappella. Know I don't like this... Rating: 1
The Swinging swine - Voice From A Mountain
Coming this far into the record, I have to question whether these artists
have any kind of relation to or interest in Nick's music. This is just
another girl singing musically correctly, until she forgets what tune she's
into and picks up the melody of As Tears Go By. Watered down. Rating: 2
Nikki Sudden & the French Revolution - Time Has Told Me
Just when I thought things couldn't get worse... This version contains
half the song played for twice as long, with two out of five chords being
right. I guess he had no clue how to play the remaining part. Furthermore,
it's rockabilly. You won't believe it until you hear it, but on the other
hand you won't then either... To the guillotine, please! Rating: 0
Tracy Santa - Fly
For your information, Tracy is a man. Don't know if he's got a white
beard, though. The most positive aspect of this cover is that his voice
bears resemblances to John Cale's, but it's kind of uninteresting really.
Rating: 4
Clive Gregson - Northern Sky
Well, well, well. This sweet-singing catastrophe of a crooner has the
nerve to set his polished feet on Holy Ground. Backing him is something
sounding like the local Christian Choir, with the helping hand of the church's
senile organist. Rating: 2
R. Stevie Moore - River Man
If I want to be kind (I do), I'll call Stevie's voice "original".
The truth, though, is more that he sounds like a drugged man having his
eyes and mouth opened by force. The instrumental arrangement is so close
to the original that I suspect the presence of a sampler. As a whole, however,
it's way over avarage. Rating: 6