Remembering Nick Drake

Posted by Flick in Artist Review on 12 4th, 2008 | no responses |

Thirty-four years have slipped by since Nick Drake passed from this earth on November 25, 1974. His life was full of mystery; Nick Drake has become the Emily Dickinson of our day, remaining in relative obscurity during his twenty-six years yet to be fully discovered after his death. Only performing a known nineteen times and recording three studio albums between 1969 to 1972, the mystery of Nick Drake’s life matches the compelling tones of his music.

Nick Drake began to write music at the age of nineteen. His passion for linguistics, studying English and French, and reading a large amount of poetry heavily influenced his lyrical approach. Every word had purpose and he allowed the words to slip off his tongue in his own distinct vocal style.

He was also a man of few words when he was outside his home. The following years led him into a tomb of depression, pushing him into an addiction to marijuana and LSD. He was prescribed Tryptizol in 1971, but he was afraid and embarrassed to take it, fearing the affects of mixing the anti-depressant with other drugs.

While Nick was performing at an anti-war festival in 1969, Ashley Hutchings of Fairport Convention heard Drake and recommended Drake to Joe Boyd. Nick signed with Island Records and began recording Five Leaves Left at Sound Techniques in London, full of rich string arrangements. His contract with Island stated that his catalogue of recordings would never go out of print. Nick felt very uncomfortable performing in front of an audience and was unwilling to follow up the release with tours. He also shunned interviews with journalists, making it difficult to market his music.

Drake’s debut album failed to chart, selling only a few thousand copies. He began to work on his follow-up, to be called Bryter Layter, released on November 1, 1970. The sophomore recordings continued with string arrangements, drums, flute, saxophone, piano and organ. When the album didn’t sell well Nick quit performing live and withdrew from public life. It was during this time that Nick began to struggle with depression.

“Stay indoors
Beneath the floors
Talk with neighbors only.
The games you play
Make people say
You’re either weird or lonely.”
(At The Chime of a City Clock)

In 1971 Nick decided to record again but his manager, Joe Boyd, was in Los Angeles. John Wood brought Drake into the studio for two days. It was during this stripped down recording session that Nick Drake was most comfortable. Nick accompanied his guitar tracks with piano for only the title track, Pink Moon. The album would be released on the cold wintry day of February 25, 1972.

Selling even fewer copies Nick further withdrew. He moved in with his family for short periods of time, leaving without saying goodbye. Drake would show up at his friends’ homes in London and Paris, stay for days and sleep on their couches. He would sleep all day and stay up at night, holding sparse conversations.

In 1974 Nick Drake called up Joe Boyd with the desire to record again. The result was a four-song recording session that he would never release during his lifetime. The songs would later be released posthumously in 1986, eleven years after his death as Time of No Reply. Nick Drake would borrow his mother’s reel-to-reel tape recorder and tracked demos of his songs. These rough recordings were released in 2007 on an album called Family Tree.

It is said that shortly before Nick Drake died that he began to feel hopeful and happy. Nick had decided to pull himself out of his introspection. His mother found him stretched out on his bed on November 25, 1974. Nick overdosed on Tryptizol in his family home and the coroner determined it as a suicide, though family members believed that Nick was trying to get a boost out of his depression by taking additional anti-depressants.

After his death, more people began to discover his music. Fruit Tree was released in 1979 as a box-set of his three studio albums. In the 1980s several artists began to refer to Nick Drake as an influential artist. A biography was written about him in 1997 and a documentary, A Stranger Among Us, was made in 1998. Nick Drake’s song, Pink Moon, was used in a Volkswagen commercial in 2000 and in one month Nick Drake sold more albums than the preceding thirty years. Nick Drake’s name is now listed by many as one of the most influential artists in the past 50 years.

References:
http://www.nickdrake.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Drake
http://www.brytermusic.com/

Nick Drake – Time Has Told Me (Five Leaves Left)
Nick Drake – One Of These Things First (Bryter Layter)
Nick Drake – Pink Moon (Pink Moon)
Nick Drake – Time Of No Reply (Time of No Reply)

Nick Drake Discography:
Five Leaves Left (1969)
Bryter Layter (1970)
Pink Moon (1971)
Fruit Tree (1979)
Time of No Reply (1986)
Family Tree (2007)