Nick Drake

JOHN PARISH & ALDOUS HARDING Groove And Move On Their NICK DRAKE Cover

Posted on by JL

25 May 2023


(Photo by Michelle Henning)

On 7th July a new NICK DRAKE tribute album, named
The Endless Coloured Ways – The Songs Of Nick Drake
will be released.

Folk songsmith Drake (1948-1974) was/is an inspiration for many singer-songwriters.
His 3 LPs Five Leaves Left (1969), Bryter Layter (1970), and Pink Moon (1972) were and
still are widely lauded. The trouble artist died following an overdose of amitriptyline,
an antidepressant, aged only 26.

25 covers will feature on the compilation. Involved among others are Ben Harper, David Gray, Craig Armstrong, Liz Phair, John Grant, Irish post-punk heroes Fontaines D.C. and also New Zealand songstress ALDOUS HARDING and longtime PJ Harvey collaborator and celebrated producer JOHN PARISH (also 6 solo LPs on his résumé).

The pair picked Drake’s 1969 composition THREE HOURS from the Five Leaves Left LP.

The duo’s take is a Krautrock-like-spinning masterstroke. It moves and grooves along a hypnotic bass riff and a steady drum beat with doomy synths working their way to the front. Mesmerizing and intoxicating while duet vocals float all over it, alluring and affecting. Special, really special.

Enjoy.

Original.

NICK DRAKE: Bio – Discography

(Nick Drake image: cover of ‘No Time To Reply‘ compilation LP)

The Late Great NICK DRAKE Is The Cover Star Of New UNCUT Magazine Issue

Posted on by JL

15 May 2023

Forty-eight years on from his untimely death, the tragic myth of NICK DRAKE (1948-1974) persists. But there is another Nick Drake: the spirited and untroubled young man, on the cusp of a bright future, who travelled to Europe and North Africa in pursuit of adventure and honed his skills along the way.

In this new issue Drake’s school friends, fellow travellers and assorted eyewitnesses relive the freewheeling times — from playing folk clubs in Aix-en-Provence, France to an audience with the Stones in Marrakesh.

This month’s free CD named MADE TO LOVE MAGIC is a 15-track one, with music
in the spirit of Nick Drake. Artists such as Joan Shelley, Adrianne Lenker, Cass McCombs,
and Robyn Hitchcock are part of it.

Also in this month’s issue: Stephen Stills, New York
Doll David Johanson, Ringo Starr and more.

You can purchase a copy and let it
be sent to your home. Info HERE.

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NICK DRAKE: Bio – Discography

‘PINK MOON’ Album By NICK DRAKE Released 50 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

Back in time

25 February 2022

Artist: NICK DRAKE
Who: Heart and soul singer-songwriter who became
a legend after his death in, after an overdose of amitriptyline,
a prescribed antidepressant. He was only 26.

Anniversary album: PINK MOON
His third and final LP
Released: 25 February 1972 – 50 years ago today

Rolling Stone wrote: Pink Moon is folk icon Nick Drake’s third and last full album — and at less than 30 minutes, it can seem as starkly foreshortened as the singer’s life, which ended in 1974 when he was 26. But as one of Drake’s friends put it, “If something’s that intense, it can’t be measured in minutes.” Rousing himself out of one of the paralyzing depressions that plagued him in his last years, Drake recorded these 11 tracks in two nights, often in just one take. He accompanies himself only on acoustic guitar, except for the title track, on which he overdubs a brief, lovely piano part.

Stream the beauty here…

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NICK DRAKE: Story


Back and front sleeve in one

NICK DRAKE – Second LP ‘BRYTER LAYTER Released 50 Years Ago Today

Posted on by JL

6 March 2021

Artist: NICK DRAKE (UK)
Full name: Nicholas Rodney Drake.
19 June 1948 – 24 November 1974 (only 26)

Album: BRYTER LAYTER
Released: 6 March 1971 – 50 years ago today
Collaborators: Members of Fairport Convention,
John Cale, and Beach Boys‘ musicians Mike Kowalski,
Ed Carter and Paul Harri.

Nick Drake soon after the release: “I had something
in mind when I wrote the songs, knowing that they weren’t
just for me. The album took a long time to do, in fact, we
started it almost a year ago. But I’m not altogether clear
about this album – I haven’t got to terms with the whole
presentation.”

Rolling Stone: “Nick Drake may be the most ethereal recording artist I’ve ever heard. His fleeting career — the moody, mysterious music, the remote relationship with his record company — seemed calculated to distance him from reality. Yet his hushed songs touch a rare tranquillity that approaches poetry, and when he died in 1974 at the age of 26, he left behind three albums which are gradually making him a posthumous legend. ‘Bryter Layter’ is the second of these LPs to. Drake’s melodies are seldom less than enchanting. Built around acoustic folk-jazz guitar figures and muffled percussion, they become emotionally charged when shaded by arranger Robert Kirby’s poignant, eddying strings. Drake’s impressionistic lyrics are vivid but provocatively sketchy, making them as curiously personal as phrases mumbled in sleep. They’re delivered in an airy, nearly unconscious whisper that blends as naturally into the arrangements as a breeze rippling through tall grass.”

Score: #23 of the “100 Greatest British Albums Ever” (Q Magazine).
#14 of “The Greatest Albums of the ‘70s” (NME).
#245 of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” (Rolling Stone).

TUTV: Musically his most frolicsome LP. Romantic pearls about loss
and loneliness. 5-star reveries with a relaxing and dreamy timbre.
Greatly arranged and orchestrated.

Full album…

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NICK DRAKE: Biography