The tragedy of Nick Drake

rze99

Gentle chap with a handful of incredibly lovely songs which I at least love.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/27/nick-drake-the-life-richard-morton-jack-biography-extracts

roberty

I read a biography about him, it put me in a rotten mood for weeks. Just horrible and he was so uniquely gifted. Pink Moon is a masterpiece, even with just his guitar each song is a complete piece of music

Northern Sky is a bit magical, a favourite of mine

https://youtu.be/BBBkFWXiL9Q

Winny_Pooh

Reading the article, I'm not so sure that Pink Moon sounds that bleak unless you knew Nick personally at the time. I do wonder if his suicide contributes to some mystique, as i've not found his albums to be so much more brilliant than those of contemporaries like John Martyn, Tim Buckley, Neil Young, Joni etc

I'm acquainted with Brian Wells, who I believe has Nick's d-28 that was supposedly The studio guitar for much of his albums rather than the Guild. 

oh_pollo

I think he's underrated as a guitarist. Those last recordings like 'Black Eyed Dog' are as haunting as anything from the Blues canon. Don't think he ever played a Guild just used it for a photo shoot. Think it might have been Clapton's?

roberty

oh_pollo said:

I think he's underrated as a guitarist. Those last recordings like 'Black Eyed Dog' are as haunting as anything from the Blues canon. Don't think he ever played a Guild just used it for a photo shoot. Think it might have been Clapton's?

Not sure but if you're interested in his guitar sound this video is a good watch

UnclePsychosis

roberty said:

oh_pollo said:

I think he's underrated as a guitarist. Those last recordings like 'Black Eyed Dog' are as haunting as anything from the Blues canon. Don't think he ever played a Guild just used it for a photo shoot. Think it might have been Clapton's?

Not sure but if you're interested in his guitar sound this video is a good watch

Thats a great video, thanks for sharing. 

richman6100

Nick Drake is a favourite of mine and I do, possibly from a position of bias, consider his three albums to be superb. They are all quite different from one another, partly down to the songwriting, but also the production. He was reportedly quite unhappy with Joe Boyd's production on Bryter Later. His early death has undoubtedly added to the mystique around him, but I don't think that this is the only reason for the posthumous recognition that his work received.

I have more albums by John Martyn than any other artist and two of those would make my top 10 of all time. That said, I regard Drake as his equal as a singer/songwriter, although obviously not as a live performer. Drake was a contradictory character, gifted and at times arrogant, but ultimately deeply unsure of his ability as a musician. His potential was never realised, but he left us with three wonderful albums.

octatonic

richman6100 said:

Drake was a contradictory character, gifted and at times arrogant, but ultimately deeply unsure of his ability as a musician. 

That is actually the same thing.
Arrogance often comes from a place of insecurity.

Stuckfast

I used to have a bootleg of his early home recordings. Even though they were recorded only a year or two before his first album, there's absolutely no hint of his talent in them at all. They're mostly mediocre covers of folk club and blues standards. It seems as though he must have discovered his own sound and developed it almost overnight.

thecolourbox

I've been slowly guiding myself down the rabbit hole of his music for a few weeks now, having previously only really had a passing like for his music and a respect for the craft, the arrangement styles, and the general mood. In the past his music is generally something I've liked the idea of, rather than actually really loving the music itself if that makes sense. 

But I've now been listening properly, ie concentrating on it and listening with headphones rather than just while driving or in the background etc. And I think I'm finally fully getting it and really enjoying immersing myself in the songs. Northern Sky was and still is a favourite in particular.

People have tended to mention him when they've heard me singing and playing guitar - not that I'm anywhere near his abilities for either, let me be clear on that. But people have tended to assume I'm influenced by him and are surprised when I say I'm not really that familiar with his stuff. I suppose I sort of am, in that I am influenced by things that probably influenced him (i hear some Bert Jansch influence in his stuff) and also influenced by people who seem to have been influenced by him (for example Jeff Buckley, Damien Rice etc).

I suppose I have a similar soft voice and play only with my fingers, on quite dull strings sounds, and of course I'm quite a negative depressive person so I suppose the combination of those does kind of suggest a similarity.

But yeah, I finally "get it" and am now happy to say, I do love the music. I'm often quite late to the party with a lot music but I get there, and I'm grateful when I do

richman6100

octatonic said:

richman6100 said:

Drake was a contradictory character, gifted and at times arrogant, but ultimately deeply unsure of his ability as a musician. 

That is actually the same thing.
Arrogance often comes from a place of insecurity.

Absolutely. 

richman6100

thecolourbox said:

But yeah, I finally "get it" and am now happy to say, I do love the music. 

I was the same with John Martyn. Didn't get him at first, but then one day the penny dropped and he eventually became one of my favourite artists. I guess that, sometimes, the music which isn't immediately accessible can be some of the finest.

Springywheel

Incredible artist; but before listening to Pink Moon especially, I have to ask myself "do I want to be in a foul mood for the rest of the day?". But it's such a good album that it's usually worth it . With just him and his guitar on the recording it's very intimate and honest sounding. Shame his stuff only recently started getting recognition. 

roberty

Springywheel said:

Incredible artist; but before listening to Pink Moon especially, I have to ask myself "do I want to be in a foul mood for the rest of the day?". But it's such a good album that it's usually worth it . With just him and his guitar on the recording it's very intimate and honest sounding. Shame his stuff only recently started getting recognition. 

It was terribly unfashionable at the time. Hippies were out and glam was in. Marc Bolan made that transition. Drake was his own thing, but sonically you could lump it in with hippie stuff of the era

DaveJames

Such a tradagy,  depression then was a taboo, the answer to this terrible illness was "pull yourself together".

thecolourbox

DaveJames said:

Such a tradagy,  depression then was a taboo, the answer to this terrible illness was "pull yourself together".

In my experience, it's not really any more than that now to be fair...

Offset

River Man is one of my favourite songs.  It takes me to a different place - a happy sunlit place of my childhood, bobbing about in a boat on the Norfolk Broads.  Yet mixed in with that is poignancy and a longing for something I can never have again.  Bitter-sweet.

DaveJames

Offset said:

River Man is one of my favourite songs.  It takes me to a different place - a happy sunlit place of my childhood, bobbing about in a boat on the Norfolk Broads.  Yet mixed in with that is poignancy and a longing for something I can never have again.  Bitter-sweet.

I read somewhere that  "Betty" in the lyrics is an alagory for depression. 

DaveJames

thecolourbox said:

DaveJames said:

Such a tradagy,  depression then was a taboo, the answer to this terrible illness was "pull yourself together".

In my experience, it's not really any more than that now to be fair...

Sadly I agree, I've had to put up with the bastard
For 25 years.

theatreanchor

I have nothing but praise, respect and admiration for Nick Drake. 

mudslide73

Stuckfast said:

I used to have a bootleg of his early home recordings. Even though they were recorded only a year or two before his first album, there's absolutely no hint of his talent in them at all. They're mostly mediocre covers of folk club and blues standards. It seems as though he must have discovered his own sound and developed it almost overnight.

There's a bit of his mother's sound in there judging by what's out there. I got into him after hearing Weller talk about him in the 90s. I got Pink Moon first and for some reason I don't find it depressing, apart from knowing how he was at the time. It only dawned on me once I'd gone back and compared ot to FLL and BL. I'd put Northern Sky up against anything - wonderful stuff.