Nick Drake Appreciation - Album By Album & All Things Nick Drake*

Thread earlier this year looking for anyone who'd actually seen Nick play live...

Did anyone see Nick Drake live?

 

One of the most optimistic and most upbeat, romantic songs, without ever being sappy...so beautiful. Should have given Nick a huge boost in his elusive search for fame & recognition.

Hard to explain how shallow songs, except that they were promoted to death, like "Yummy Yummy Yummy", could be huge hits, while a really amazing song like "Northern Sky" didn't make a dent in any sales charts.

But what a closing song.

9. Northern Sky



UMG (on behalf of Universal Music); Abramus Digital, BMG Rights Management, CMRRA, and 8 Music Rights Societies



I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

I've been a long time that I'm waiting
Been a long that I'm blown
I've been a long time that I've wandered
Through the people I have known
Oh, if you would and you could
Straighten my new mind's eye.

Would you love me for my money
Would you love me for my head
Would you love me through the winter
Would you love me 'til I'm dead
Oh, if you would and you could
Come blow your horn on high.

I never felt magic crazy as this
I never saw moons knew the meaning of the sea
I never held emotion in the palm of my hand
Or felt sweet breezes in the top of a tree
But now you're here
Brighten my northern sky.

Nick Drake
Northern Sky lyrics © BMG Rights Management

 

9. Northern Sky

Nick Drake-Guitar & Vocals
John Cale-celeste, piano, and organ
Dave Pegg-bass
Mike Kowalski-drums

Robin: The song is nothing more nor less than a demonstration of the power of simplicity and repetition in the hands of a master songwriter.

"Northern Sky" consists of little more than two chords and two melodic phrases with a turnaround at the end, yet it has been singled out by the NME as "the greatest English love song of modern times."

How did he do it? Believe me, I wish I knew.

--Fruit Tree box liner notes.

............................................................................

Here is an acoustic version with the rest of the instruments removed... just Nick and guitar...lovely. You can hear the simple genius of those few notes and chords repeated to beautiful perfection.

Northern Sky acoustic version

 

Northern Sky
Mmm... Yes, I believe this may be my favorite Nick Drake song. Many strong contenders, but I believe I put this one right at the top. As I mentioned at the beginning of the thread, this is one of the first Nick Drake songs I ever heard. I downloaded it on iTunes along with 'Cello Song' when I was about 18. I fell in love with it and remain so to this day. I'm not sure I can say much about it that is better than what lemonade kid has already said. Deeply beautiful, incredibly romantic...it feels almost spiritual in its romanticism. Like we are operating on another level here.

I love the line "Will you love me till I'm dead." There is a similar line in the great song "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" by Talking Heads ("You love me till my heart stops / Love me till I'm dead") and I have always thought that both had a double meaning.

(1) Love me for the rest of my life until I pass away and
(2) love me so hard that my heart stops beating from the force of that love.

Absolutely majestic arrangement, too. Fills my heart.

 

Its my birthday today so I requested a Nick Drake song on BBC 6 music.
It didn't get played.
Twas a toss up between Things Behind The Sun & Northern Sky, which is the one I asked for. There are some of his songs where its best to suspend analysis & just get totally lost in their enigmatic beauty. Those are 2 of his songs that just do it for me. I've played them countless times...each time they're a little different from before.

Nick spent time in Hastings with John & Beverly Martyn.
Their home overlooked the coast from where you could see a full moon on the sea at night.
A tree could be seen outside Nick's room.
Its believed this was the inspiration for the song.

Sadly we're getting near the end of the album.
Nick, Robert, Joe & John had given their all to the project. But Bryter Layter was greeted with critical indifference and poor sales.
Joe Boyd sold Witchseason to Island and moved to The States. With his mentor gone & seemingly at rock bottom Nick chose to quit London and retreat back to Far Lees.
There's a dozen reasons for its commercial failure, many lay at his door.

But like any art that over time is judged to be a masterpeice, I prefer to think the world wasn't ready yet.

 

The 1985 UK hit single "Life in a Northern Town" by The Dream Academy was based on and inspired by "Northern Sky", and contributed to the early to mid-80s revival of interest in the songwriter's career.
Singer Nick Laird-Clowes's breathy vocals directly reference Drake's style, while the record sleeve contains the words "Nick Drake, Steve Reich & Classics For Pleasure".

Drake, then practically unknown in the UK, was name-checked in a Melody Maker interview with Laird-Clowes, who said his song came of a "strong connection with Nick Drake in a way I can't even explain".
As a result of this, the BBC began to field requests for Drake's song, while Nick Stewart, head of A&R at Island Records, pitched to the label that the songwriter's catalogue might then be ideally placed for re-issue to the then developing adult CD market.
The song was issued as a promotional CD maxi-single for the 1994 compilation album Way to Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake.
In 2004 the NME described the song as the "greatest English love song of modern times".

 

I got my first ever vinyl on my 16th birthday and it was Pink Moon by Nick Drake. I remember when I first put it on my turntable and I was so mesmerized by it. I was quite sad and depressed right from the age of 11 and his vinyl helped me so much. Right at the end Gabrielle says he wanted his music to do good for someone. Well done Nick, it did.

 

I absolutely adore "Life in a Northern Town." That's one of my favorite songs of the '80s. I knew it for a long time before I knew about its connection to Nick Drake. Finding that out, just made me love it all the more. It's got that same peaceful tranquility and nighttime stillness for me as 'Northern Sky.' Total beauty.

 

Northern Sky was actually our wedding dance (well more of a shuffle really ). A good choice for an autumn wedding we thought.

 

10. Sunday
This sets the final musical tone for Bryter Layter. I would guess that like Parachute Woman, at one time or another, we all wished the instrumental tracks had been vocal racks. But this fianl track achieves quite nicely the mood and effect Nick wanted to create. After "Northern Sky" we have an uplifting, pastoral Sunday morning feel that closes out the album quite beautifully. I love it.

The only other note I can add is that Joe tried over and over to get Nick to give up the lyrics for this track to no avail. Nick stood firm. He wanted to close the album with an instrumental track, completing his concept album. He achieved exactly what he wanted. After the album's lack of success and lukewarm reception, who knows how he felt about his decisions. For us, so many years later, Bryter Layter has aged well and become the masterpiece Nick intended. If only he knew...

But Nick soon fell deeper into isolation, drawing further and completely into his shell, and retreated to Far Leys, on Bates Lane, in Tamworth-In-Arden. For one last album, and a few odd tracks that would have made up a sadly unfinished forth album.

 

Sunday
'Sunday' is my favorite of the instrumentals on Bryter Layter. I don't know if that is because it is placed last, but that probably is part of it. I think this works so well as a wistful final note to close the album out. It feels like the period on the sentence, if you will, and I can understand what Nick was trying to achieve here. The thing about 'Sunday' is that it feels like it is leading us somewhere...in a perfect world, it would have led us to many more brilliant albums from Nick and a long career and statement. That's not what happened and now it feels, like so much of Nick's work, a little bit like an epitaph. But as it fades out, I do get comfort from it. And to play this before Pink Moon...it's a bit like a warm hug to help you dry the tears.

 

One of Nick's favourite ways to escape his demons was driving.
This track Sunday was meant to reflect that experience.
After his return to Far Lees he would drive off to see friends, or just to drive. Often running out of petrol and having to be rescued by his father.

At this point in the ND story we bid farewell to Robert Kirby (until the Made To Love Magic album over 3 decades later)
His contribution is hard to overestimate, especially after hearing the original orchestrations.
Robert Kirby

I was fortunate enough to be at an early Nick Drake, Way To Blue tribute concert & hear Robert conduct his arrangements.
An utterly unforgettable experience.

 

Hard to find an album I like more, or a closing track that is so fine..."Sunday"

Looks like youtube is down for a bit....so pulling out the vinyl.



Thanks for all your posts on Bryter Layter....Pink Moon soon.

 

Great post & what a wonderful experience you had to hear & see the late great Robert Kirby.

I love to listen to Bryter Layter while driving too; Bryter Layter seems to fit a drive in the country on an soft autumn day most, of all Nick's works.

 

The Way To Blue Tribute was back in May 2009.
At the end of the evening there was a Q&A with Joe & Robert.
I did ask questions of them both, but god only knows what I asked


Drake Tribute
Stars pay homage to folk legend
17 May 2009 - Birmingham Town Hall was packed to the rafters last night as a whole host of stars took to the stage to pay tribute to Nick Drake.

The evening was curated by the singer's manager and producer, Joe Boyd, aided by arranger Robert Kirby.

Performers included Robyn Hitchcock, Camille O’Sullivan, Martha Wainwright, Graham Coxon, Beth Orton, Camille O’Sullivan, Stuart Murdoch and Vashti Bunyan.

They performed and paid homage to Drake's albums, Five Leaves Left, Bryter Later and Pink Moon.

Part of Birmingham Town Hall’s English Originals festival, the tribute to Drake was even more poignant since his home was just a few miles up the road in Tanworth In Arden.

Dreamy and evocative

Playing under the watchful eyes of Boyd and Robert Kirby, each performer gave their hearts and bared their souls in a way that would have made Drake proud. Delicate and intricate, Vashti Bunyan’s take on Which Will was magical, whilst Hitchcock, Coxon and Murdoch’s performances were essentially perfect copies of the singer's original songs.

Dreamy and evocative, sad, yet never depressing, songs were given new energy as Wainwright and Orton struck the right balance between power and fragility on Things Behind The Sun and Pink Moon.

The first half of the show culminated in a rousing and uplifting version of Poor Boy from Bryter Later which saw Harper Simon taking the lead, backed by Wainwright, Orton, O’Sullivan and Kate St John. It was truly captivating.

The second half of the show was even more intimate. Kirby’s band weaved a beautiful version of Northern Sky, while Hitchcock and Coxon combined their not insignificant talents on wonderful working of Free Ride. From here on in the show got better and better.

Standing the test of time

The encore saw everyone on stage for Voice From The Mountain and a standing ovation followed. Despite the full house, Birmingham Town Hall still felt intimate and the capacity audience all went home with great big smiles on their faces.

The songs of Nick Drake stand the test of time and are still poignant 35 years on. One can only imagine the greatness that the singer would have achieved had he lived.


Beth Orton's Set List






2009.05.17 - Way To Blue - The songs Of Nick Drake

 

I can imagine all giving a great performance. Especially cool to see Beth Orton there...love her.

 

Just having Joe Boyd, Robert Kirby and Danny Thompson in the same room in itself was pretty special.
Bears repeating....the performances by Robert and his string section were exactly like the albums.
Heartstopping.

 

Sounds like an amazing experience...one you'll always cherish. I envy you, especially with Robert Kirby conducting his strings.

 

Just ordered the Remembered For Awhile book on Amazon. $13!

 

Such a wonderful album. The accolades, love and respect for "Pink Moon" have grown and grown over the years to the point of this being often reviewed as one of greatest albums of all time. -lk

PINK MOON



Pink Moon is the third and final studio album by the English folk musician Nick Drake, released in the UK by Island Records on 25 February 1972.[2] It was the only one of Drake's studio albums to be released in North America during his lifetime: the only previous release there had been a 1971 compilation simply entitled Nick Drake featuring tracks from both his first two albums, which were not released in North America in their original forms until 1976. Pink Moon differs from Drake's previous albums in that it was recorded without a backing band, featuring just Drake on vocals, acoustic guitar and a brief piano riff overdubbed onto the title track.

Released two years before Drake's death in November 1974, at the age of twenty-six, the lyrical content of Pink Moon has often been attributed to Drake's ongoing battle with depression.[3] The songs are shorter than on his previous albums, with a total album running time of just over twenty-eight minutes.

Pink Moon, like Drake's previous studio albums, did not sell well during his lifetime, but has since garnered significant critical acclaim. --wiki



Recording:
BBC documentary with John Wood 2004, from wiki

"Pink Moon Recording"


Drake appeared to have made a decision before recording his third album that it would be as plain as possible and free of the numerous guest musicians that had been employed on Bryter Layter. In his autobiography Joe Boyd, producer of Drake's first two albums, remembered that as they were finishing the recording of Bryter Layter Drake had told him that he wanted to make his next record alone,[6]and in his only interview, published in Sounds magazine in March 1971, Drake told interviewer Jerry Gilbert that "for the next [album] I had the idea of just doing something with John Wood, the engineer at Sound Techniques".[7]

After a brief hiatus in Spain spent at a villa belonging to Island Records' head, Chris Blackwell,[8] Drake returned to London refreshed, and in October 1971 approached record engineer and producer John Wood.[3] Wood had worked with Drake on his previous two albums and was one of the few people Drake felt he could trust. Wood has worked with other artists such as Fairport Convention, Cat Stevens, and Pink Floyd, and he often worked in partnership with record producer Joe Boyd. Boyd produced Drake's first two albums with Wood acting as sound engineer. Although Wood primarily focused on the engineering of an album, he often contributed as a producer.

When Drake reached out to Wood in 1971 expressing his interest in recording another album, the ensuing process was significantly pared down compared to Drake's other two albums. The album was recorded at Sound Techniques studio in London in late October 1971 with just Drake and Wood present.[9] The studio was booked during the day, so Drake and Wood arrived around 11:00 p.m. and simply and quietly recorded half the songs. The next night, they did the same. In only two late night sessions, with just his voice and acoustic guitar, Drake created what is considered by many to be one of the "most influential folk albums of all time".[10]

Contrary to popular legend that Drake dropped the album off in a plastic bag at Island Records' reception and then left without anyone realising, Drake delivered the master tapes of Pink Moon to Chris Blackwell at Island.[3] In an interview for the Nick Drake fanzine Pynk Moon in 1996, Island's press officer David Sandison recalled that Drake's arrival at the record company had certainly not gone unnoticed, although there had been no indication that he was delivering them a new album:

"I saw him in reception after I came back from lunch and I was talking to somebody and I saw a figure in the corner on the bench, and I suddenly realized it was Nick. He had this big, 15 ips [inches per second] master tape box under his arm, and I said 'Have you had a cup of tea?' and he said 'Erm, yes', and I said 'Do you want to come upstairs?' and he said 'Yes, okay'. So we went upstairs into my office, which was on top of the landing, it was a landing that went into the big office with a huge round table where Chris and everybody else worked—very democratic—and there was a big Reevox (sic) and sound system there, and he just sat in my office area for about half an hour ... After about half an hour he said 'I'd better be going', and I said 'Okay, nice to see you', and he left. Now, he went down the stairs and he still had the tapes under his arm, and about an hour later the girl who worked behind the front desk called up and said 'Nick's left his tapes behind'. So I went down and it was the big sixteen-track master tape and it said NICK DRAKE PINK MOON, and I thought 'that's not an album I know'. The first thing to do was get it in the studio to make a seven and a half inch safety copy, because that was the master. So we ran off a safety copy to actually play, and I think twenty four hours later or so, it was put on the Reevox in the main room and we heard Pink Moon."[11]



Promotion:
Island Records launched an unusual promotional campaign for the initial release of Pink Moon. They spent the entire promotional budget on full-page advertisements in all major music magazines the month of the record's release.

Pink Moon received more attention from the UK music press than Drake's first two albums had, but most critical reviews were still brief.

In Melody Maker Mark Plummer appreciated the music, but was distracted by Drake's growing ascetic mythology: "His music is so personal and shyly presented both lyrically and in his confined guitar and piano playing that neither does nor doesn't come over ... The more you listen to Drake though, the more compelling his music becomes – but all the time it hides from you. On 'Things Behind the Sun', he sings to me, embarrassed and shy. Perhaps one should play his albums with the sound off and just look at the cover and make the music in your head reciting his words from inside the cover to your own rhythmic heart rhymes ... It could be that Nick Drake does not exist at all."[23] Referring to Drake'srecorded output, Fred Dellar noted in Hi-Fi News & Record Review that "the LPs hardly sell, thanks partly to Nick's reluctance to play promotional concerts and one is left with the feeling that his only ambition is to play the lead in the Howard Hughesstory should anyone ever decide to make it as a musical. In the meantime, he employs his deliciously smokey voice in making these intimate, late-night sounds that I find myself playing time and time again."[15] In the London edition of Time Out Al Clark observed that Drake "writes striking and evocative songs and always has done, but most of the magic is in the delivery: a smoky, palpitating voice, reminiscent of the jazzier Donovan, gliding wistful words over the chord changes and creating moments of perfect stillness". Clark stated that "several of the more substantial songs are very lovely", but concluded presciently, "Sadly, and despite Island's efforts to rectify the situation, Nick Drake is likely to remain in the shadows, the private troubadour of those who have been fortunate enough to catch an earful of his exquisite 3am introversions".[24] -wiki


Rare Australian gatefold cover...

 

I saw it written and I saw it say Pink moon is on its way


A man who created more memorable music in his 26 short years than what you'll hear on a normal US radio station in a lifetime. He never achieved the commercial success he so deserved during his lifetime. But, decades after his death, his notoriety only continues to increase. A body may die, but soul and spirit go on forever.

--Nick Drake: a face of depression
by NR97420Mar 29 2015
Nick Drake: a face of depression

 

About the Pink Moon recording sessions:

John: Out of the blue I got this call and he wanted to make another record. I thought, 'Great."
Joe was gone, and I never realized until reading odd interviews here and there, that Nick had already decided that he didn't want to make another record with Joe. I was a bit surprised by that. Apparently he'd already said he was going to make a record without him. After the first evening I thought it would go the way of other albums. That it would get augmented or he would decide to do something with a bass player. I obviously raised it with him and he said, "No, it's going to be just be me".

I can't remember if we worked out the running order or changed it or not. I remember being very surprised at the length of it, because it was very short. It doesn't sound short. Two nights we recorded it in. I think we recorded it over two and mixed it some time later. The only time we could get in to the studio was about eleven o'clock at night so we'd go in and work until about three. [wow. Eight hours to record a complete album of such magnitude?! Just...WOW!--lk] Maybe we mixed it in same week. I can't honestly remember. I just remember the sessions because of the way I set it up.

I used a couple of room mics, which we'd never done before, mainly because we'd been working with other musicians, and so there hadn't been the freedom to record that ambience. I think I might have used slightly different guitar mics as well.

...............................



1.Pink Moon


UMG (on behalf of Island Records); BMG Rights Management, Abramus Digital, CMRRA, ARESA, and 5 Music Rights Societies

Timeless beauty in song.

Nick Drake: Guitar, piano, vocal
...that's it. Perfect.

Saw it written and I saw it say
Pink moon is on its way
And none of you stand so tall
Pink moon gonna get ye all
And it’s a pink moon
Hey it's a pink moon
Pink, pink, pink, pink, pink moon
Pink, pink, pink, pink, pink moon

I saw it written and I saw it say
Pink moon is on its way
And none of you stand so tall
Pink moon gonna get ye all
It’s a pink moon
Yea, it's a pink moon

Songwriters: Nick Drake
Pink Moon lyrics © BMG Rights Management


Robin: There are two very different ways of interpreting the image of a pink moon. In folklore, the full moon in April is called the Pink Moon (and other names). This is the time of the year when the snow melts and the first flowers of spring appear, a time of hope and regeneration. But there is another pink moon, the blood moon, which appears during a total lunar eclipse when the moon turns a deep pink color. This has traditionally been seen as an evil omen, a portent of disaster...

Nick gave the lyrics of this song a biblical tone in "I saw it written..." suggesting that he viewed the pink moon as a curse, a prophesy of dark days to come. Later on, in "From The Morning" we'll get a very different sense of the future, one that is more in line with the pastoral promise of regeneration, the pink moon of folklore.

The descending melody line ("Pink, pink, pink, pink....pink, pink moon") at the center of the song reinforces the ominous undertone. Here Nick ends the line below his vocal range. Since he could easily have raised the pitch of the song by using a capo, he must have intended for the line to sound like this. Perhaps he wanted to convey the idea that he had reached a place so low he could go no lower. But the accompanying chord (E minor 9) gives the line a great deal of warmth; this particular chord is one of Nick's signatures, so he seems to be embracing the descent, owning it, as he will again in "Harvest Breed".

John: He played the guitar first and then he overdubbed the piano on top, but that's the only overdub on the whole record. Everything else was straight down. All his vocal performances were recorded with the guitar.

 

I love these wonderful posts you'e shared to open us up into Pink Moon, @lemonade kid. Absolutely beautiful. While I've stated that Five Leaves Left is my favorite, Pink Moon is essentially tied with it (and Bryter Layter tied with that! I love all three so much and each has its own distinct character). This is one of the purest, most heartfelt, most extraordinary records ever recorded. Not even half an hour, just Nick all alone and it is emotionally riveting, spine-shivering, extraordinarily comforting even in its darkness. As Joni wrote, "There's comfort in melancholy." I feel great solace when I listen to this record. It was the first Nick Drake album I heard all the way through as well.

Pink Moon
In a very early episode of Gilmore Girls, one of the characters turns to another and says, "How much does it suck that they used 'Pink Moon' in a Volkswagen commercial?" and the other agrees. I never cared for the line much. I know it's tempting with an artist like Nick to want to keep him special and sacred and all to ourselves, but he felt great pain over the fact that his music was not reaching people while he was alive. That commercial introduced his music to a large number of people who may never have found his work otherwise. I myself may never had heard of Nick or listened to his work if this song didn't help his music get into the public consciousness in America. It's a nice commercial, too. We don't have to view all advertising as evil.



The song is absolutely enchanting, of course. I've heard it so many times and it never ceases to hold that special power over me. It's so warm even as it drops down deep into darkness. The piano overdub is absolutely essential and the song would feel incomplete without it. I love what Robin wrote above about the image of the 'pink moon' really having two distinct meanings. The light and the dark, both so woven into Nick's music. Just sublime.

 

My word, I've only been away a couple of days and we're onto Pink Moon already.

A quick note about 'Northern Sky'..... Scottish indie band Belle and Sebastian have been mentioned here and there in the thread and there is no doubt that you can hear Nick Drake's influence on their earlier records. Admirers of 'Northern Sky' should have a listen to a song of theirs called 'Seymour Stein'. It's their tribute to Nick Drake in a way, and cops the arrangement from 'Northern Sky' hook, line and sinker in the middle of it. I smiled at their sheer audacity when I first heard it.