When did you first hear about Nick Drake?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Brian Kelly, Mar 28, 2015.

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  1. Brian Kelly

    Brian Kelly 1964-73 rock's best decade Thread Starter

    Sometimes it amazes me that Nick Drake is now one of my very favorite artists and yet for about 30 years his recorded music was out there and I'd not only never heard it, I'd never heard of him.

    I think I first heard his name 6 or so years ago, but it was Richie Unterburger's book UNKNOWN HEROES OF ROCK AND ROLL, which I got Christmas 2009 that really got me interested. When I got a gift card for my birthday I bought FIVE LEAVES LEFT, BRYTER LATER , and PINK MOON and I've been a huge fan ever since.

    So my question is :When did you first hear of Nick Drake?
     
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  2. vertigone

    vertigone Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    I forget where I heard about him, but it was definitely early 90's because I was in college. I picked up Time of No Reply used on cd, loved it, then wasted no time in grabbing the Fruit Tree box set. I remember "Pink Moon" in the Volkswagen commercial was his introduction to many.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2015
  3. JL6161

    JL6161 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan, USA
    I don't exactly remember, but it had to be sometime in the 80s because I know it was after high school when my interest in music had gotten serious enough to "study" it some, and of course once you delve a bit his name would start popping up in ways that it typically didn't in the popular music press of the time. But I don't think I heard his music until a few years later.

    Pro-tip: the Volkswagen commercial came out in November 1999 and got widely shown in 2000 if that's the date you're looking for.
     
  4. bcaulf

    bcaulf Forum Resident

    Think it was some time last year from here. May have heard his name mentioned before but it was only recently when his name stuck and I decided to do a little research on him.
     
  5. fmfxray373

    fmfxray373 Capitol LPs in the 70s were pretty good.

    I heard one of the DJs on the Sirius Disorder station talking about him, and they were saying how know one knew for sure if he had committed suicide or if his death was accidental. Sometime after I was at the Salvation Army and saw Five Leave Lefts lying in a bin by the check out line. I bought it. Amazing score. Must have been around 2008 or so.
     
  6. MonkeyMan

    MonkeyMan A man who dreams he is a butterfly?

    Just now...

     
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  7. MonkeyMan

    MonkeyMan A man who dreams he is a butterfly?

    Just now...

     
  8. PsychGuy

    PsychGuy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Albuquerque
    In college, about 1974, my roommate's girlfriend had the American compilation LP. Blown away. Lifelong fan.

    Love the story in the Fruit Tree box liner notes about the famous rock critic who's asked in the late '70s what he thinks about Drake. "Refresh my memory," he replied.
     
  9. lightbulb

    lightbulb Not the Brightest of the Bunch

    Location:
    Smogville CA USA
    In 1994 when Rykodisc reissued his albums on CD.
    I remember my record store co-worker had the blue Fruit Tree LP box.

    Ever since that introductory period, his music is at various times for me
    : comforting, haunting, melancholic, life-affirming, devastating...sometimes like that first breath of bone-chilling cold air when autumn has sadly passed on and a long winter creeps in.
     
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  10. Willowman

    Willowman Senior Member

    Location:
    London, UK
    Summer of '86 I had to go back to university early to retake an economics paper. I stayed at a friend's place in her flatmate's room. He had a great record collection, and I did my last-minute revision playing the 'Heaven In A Wildflower' comp and Eno's 'Music For Airports'. Both had a profound influence on my musical tastes.
     
  11. OneStepBeyond

    OneStepBeyond Senior Member

    Location:
    North Wales, UK
    I got this double cassette when I was 18 (and still have it! :D It plays ok, still) back in 1988 called Back On The Road: The Very Best Of Progressive Underground... whatever in the world that might be. :shh: It's basically some early prog bands and then you have tracks from Hendrix, Cream, Thunderclap Newman, Velvet Underground and lesser-knowns like The Edgar Broughton Band. Great comp all the way through and the only reason I never got this on CD is that it's got only about half the tracks on. :sigh: But it has Northern Sky on there at the end of one of the sides and wow - it is without a doubt the most beautiful song on there because it's not all heavy stuff (it's preceded by Roy Harper's Tom Tiddler's Ground for one thing.) It was a long time before I bought one of his albums but have his 3 studio ones. I was suddenly reading a fair bit on him in music mags, 10-15 years years ago and that would be responsible for me giving his albums a go.
     
  12. Tony Sclafani

    Tony Sclafani Forum Resident

    Location:
    East Coast, USA
    In 1983. There was a fantastic article by Frank Kornelussen in the Jan. 1978 issue of Trouser Press, which was my favorite magazine. I was buying up back issues and found that issue. When I read the piece on Drake it definitely made me want to hear what he sounded like. I tracked down Fruit Tree and it was the first box set I ever bought without hearing a note of music beforehand.* Still have it, so obviously I became a big fan.

    * Turned out the early morning DJ on the radio station I listened to in high school, WHFS, had used "Bryter Layter" as her theme song. So I had unknowingly heard one Drake song in advance. My friends and I were really crazy about "Meg's Theme," as we called it, but never did find out what it was. So it was a happy surprise to have it pop up on Fruit Tree.

    [​IMG]
     
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  13. parkgrover

    parkgrover Forum Resident

    Got into his stuff mid 80's - there was a radio programme on Radio 1 I believe covering lesser known guitar talents and he was featured. I got the Heaven in a Wild Flower comp on vinyl (the only thing that was available of his at that time if I recall). Picked up the CDs years later
     
  14. badsneakers

    badsneakers Well-Known Member

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    I picked up a copy of Five Leaves Left from my local library around 1993. I was familiar with the cover, as it appeared on most of the inner sleeves of Island Record LP's. I was completely and instantly blown away. What a talent.
     
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  15. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
    1990-ish. I was in a record store buying some albums by Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, and Fairport Convention and the owner of the store told me about Nick Drake. I didn't actually hear his music until a couple years after that when I found the Fruit Tree CD box set at the library.

    As a side note, I'd never heard of Francoise Hardy until I read the booklet that came with the box set.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2015
  16. jkauff

    jkauff Senior Member

    Location:
    Akron, OH
    I'm old enough to have encountered his albums when they first came out. I was working in a record store in Akron, OH that carried imports, including pretty much everything released on Island. When Five Leaves Left showed up one day, we immediately played it because it had Joe Boyd's name on it and back then Joe Boyd could do no wrong. We weren't initially that impressed, being already familiar with John Martyn, Bert Jansch, and other English singer-songwriters. However, when we couldn't think of anything we wanted to hear, someone often would say "Hey, how about that Nick Drake record?" Pretty soon we were turning customers on to this guy, and couldn't wait for the next album to arrive.

    Nick didn't sell many records in his day, but he sold a bunch of them in Akron.
     
  17. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    I was getting into Richard Thompson in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In doing so, I tried to read up on Richard's musical history, as I really didn't know much about him at that time. I learned that Richard played on a few songs by Nick, so I was intrigued. I eventually picked up the Way To Blue compilation on Rykodisc when it came out. I was very impressed, and picked up his other albums shortly thereafter.
     
  18. mur

    mur Hyperactive!

    Location:
    South Florida
    Been collecting music for over 20 years and never heard of him. In the early 2000's saw the cd for Pink Moon at the local library and was intrigued by the cover. Took it home and gave it a listen and was pulled in by his haunting lyrics and sound. Did some reading and realized that he passed away nearly 30 years earlier. I was blown away how this artist was calling out to me!! I quickly got the rest of his collection and was hooked
     
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  19. Through an extensive article in Trouser Press Collector's Magazine circa 1983. It was another decade before I heard any of his music - none of his albums were available where I lived - but his name, his story, and the descriptions of his music stuck with me.
     
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  20. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    Somehow I missed out on him until I read a book about him about 15 years ago. Something about the book just caught my interest. After I read it, still not having heard a note of his music, I bought 5 Leaves Left and loved it so much I now have all 3 albums he released in his lifetime.
     
  21. tolkev

    tolkev Rain Dog

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    I interned and then freelanced in the Rykodisc in-house design department around 1991-3. While interning I use to be given entry into the stock room and allowed to exit with an armful of CDs. After acquiring all the Bowie, Zappa and Richard Thompson catalogs I branched out and Nick Drake was among those discoveries I made in the Ryko vault. Great stuff.

    P.S. To my eternal regret at the time I had no interest in the Gold discs.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2015
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  22. Lloyd

    Lloyd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cleveland, OH
    In the early 1990s when Lucinda Williams covered "Which Will." Rykodisc reissued the Drake albums shortly thereafter.
     
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  23. Steve Bromsgrove

    Steve Bromsgrove Former Pressing Plant Employee.

    Fives Leaves Left and Bryter Layter had already been released when I was first introduced to his work by a friend. I bought Pink Moon as soon as it was released and was eagerly awaiting the next album when I heard the sad news.
     
  24. Lostchord

    Lostchord Dr. Livingstone, I presume

    Location:
    Poznań, Poland
    I first heard of him in 2000, when I read an article in MOJO.

    I first heard his music on my last.fm radio around 2006-7

    Now I have all his regular albums :)
     
  25. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    I was aware of him when his slums first came out. He was played on some local College radio and a friend owned Five Leaves Left but I never bought his work until the CD era. For some reason I had it in my head that he was a John Martyn knock off. That put me off them but it seems silly now.

    Now I bet I listen to him at least once a week.
     
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