Refreshed

NICK DRAKE
Five Leaves Left
Bryter Layter
Pink Moon
Way to Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake
(Island/Chronicles)
Ten years ago, very few people outside of a circle of music geeks had heard of Nick Drake. The British singer/songwriter made a trio of albums from 1969-1972 that sold diddly but influenced nearly every songwriter who heard him, then died from an overdose of anti-depressants a couple of years later. (The debate still rages among Drake fanatics over whether or not it was suicide.) His legacy rests as much on his emotional and mental instability—the term "painfully withdrawn" is wholly inadequate in describing Drake's mental state—as for his music, and the two aspects of his character have become inescapably intertwined. His beautifully arranged, gently poetic records have been interpreted as a gradual portrait of mental collapse. True or not, this has ensured his stature as a legend, but it's not exactly the kind of impression that entices a large audience into partaking of the wares. Thus, Drake remained a beloved, influential, but ultimately little-known cult figure for nearly three decades.

Then some hip marketing executive got the idea to use one of Drake's songs in a commercial for Volkswagen. Many music geeks were shocked as all hell to hear his mysterious, understated "Pink Moon" accompanying a surprisingly tasteful, even beautiful commercial that seemed to extol the virtues of driving in the mountains while listening to Nick Drake. Suddenly, more people than ever before were aware of Drake, and while it didn't exactly cause his music to shoot up the charts, album sales did experience a bit of an upswing. But his records weren't as easy to find as they had once been; the 80s Hannibal reissues, supervised by Drake producer and Hannibal president Joe Boyd, had become scarce. Universal, which owns the catalog of Drake's original label Island, decided to give the records a new lease on life, with 24-bit remastering (a technique that probably means little to non-audiophiles) and meticulously recreated graphics that manage to fit everything from the original vinyl albums in with full lyric sheets. Anyone who already owns the Hannibal versions probably doesn't really need to buy these, but someone searching in vain for Drake music after being enchanted by the VW spot will jump for joy.

1969's Five Leaves Left, Drake's first album, starts with "Time Has Told Me," a song that sets the tone not only for the record but for the songwriter's entire career. Richard Thompson and Danny Thompson provide understated accompaniment on guitar and bass respectively, and Paul Harris plays tasteful piano, but the arrangement is centered squarely on Drake's folkish acoustic guitar and jazzy, vulnerable voice. Drake's delivery denotes a sense of intimacy, as if the listener was overhearing someone's private thoughts, even though the song is directed to an unnamed "you." "Time has told me," he sings, "you're a rare rare find/A troubled cure/For a troubled mind." Drake's own mind was apparently troubled enough that he couldn't sing a bright love song without injecting at least a little darkness into it. The record pretty much lays out Drake's agenda, as he tries to update folk music and the emerging singer/songwriter ethic with poetic wordplay, sophisticated arrangements and more than a bit of honest depression. Some of Drake's best-known (in a relative sense, of course) tunes are here, including the lush "Fruit Tree" and "Way to Blue" (one of his most beautiful cuts), the mysterious "River Man" (the contrast between the string arrangement and Drake's bluesy strumming is exquisite) and the "'Cello Song," a mellifluous rambler with dexterous fingerpicking. Despite these and other highlights, Drake scholars often disparage this record, insisting that it was merely a blueprint for what was to follow. They need to listen again; upon reflection, Five Leaves Left is just as strong an artistic statement as anything else in his tiny catalog. (more)

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