Who is Nick Drake

Full Name: Nicholas Rodney Drake
Born: June 19, 1948
Place Of Birth: Rangoon, Burma
Height: 6'3 tall approx. 1,93 m
Eye-colour: Greenish-grey
Hair: Light-brown
Died: November 25, 1974

Music: 3 albums released whilst he was alive.

"With every passing year, it becomes a little less accurate to say that Nick Drake has a cult following. Cults, by their very nature, tend to exist on the margins, the subject of their admiration unknown or even unloved by the vast majority of people. Mention Nick Drake to a certain generation of music fan and chances are you won't have to explain yourself. Latterly, Drake's name has become a byword for a certain kind of acoustic music. Gentility, melancholia and a seemingly casual mastery of the fretboard - in the minds of many listeners, any combination of these traits warrants comparison to Nick Drake. As a result, Drake is perpetually referenced across the reviews sections of every music title. That quite often the records in question bear no meaningful resemblance to Drake's music speaks volumes."

"Towards the end of his life, Drake appeared to long for the vindication that comes with commercial success. And yet he seemed incapable of compromising himself to the pursuit of recognition. His shyness made interviews difficult. Live performances became increasingly rare. When recording music, the only compass he used was his own intuition."

"The manner in which Drake's life ended has inevitably coloured the way his songs are perceived: among them, the haunting Black-Eyed Dog and the self-mocking Poor Boy. "Don't you worry," he sings on Fruit Tree, "They'll stand and stare when you're gone." In the liner notes to 1994's Way To Blue compilation, Drake's producer and mentor Joe Boyd commented that, "listening to his lyrics (...) he may have planned it all this way." His point - that the best music will always invite conjecture and speculation about its authors - is well made. But at the same time, it should be added that the sadness in Nick Drake's songs was frequently the corollary of an all-consuming joy."

"Drake certainly suffered from depression - most notably in the latter two years of his life - but his music was not a function of that depression. Richard Thompson who played on Five Leaves Left and Bryter Later remembers a quiet character, though not a miserable one: "I remember long silences, but they were never oppressive. With Nick, you sensed [that] very little needed to be said that couldn't be said with a guitar in his hand." As Drake puts it on Hazey Jane II, "If songs were lines/In a conversation/The situation would be fine."

"It's impossible to keep count of the contemporary artists who cite Drake as an inspiration, but a cursory round-up includes R.E.M., Snow Patrol, Norah Jones, Radiohead, Brad Pitt, Sam Mendes, Paul Weller, Travis, Portishead, The Coral, Coldplay, Heath Ledger, David Gray, Super Furry Animals and Beth Orton. Along with household names of his creative lifetime - the Stones, The Beatles, Marley, Hendrix - his albums have become an unofficial set text for anyone passionate about music. In 2007, he has become so much more than the sum total of his work. The greater our fascination with him, the more we reveal about ourselves. In this sense, maybe Ian McDonald was right. Perhaps his music allows us to feel a little less like, as Drake put it, "a remnant of something that's passed." "

The Official Website of the Estate of Nick Drake

Albums released whilst Nick Drake was alive.
Five Leaves Left (Island - 1969)
Bryter Layter (Island - 1970)
Nick Drake (US only Island - 1971)
Pink Moon (Island - 1972)

Albums released posthumously
Fruit Tree: The Complete Recorded Works (Island - 1979)
Heaven In A Wild Flower: An Exploration of Nick Drake (Island - 1985)
Time Of No Reply (Hannibal - 1987)
Way To Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake (Island - 1994)
Made To Love Magic (Island - 2004)
A Treasury (Island - 2004)
Family Tree (Tsunami - 2007)

When you hear about Nick's struggle to be appreciated for his music when he was alive, the lyrics to this song, from the album Five Leaves Left, are even more poignant and sad.

Fame is but a fruit tree
So very unsound.
It can never flourish
Till its stock is in the ground.
So men of fame
Can never find a way
Till time has flown
Far from their dying day.
Forgotten while you're here
Remembered for a while
A much updated ruin
From a much outdated style.

Life is but a memory
Happened long ago.
Theatre full of sadness
For a long forgotten show.
Seems so easy
Just to let it go on by
Till you stop and wonder
Why you never wondered why.

Safe in the womb
Of an everlasting night
You find the darkness can
Give the brightest light.
Safe in your place deep in the earth
That's when they'll know what you were really worth.
Forgotten while you're here
Remembered for a while
A much updated ruin
From a much outdated style.

Fame is but a fruit tree
So very unsound.
It can never flourish
Till its stock is in the ground.
So men of fame
Can never find a way
Till time has flown
Far from their dying day.

Fruit tree, fruit tree
No-one knows you but the rain and the air.
Don't you worry
They'll stand and stare when you're gone.

Fruit tree, fruit tree
Open your eyes to another year.
They'll all know
That you were here when you're gone

From hollywood superstar Brad Pitt to the late Heath Ledger, many celebrities have cited Nick Drake as an influence on their work.

Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt agreed to present a special documentary about Nick Drakes life for BBC Radio 2. He was asked to host the show after the radio station learned he was a Drake fan.

"I was introduced to Nick Drake's music about five years ago, and am a huge admirer of his records," said Pitt.

Lost Boy - In Search Of Nick Drake told the life story of the celebrated singer, who has influenced many musicians including Norah Jones and REM.

Information about the broadcast on BBC Radio 2

Elton John
Elton John is thought to be the first person ever to cover any of Nick Drakes songs. He recorded Day is Done, Saturday Sun, Way to Blue and Time Has Told Me in 1968 as a demo before Nick even released the tracks. They are available on two bootlegs: NICK DRAKE SESSIONS (Tontonkain, 1994) and SATURDAY SUN SESSIONS (Sound Techniques EJCD 348).

Paul Weller
Wild Wood, one of Paul Wellers solo albums is thought to be heavily influenced by Nick Drakes work.
Five Leaves Left was quoted as being one of Wellers 12 must have CD's.
"It's got that quintessential English melancholy feel about it. There's a song called 'River Man,' which is my all-time favorite Nick Drake song-the string arrangement is just fantastic."

Norah Jones
Norah Jones did a cover of Day is Done from the album Five Leaves Left.

Heath Ledger
The late Heath Ledger has been compared to Nick Drake numerous times since his own untimely death a short while ago. The following excerpts are typical of the blog posts about the "connection" between the two artists.

"the bizarre and curious connection between him and the late folk-singer Nick Drake still leaves the case wide open with astonishment. Was Heath Ledger's obsession of the depressed singer self-medicating for him? Was it, in fact, depression that induced his shy and reserved personal attributes that led to his eventual death?

During interviews of his latest film I'm Not There - where he portrays Bob Dylan, Ledger revealed his "obsession" with Nick Drake. For those unfamiliar, Nick Drake was a singer-songwriter, whom was heavily burdened with depression throughout his career. Drake overdosed on anti-depressants at the young age of 26. (...)

Ledger's admittance of his attraction to Drake's story definitely leaves one with questions. Was his curiosity and admiration merely coincidence? (...)

The strongest case that glorifies Ledger and Drake's similarities is Ledger's recently created music video for Drake's song "Black Eyed Dog." The video, which was produced completely by Ledger, depicts Ledger as the sole subject. At the video's close, Ledger turns the hand-held camera on himself and slowly drowns himself in a bathtub. The most bewildering and hair-raising aspect of this is that "Black Eyed Dog" is known as Drake's very last recording - allegedly recorded right before his death. The song is also known as being about dealing with depression. (...)

During the I'm Not There interviews, Ledger also revealed his intentions of eventually releasing a biopic of Drake's life and story. Although we may never see his version of the singer' s life, we are bound to see someone's attempt at reviving Ledger's dream in the future."

Read the full blog post here

Sheila Wood: If you're so unhappy Nick, why haven't you killed yourself?
Drake: It's too cowardly, and besides, I don't have the courage.