Nick Drake was the only artist to rise from almost complete obscurity to world renown posthumously until Eva Cassidy's music started to sell in the late 90s. Indeed in 2000 he was named in the Top 10 most influential artists of all time (BBC News Online ). Drake was one of a clutch of English singer-songwriters to emerge in the late 60s and his three albums all won critical acclaim in his lifetime but they all failed to gain commercial success, a fact that was one of the contributing factors to his, sometime, crippling depression.
This album was his first, released initially in 1969 and has been constantly available ever since, making the transition from vinyl to CD effortlessly and finally to the latest version the digital re-master issued in 1990. In fact it is rumoured that Joe Boyd made it a part of the sale of his company to island that they would never delete Drake’s albums.
Whilst critics love all the Drake albums, this his debut is generally seen as the lesser of the three. I have to disagree, whilst “Bryter Layter” and “Pink Moon” are utterly gorgeous this is the most beautiful album I have ever heard.”Time has Told Me” introduces Drake’s dulcet tones but it’s “River Man” that really shows his gift of melody, along with the marvellous string arrangement by Robert Kirby. “Way to Blue” is achingly beautiful, “Day is Done” was the first of a number of poignant tracks that Drake recorded and “Man in a Shed” is almost funky, or perhaps a touch honky tonk, whatever, it is one of my favourites.
However, “Fruit tree” has often been seen as the key track in Drake’s career, often quoting the line “Fame is but a fruit tree . . . It can never flourish, ’till its stock is in the ground”, which hints at the fate that awaited Drake all too soon. Indeed this track and “Black Dog”, one of the last four tracks he recorded and available on the posthumous collection “Time of No Reply”, are seen as the lyrical bookends to his life and career. The former, hinting that success would not come until after death and the latter clearly stating that the hell-hounds of depression were hot on his heels.
Links:
The Official website of the Estate of Nick Drake
Some fan sites
Originally posted October 7, 2003
Thank you for spelling it STOCK and not STORK. Few are this correct, and it is important
Cally
Comment by cally — January 30, 2008 @ 1:36 pm |