best Nick Drake album

[toomanyhatz]

You can have your 6-minutes plus of the "assured" "Poor Boy." I'll take Drake warts 'n all.

I'm sorry if you can't dig on that track.

Too warty?

Nah, I like it. That's some piano playing. But I guess I think of it as a Witchseason record more than a Drake one. Boyd has certainly carped on about what a huge success it is for him enough for me to start to think he wrote the dang songs. I guess I think of 5LL as the truest approximation of the "real" Drake, whatever that means.

"Northern Sky" and "Fly" are absolutely gorgeous, anyway.

[Beno]

I love all his albums but if I had to pick just one it would be Bryter Later. I'll never understand either why 'Poor Boy' polarises opinion so much.

[Stirling Moss]

Five Leaves Left for me.
The first 2 tracks alone (for me) are far and away the most achingly moving tracks he ever recorded and the arrangements (esp. the two Thompsons on Time Has Told Me, plus Harry Robinson strings on River Man) are superlative. I played this LP for the first time on Summer Solistice night 1989 and (17 years old at the time) it remains one of my truly epochal musical moments.

Bryter Lyter a smidgeon too lush for these ears, and Pink Moon a wee bit too bleak.

[Clippernolan]

I love them all but I think Pink Moon is my favourite. I just like the feel of it, and the fact that his guitar playing is showcased a bit more. And it has "Things Behind the Sun" which is a monstrous track by anyone's reckoning.

For a Drake beginner, I'd recommend the Way to Blue comp as has been suggested. You can work backward from there. I believe this is a pretty standard way of accessing Drake, just because his albums are in many ways so dissimilar to each other.

[Charlie O.]

i really like the compilation 'time of no reply', which was part of the fruit tree boxset. not sure if it's available to buy separately?

I think it's technically out of print - but Amazon still has it.

It's been more or less superseded by Made To Love Magic -



- which has many of the same songs, though some in alternate versions. It also has "Tow The Line", apparently the last song he recorded - from the same session as "Black Eyed Dog" and those, but previously unreleased.

There are still a few tracks exclusive to Time Of No Reply, though (the solo demo of "Fly" springs to mind).



There's also Family Tree, an odd grab bag of mostly-interesting (if inessential) home recordings pre-dating Five Leaves Left...



Actually, the highlights for me are the two songs written and performed by Molly Drake, Nick's mum - too bad Joe Boyd didn't discover her, too!

[Kenji]

I can recommend this book for more information about Nick:



This thread made me want to read it again...

[The Slider]

I love all his albums but if I had to pick just one it would be Bryter Later. I'll never understand either why 'Poor Boy' polarises opinion so much.

It has a saxophone obligato and girly backing singers.
It is a bit far from archetypal Drake.

It is by far my least favourite track on the album, including the fabulous instrumentals, but it is still mighty fine.

[Matty Red Sox]

Saw all three for about $2 each today...left them where they were.


Oh I lie, if I'd noticed one for that price, I might have given it a try.

[Kenji]

I'll never understand either why 'Poor Boy' polarises opinion so much.

It has a saxophone obligato and girly backing singers.

But it's P.P. and Doris!!

[Piggly Wiggly]

I'll never understand either why 'Poor Boy' polarises opinion so much.

It has a saxophone obligato and girly backing singers.

But it's P.P. and Doris!!

Yeah, I always thought of it as the "Gimme Shelter"/DSOTM of bedsitter folk.

Surprisingly effective, rather than over-reachingly gauche.

[Charlie O.]

Hell, the backing vocals totally make "Poor Boy". The sax works perfectly, too.

Honestly, next somebody will be saying "The Great Gig In The Sky" would be alright if it wasn't for that damn chick singer...

[Kenji]

Hell, the backing vocals totally make "Poor Boy". The sax works perfectly, too.

Honestly, next somebody will be saying "The Great Gig In The Sky" would be alright if it wasn't for that damn chick singer...

[The Slider]

Hell, the backing vocals totally make "Poor Boy". The sax works perfectly, too.

The question was 'why does it polarise opinion so much'

[C]

As I have said before, my old schoolmate Pete swears that we both saw Nick Drake play at a London Fairport Convention gig...

I can't bloody remember




.

[whodathunkit]

As I have said before, my old schoolmate Pete swears that we both saw Nick Drake play at a London Fairport Convention gig...

I can't bloody remember




.

If this was the Roundhouse, Mr C, it could possibly be the gig at which Nick was "discovered" by Ashley Hutchings and recommended to Joe Boyd. An even more historic occasion than Ginger Baker's Airforce/Albert Hall/etc.

[C]

As I have said before, my old schoolmate Pete swears that we both saw Nick Drake play at a London Fairport Convention gig...

I can't bloody remember




.

If this was the Roundhouse, Mr C, it could possibly be the gig at which Nick was "discovered" by Ashley Hutchings and recommended to Joe Boyd. An even more historic occasion than Ginger Baker's Airforce/Albert Hall/etc.

Certainly the correct venue

I must have been there!




.

[Charlie O.]

Hell, the backing vocals totally make "Poor Boy". The sax works perfectly, too.

The question was 'why does it polarise opinion so much'

I realized soon after I wrote my post that it might look like I was needling you, John, but that wasn't my intention. We (BCB) have discussed this track before, and these complaints have come up before. I was just trying to make the point that in music, the ends frequently justify the means. Like, I've been heard to say that I hate the sound of a Fender Rhodes, but if pressed I'll admit that there are records where I love it - ultimately it's all in what the musician does with it, right?

[zoomboogity]

If this was the Roundhouse, Mr C, it could possibly be the gig at which Nick was "discovered" by Ashley Hutchings and recommended to Joe Boyd. An even more historic occasion than Ginger Baker's Airforce/Albert Hall/etc.

Absolutely. He also did a brief UK tour with Fotheringay, I would love to have seen that.

[Piggly Wiggly]

That's some piano playing.

Fuck yeah!

[Bungo the Mungo]

Good fucking Christ. You really like this crap?

Well, at least I tried.