Nick Drake

As per wiki he produced haunting tunes. I gotta check them out sometime in future.

He's definitely got some interesting songs. Used a lot of alternate tunings, which makes them fun to learn and play. At the Chime of a City Clock and Cello Song are the ones that spring to mind first when I think about his songs. At least today they are :wink:

First time I ever heard of Nick was back in the 1970's - there was a piece in the NME, written by Nick Kent (I think it gets a mention in the Wiki article on Nick) which, along with Charles Shaar Murray's retrospective on Hendrix, was often cited as an example of superb music journalism. Reading the article actually made me want to rush out and buy his music.... unfortunately, in those days, there was no youtube or P2P sharing, and I wasn't going to fork out money for an album by someone I'd never heard. My local music shop didn't have any of his albums, and to this day, I don't think I've ever heard a single track of his played on the radio.

It was many years later when I finally got to hear some of his music - a friend of mine had the albums, "Five Leaves Left" (I think the Nick Kent article was called "Autumn Leaves" - I know the CSM hendrix article was called "Cry Of Love," I bought the album on the strength of the article....I knew "Angel" from Rod Stewart's version, and I actually cut the article out and sellotaped it to the inside sleeve of the album. Then I lent it to a friend, and never saw it again...) and "Pink Moon." I badgered him to play them, but came to the conclusion that while his music was interesting, it wasn't my cup of tea - found it a little depressing. Different, though, from most music I'd ever listened to....since then I've come across his music quite a few times, and grown to love it.

I'd file him under "acquired taste" - takes a little time to get into his music, but I've found out it's well worth the effort.

I'd particularly recommend Riverman, Three Hours and Fruit Tree from "Five Leaves Left;" ALL of Bryter Layter, but especially Poor Boy and the title track; and ALL of Pink Moon. That one's my personal favourite....sparse instrumentation, but beautifully produced, atmospheric, moody and full of feeling.

As far as this listener's concerned, Nick's one of the most under-appreciated musicians/songwriters of all time...I wish I could articulate my thoughts and feelings in my lyrics about 1% as well as he did, and put music to them which fits the mood of the songs - he could have been one of the all time greats. Sadly, he died too young - three excellent albums to remember him by, but I wish there'd been more.

EDIT - I was looking for a link to the Nick Kent article on the NME website, but couldn't find it....I did find a link to Riverman on youtube, though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9HRo-9mqrQ - check out some his other songs whilke you're there.

:D :D :D

Vic

Yeah im 18 and I'm glad I found his music so early in life. That way when I become a depressed twenty something year old...i'll have his music to use as a soundtrack