Nick Drake | Artist
Nick Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician born 1948 in Rangoon, Burma, but lived most of his life in Cambridge, UK. He was best known for his acoustic guitar-based songs and poignant lyrics. Although largely unknown during his lifetime, except in UK contemporary folk circles, and by fellow Island Records artists such as Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention, and Danny Thompson of Pentangle. Drake also collaborated with Robert Kirby, a music student who went on to orchestrate many of the string and woodwind arrangements for Drake's first two albums. Drake was drawn to the works of William Blake, William Butler Yeats, and Henry Vaughan, whose influences are reflected in his lyrics. He also employed a series of elemental symbols and codes, largely drawn from nature. The moon, stars, sea, rain, trees, sky, mist, and seasons are all commonly used, influenced in part by his rural upbringing. Drake was obsessive about practising his guitar technique, and would stay up through the night writing and experimenting with alternative tunings. His mother remembered hearing him "bumping around at all hours. I think he wrote his nicest melodies in the early morning hours." Self-taught, he achieved his guitar style through the use of alternative tunings to create cluster chords, which are difficult to achieve on a guitar using standard tuning. Drake began performing in local clubs and coffee houses around London, and in December 1967, while playing at a five-day event at the Roundhouse in Camden Town, made an impression on Ashley Hutchings, bass player with Fairport Convention. Hutchings introduced Drake to the 25-year-old American producer Joe Boyd, owner of the production and management company Witchseason Productions, which at the time was licensed to Island Records. Boyd, who had discovered Fairport Convention and introduced John Martyn and the Incredible String Band to a mainstream audience, was a respected figure in the UK folk scene. He and Drake formed an immediate bond, and Boyd acted as a mentor to Drake throughout his career. Between 1969-1972 Drake recorded three studio albums of self-penned material, all released on Island Records: Five Leaves Left (1969), Bryter Layter (1971) and Pink Moon (1972). All three are now regarded as masterpieces, however, none of them sold more than a few thousand copies at the time and this may have contributed to Nick's increasing mental problems. He lived a frugal existence; his only income was a £20-a-week retainer from Island Records. Drake died by his own hand of a drugs overdose in 1974 at the age of 26. Over the following decades he became widely acclaimed for his melancholy yet emotionally charged contemporary folk songs. By 2014, more than 2.4 million Nick Drake albums had been sold in the UK and the US. There are many posthumous archival and compilation albums. Amongst these, outstanding albums include Time of no Reply (1987) and Fruit Tree: The Complete Recorded Works (1979). Drake suffered from depression and was reluctant to perform in front of live audiences. Upon completion of Pink Moon, he withdrew from both performance and recording, retreating to his parents' home in rural Warwickshire. On 25 November 1974, Drake was found dead at the age of 26 due to an overdose of prescribed antidepressants.
Artist Website: brytermusic.com
Featured Albums: Nick Drake
Related Artists: Robert Kirby, Fairport Convention
Collections: Music Visionaries
