Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter. An accomplished acoustic guitarist, Drake signed to Island Records at the age of twenty while still a student at the University of Cambridge. His debut album, Five Leaves Left, was released in 1969, and was followed by two more albums, Bryter Layter (1971) and Pink Moon (1972). While Drake did not reach a wide audience during his brief lifetime, his music found critical acclaim and he gradually received wider recognition following his death.
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 antidepressants.
Drake's music remained available through the mid-1970s, but the 1979 release of the retrospective album Fruit Tree allowed his back catalogue to be reassessed. Drake has come to be credited as an influence on numerous artists, including Robert Smith of the Cure, Peter Buck of R.E.M., Kate Bush, Paul Weller, Aimee Mann, Beck, Robyn Hitchcock and the Black Crowes. The first Drake biography appeared in 1997; it was followed in 1998 by the documentary film A Stranger Among Us.
from this album in RP library
Nick Drake - how did I never know about you until RP? Your music is sublime, yet disturbed, somewhere between happy and sad without being either. I think your early death adds a weight to your music that wouldn't be there otherwise, and I'm sorry to say, this sadness does make your music better. Because who really wants 100% happy and only happy music all the time? I'm sorry your death ended your physical days on earth - and I for one and I'm sure many more of us RPsters can hear your music when we see the simple things in life. Birds chirping, flying in the clouds, floating, then breaking apart, like trees losing their leaves, beautiful decay, harmony in nature not needing anything we (as in humankind) can give it, just taking moments from here and there and enjoying the little bits of amazement all about us. Here's to your music surviving time.
Long Live RP!
Not really. Starting in 1972, I was working for exactly the kind of radio stations that would have played him but we never did. I didn't hear him until 1979, when I was working at WCAS in Cambridge, MA. One of the other DJs played "Cello Song" for me and I was absolutely stunned by how good it was, and that I'd never heard it before.
The first mainstream attention he got was when "Pink Moon" was used in a VW commercial in 1999. I suspect he would have found that circumstance to be kind of bizarre.
His acoustical style was unfortunate for evolving full in the face of a period when the guitar, and music, was going for LOUD and DRIVING. Nobody then was listening. But more of 'em are listening now.
I suppose if it's possible for a soul to take comfort from a after-life perspective perhaps he's smilin' at finally getting some recognition....?
So it goes.
Highlow
American Net'Zen
For now.
Nick Drake - how did I never know about you until RP? Your music is sublime, yet disturbed, somewhere between happy and sad without being either. I think your early death adds a weight to your music that wouldn't be there otherwise, and I'm sorry to say, this sadness does make your music better. Because who really wants 100% happy and only happy music all the time? I'm sorry your death ended your physical days on earth - and I for one and I'm sure many more of us RPsters can hear your music when we see the simple things in life. Birds chirping, flying in the clouds, floating, then breaking apart, like trees losing their leaves, beautiful decay, harmony in nature not needing anything we (as in humankind) can give it, just taking moments from here and there and enjoying the little bits of amazement all about us. Here's to your music surviving time.
Long Live RP!
Wow. What a truly outstanding comment.
For now, I'll give every song of his that I hear a 10, because, well, it's Nick Drake, and it's all I can do to honor him.
Now I understand the theory of stars(in the sky). They are long since dead and yet appear, ever so brightly! Somewhere out there in the Milky Way there is a star named "Nick" !
You just made a tear fall down my cheek.
You're listening to it.
Nick Drake - how did I never know about you until RP? Your music is sublime, yet disturbed, somewhere between happy and sad without being either. I think your early death adds a weight to your music that wouldn't be there otherwise, and I'm sorry to say, this sadness does make your music better. Because who really wants 100% happy and only happy music all the time? I'm sorry your death ended your physical days on earth - and I for one and I'm sure many more of us RPsters can hear your music when we see the simple things in life. Birds chirping, flying in the clouds, floating, then breaking apart, like trees losing their leaves, beautiful decay, harmony in nature not needing anything we (as in humankind) can give it, just taking moments from here and there and enjoying the little bits of amazement all about us. Here's to your music surviving time.
Long Live RP!
Thank you for such a heartfelt response