Nick Drake: The Life

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The remaining years of Molly and Rodney’s lives were dominated by their son’s death, she says: “They talked, I know, to parents in similar situations, trying to help them.” Viewed thus, the book is a continuation of their work. “I thought that it might just be of use to people going through similar problems. My brother once said to my mother, ‘If only I could feel that my music had helped anyone at all …’ and I just wish he would have known how many people have said to us over the years how his music had helped them.” Jan 16 - Put the correct solo section in "Things Behind The Sun" / Mar 16 - "Cello Song" made less rubbish Pink Moon was the product of a period of intense, secretive songwriting, during which the singer’s behaviour became more erratic and his mental health deteriorated, much to the anguish of family and friends. It was a mark of the regard in which he was held by associates that the album was recorded with little warning, late at night, exactly as Drake prescribed by engineer/producer John Wood with no external input (the previous two LPs featured arrangements).

Nick Drake: Why the mysterious British music icon who died Nick Drake: Why the mysterious British music icon who died

On the morning of the 25th November, he was found, lifeless, on his bed. At the coroner’s inquest, a pathologist stated that he had found evidence in Drake’s body of “a serious overdose”. The verdict was suicide. The Endless Coloured Ways takes its title from a line in From the Morning, a song on Pink Moon which, unlike Drake's previous albums, is very stripped down. Some fans see its songs as bleak evidence of his deteriorating mental condition: Fairport Convention’s Richard Thompson, who had played on a couple of numbers on the earlier albums, was "disturbed" when he heard the LP. It "seemed a stark cry for help. The voice of a man teetering on the edge of sanity," he writes in his 2021 memoir Beeswing.So it is that Drake has gone from relative obscurity during his lifetime to appearing on the cover of music magazines, being the subject of a Radio 2 documentary presented by Brad Pitt, and having his music appear in mainstream Hollywood movies such as A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood and hit TV shows such as Normal People. He's even had a beer named after one of his songs by a Californian craft brewery.

Nick Drake story I want to complicate the Nick Drake story

The author interviewed 200 people from all areas of Drake’s life and was given access to his family's private papers. His research suggests that, contrary to what some believe, the musician was not a heroin addict; he was not gay; he had not been abused at school; and conflict with his father was not at the root of his problems. Pink Moon is often described as “desolate” and “bleak”, with Drake’s lyrics interpreted in light of his mental health. Place to Be contains the lines: “And I was green, greener than the hill / Where flowers grew and the sun shone still / Now I’m darker than the deepest sea/ Just hand me down, give me a place to be.”But I doubt this very much and I would regard as far more likely reasons your reticence (which you must overcome), your difficulty in communicating (which you must overcome), and your reluctance to plunge in and have a go (which you conceal from yourself by self-persuasion that more solo practising and solo listening are required before the move is made) … If I am right in what I say, and the real trouble is that you have not yet overcome your weaknesses (and God knows we all have them), then you may well find that you have thrown over Cambridge simply to continue indefinitely on the outskirts of what you are looking for. Girls adored him. He was tall, good-looking, diffident, quietly well spoken, with none of the faux-Americanisms or affected glottal-stops of most musicians of the day. His shyness and gentleness – “it was impossible to imagine him being angry or unpleasant”, says one friend – were captivating. Yet despite his achingly romantic songs, it seems Drake never had an intimate relationship with anyone. “I would almost describe him as asexual,” one friend remembers. “I think he had a romanticised, even poetic view of women rather than a carnal one.” His greatest infatuation was with Francoise Hardy; there was a suggestion she might record one of his songs. They met in Paris, and it came to nothing but later, but as his mental condition worsened, he travelled to France trying, and failing to, see her. I was appalled by Pink Moon,” remembers Drake’s university friend Paul Wheeler. “I found it incredibly upsetting. I thought the songs were frightening. To this day I cannot ever imagine listening to it for pleasure. It’s like opening some terrible Pandora’s box.” Drake was musical from an early age, sporty as a school student, bright enough to study English literature at Cambridge but was troubled and subject to depression, got absorbed by his music, released three albums, withdrew from public performance after the third, Pink Moon (1972), retreated further into himself and died at 26 from an overdose of the antidepressant amitriptyline. Thus there is little of him on record, literally and metaphorically, beyond achingly poignant footage of him as a little by at the beach and photos as an adult, still beautiful.

Nick Drake Song Collection (Music) Piano Vocal Guitar The Nick Drake Song Collection (Music) Piano Vocal Guitar

Every time I finished listening to the album, I felt really moved by From the Morning, which ends it. It sounds so hopeful. This is obviously just my interpretation but it feels as though it’s about striving to live and appreciate life. It really resonated with me." The headstone on Drake's grave in St Mary Magdalene churchyard, Tanworth-in-Arden, is inscribed with a From the Morning lyric. It says: "Now we rise and we are everywhere". Drake's intended meaning may be uncertain but the line is certainly true of his fans. Fortunately, one of those which accepted the offer was the Koutoubia Palace, Tangier’s most exclusive nightspot, which is done up in the style of a Moorish palace. I couldn’t help feeling a little out of place, but all the same I played for about quarter of an hour. The reception was extraordinarily good and we all got stood rounds of drinks, which was rather pleasant.”The first two – Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter – sold only modestly, around 5,000 copies each, making Drake, who had depression, retreat into himself even further. He felt Wood was one of the few people he could trust. “One day,” recalls Wood, “he just rang up and said he wanted to go into the studio.” I asked him what his influences were and he said Randy Newman and the Beach Boys’ … John Wood. Photograph: Courtesy: John Wood

Nick Drake: The Biography by Patrick Humphries | Goodreads Nick Drake: The Biography by Patrick Humphries | Goodreads

If Molly Drake’s song has a subtext,” writes her daughter in the book insightfully, “it’s surely that angst isn’t the sole domain of the young – should they be inclined to dwell on them, older generations have no shortage of accumulate compromises and regrets upon which to hang their anxieties.” Aug 07 - Tabs added for the "Far Leys" instrumental (appears on Family Tree as Sketch 1) and original guitar version of Made To Love Magic. Drake is now ensconced in myth as a doomed poet whose life ended at 26 through an overdose of antidepressants. Previous biographies and documentaries have given thorough accounts of his life and work, including one in 2014 by his sister, Gabrielle Drake, the actor. The work of their mother, Molly Drake, has been folded into the story. Her son had grown up to the sound of Molly composing songs at the piano; there are resonances in their bodies of work.

You believe that the problem of turning yourself from an amateur into a professional can be solved merely by transferring yourself from Cambridge to somewhere where you are surrounded by, and under the influence of, professionals in your chosen field. From what you say I take it that you must believe that it was the prospect of returning to Cambridge for eight-week periods during the year that prevented you, in the long summer vac, from getting into the swim, so to speak, and of starting to acquire the professionalism which you are rightly seeking.