It is quite remarkable that for an artist who had such a brief tenure on the planet that Nick Drake has left such a resounding echo in contemporary music.
With a mere three official albums recorded half a century ago and a handful of demos and out takes, a legend is formed.
Indeed, there still remains much respect, curiosity and love for both the recorded output and the short life of this doomed young man who barely reached the age of 26 .
And now thanks to this new huge tome we have what must be the absolute definitive biography of Nick Drake.
It is to be commended for its wealth of forensic detail ( do you really need to know the name of the doctor who performed his circumcision ?! ).
Containing as it does countless insights and quotes from many of his friends and fellow musicians it paints a vivid picture of this photogenic progeny.
Born into very comfortable circumstances, Nick Drake had a happy childhood, he possessed a vivid imagination but his academic studies were overtaken by his natural desire to play music.
Influenced by the likes of Bob Dylan, Bert Jansch, Judy Collins, etc he was drawn inexorably toward creating his own music.
Among fortuitous events that sparked his career was Ashley Hutchings of Fairport Convention spotting him play an early gig. He was immediately struck by Nick’s talents and consequently told his friend and colleague the legendary Joe Boyd, a mover and shaker of great import who produced Drake’s first two albums.
Morton Jack describes meticulously the making of those three albums, the inspirations, the collaborations, and most movingly the fragile mindset of Drake.
The final part of the book follows in extraordinary detail Nick’s harrowing descent into a deep, and ultimately fateful slide, into depression and the subsequent suicide of one of these lands’ most enigmatic musicians.
This book will make you go to your collections and dig out those albums and listen again with renewed interest and appreciation, oh and love, lots of love.
by John Haylock
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