Quiet outcry - NICK DRAKE died forty years ago

27. November 2014

Nick Drake

Quiet outcry - NICK DRAKE died forty years ago

The short career of Nick Drake serves the topos of the wistful poet who died early. During his lifetime no more than a breath in the roaring turmoil of the music business, his manageable work increasingly found the deserved recognition after his death. Numerous biographies and entries in best lists have contributed to bringing his melancholic, intense music to a new audience. Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was born on 19 June 1948 in Burma, where his father had gone for professional reasons. A short time later his parents moved back to Great Britain, where he flirted fiercely with the emerging British folk music from 1965 onwards.

The extremely talented guitarist, singer and songwriter quickly found his own style, which is roughly comparable to that of bands such as Fairport Convention or the early John Martyn, but even more strongly supported the cultural heritage of his own country. Drake's lyrics have the urgency of a John Keats or Lord Byron, while his music brings to mind the idyll and dark romanticism of the Pre-Raphaelites, similar to John William Waterhouse's famous painting The Lady Of Shalott. The debut "Five Leaves Left" (1969), produced by Joe Boyd for Witchseason and released on Iceland, could hardly sell the three thousand minimum copies, just like the "Bryter Layter" (1970), which Drake himself frowned upon because of its partly overloaded arrangements.

The introverted, shy musician rarely appeared and struggled with severe psychological problems. A psychiatrist prescribed him the antidepressant Tryptizol in combination with various tranquilizers. Drake's suffering was hardly alleviated by this cocktail. He isolated himself, but continued to write songs in his seclusion. In autumn 1971 he finally asked the producer John Wood for studio time. Since the Sound Techniques Studios in London were occupied during the day, he only had the possibility to record at night.

Lesen Sie mehr im eclipsed Nr. 166 (Dez 2014/Jan 2015).