I normally eat breakfast whilst watching instructional videos from YouTube
on the television. Yesterday I was looking for something interesting when I
chanced upon a 'Word in your ear' podcast from David Hepworth about a Nick Drake album of which I had never
heard: 'The making of Five Leaves Left'. The podcast was very interesting,
so when I had a spare moment at work, I looked for this album.
Although it was released only a few days ago on 25 July, it already has a
Wiki page. This is a four cd box set, where the fourth disc is yet another
remastered version of the original album. The gold is to be found on the
first three discs where various alternate/original versions of the songs can
be found.
The first disc comprises initial demos of Nick, a tape of which was passed
to John Martyn, who was later to become a friend of Nick. Actually, Nick was
closer to John's wife, Beverly, and the tape was in her possession. The
second disc comes from
a newly found Paul de Rivaz Cambridge reel recorded in Cambridge
during the Lent term, 1968. The third disc mainly contains demos from Sound
Techniques in 1969.
There's a very interesting sequence of disc one: three different versions of
'Day is done' back to back. The first, dating from 11 April 1968, is an
orchestral (well, chamber orchestra) arrangement of the song, without vocal.
The second dates from 12 November 1968, featuring guitar and vocal, very
much like the final version. The third version is from 3 April 1969 and
again is a chamber orchestral arrangement without vocal; again, this doesn't
sound like the final version, even though its recording date is very close
to the final version.
There's a chamber orchestral version of 'Riverman' dating from 4 January
1969; the first verses feature the mysterious strings of Harry Robinson, but
towards the end there are lines that are repetitive and only detract from
the song. Fortunately these lines were cut from the final version that must
rank as one of the top Nick Drake songs.
The recording dates show that Nick was frequently in the studio. As producer
Joe Boyd wrote in his book 'White Bicycles', When I had some peace and quiet later that winter afternoon in 1968, I put
the reel-to-reel tape on the little machine in the corner of my office. The
first song was not one of his best: ‘I Was Made To Love Magic’. The
sentimental chord at the beginning of the chorus became one of the few moments
in a Nick Drake song to annoy me. But that first time, it drew me in: it was,
after all, the first Nick Drake song I ever heard. Next came ‘The Thoughts Of
Mary Jane’, then ‘Time Has Told Me’. I played the tape again, then again. The
clarity and strength of the talent were striking.... One evening, Nick played
me all his songs. Up close, the power of his fingers was astonishing, with
each note ringing out loud – almost painfully so – and clear in the small
room. I had listened closely to Robin Williamson, John Martyn, Bert Jansch and
John Renbourn. Half-struck strings and blurred hammerings-on were an accepted
part of their sound; none could match Nick’s mastery of the instrument. After
finishing one song, he would retune the guitar and proceed to play something
equally complex in a totally different chord shape....We took our time
[emphasis mine] finishing Five Leaves Left, taking stock after each session
before planning the next....Five Leaves Left’s final piece fell into place
when Kirby announced that he was not up to ‘River Man’. He had tried, but just
couldn’t manage what he knew Nick wanted and what the song deserved. John Wood
immediately suggested Harry Robinson, aka Lord Rockingham....Harry was a
master mimic. You want Sibelius? He could give you Sibelius. Since Nick wanted
‘River Man’ to sound like Delius, Harry, said John was our man....Having heard
a tape, Harry was already intrigued when we arrived. Nick played the song
through, then strummed chords as the tape played, showing Harry the textures
he wanted for the string parts. I had never heard him so articulate or so
demanding. Harry made notes and nodded. The result was a track which – next to
the Volkswagen ad’s ‘Pink Moon’ – is the most often played and discussed of
all Nick’s songs.
Happy birthday, Kate Bush.
This day in blog history:
| Title | Tags | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 188 | Speed III | Programming, Office automation | |
| 271 | Nice work | David Lodge | |
| 615 | Synchronicity | TV series | |
| 1058 | Sing Street (2) - A few more observations | Films | |
| 1521 | Kate Bush - a little harmonic analysis | Kate Bush, Music theory | |
| 1649 | The swimming pool show - addenda and updates | Musical group |
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