Nick's Quiet Gem

It may be the shortest of classic albums, but by no means it should be neglected. It was the last album that Nicholas Rodney Drake ever made. We call him Nick Drake and like Jeff Buckley and Elliott Smith who died to young. Nick Drake is one of my favorite people to listen to. It's only Nick Drake who plays on this album which is full of lush acoustic guitar and a few sprinkles of piano. It is a classic like no other. It's influence is wide through the people I mentioned above to jazz piano great Brad Mehldau who told me that his music is somewhat simple but full of lush sounds and his voice is a match to those lush sounds.

The remainder of the album follows the same general path, with Drake's elegant melancholia avoiding sounding pretentious in the least thanks to his continued embrace of simple, tender vocalizing.(AM) Joe Boyd the producer found something in Nick Drake no one will ever understand, but his recording this album shows how powerful both Nick and Joe were. I still listen to this album pretty closely. I search for the hidden meaning of a man who must have had some pain to talk about. His title song was featured in a VW advertisement and I had no idea what for. I don't think the selling of the product had anything to do what Nick was feeling, but the soft voice and the lush acoustic music must have.



I first heard about him in about 1994 when I was looking for something new to listen to. My friend who worked at the book store pointed to the staff picks and told me that a friend of his picked Nick Drake and suggested to listen to it. I did not find a flaw in his statement. I quickly picked it up and was happy that I made the choice. I came back the next day and bought his other two albums. Each had a uniqueness about them I have never heard in an artist. My friend told me that his guitar tuning was kinda odd too. After buying those three I was quite impressed. I wanted more and sadly the only thing left was an album of outtakes and session leftovers. It was good, but there had to be more. There was none and I was sad. A man who could pour his heart out and empty it so quickly.

I bought an introduction to Nick Drake when I returned to college and that certainly made a stamp on people who did not hear of him. I let a few of my friends I made at college listen to him and they were transfixed as much as I was. They were hooked and was just as curious about him as I was.

His influence is far and wide. So many people who I listen to describe Nick Drake as an icon like no other. They express that his quiet way of playing was so peaceful and was not charcteristic for it's time. He had a musical touch that no one really had. He was extremely mature in his sense of place. These songs would take any musician more then a few years to figure out, but with Nick Drake he did them before anybody else and he was 24 years young.



I know I mention how important is to own most of the music I talk about, but this is one of the most power behind my words. It will make you feel sad, happy and most of reflection on our world. He had that power. He was and still is a person I would put in my influences. Enjoy this album above all others. Nick Drake was a tragic hero and man who express some things more then words can say. Enjoy!