or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Available to Download Now
 
Buy the MP3 album for £7.49
 
 
 
 
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Colour:
Image not available

 

Five Leaves Left [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Nick Drake Audio CD
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
Price: £11.69 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 2 left in stock.
Sold by Fulfillment Express and Fulfilled by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.
Want delivery by Monday, 20 May? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
Buy the MP3 album for £7.49 at the Amazon MP3 Downloads store.


Amazon's Nick Drake Store

Music

Image of album by Nick Drake

Photos

Image of Nick Drake

Biography

Nick Drake's avid cult following continues to grow as does the list of contemporary artists who cite the legendary singer/songwriter as an inspiration--from R.E.M., Paul Weller, Travis, Portishead, The Coral and Coldplay to David Gray, Super Furry Animals and Beth Orton. Now a new "best of" compilation, A Treasury (Island/UMe), released September 28, 2004, brings Drake's ... Read more in Amazon's Nick Drake Store

Visit Amazon's Nick Drake Store
for 39 albums, photos, discussions, and more.

Frequently Bought Together

Five Leaves Left + Bryter Layter + Pink Moon
Price For All Three: £20.68

These items are dispatched from and sold by different sellers.

Buy the selected items together
  • Bryter Layter £4.58
  • Pink Moon £4.41

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Product details

  • Audio CD (26 Jun 2000)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
  • Label: Universal / Island
  • ASIN: B000026FOA
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 957 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song Title Time Price
Listen  1. Time Has Told Me 4:26£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  2. River Man 4:18£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  3. Three Hours 6:12£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  4. Way To Blue 3:07£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  5. Day Is Done 2:25£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  6. ' Cello Song 4:44£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  7. Thoughts Of Mary Jane 3:17£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  8. Man In A Shed 3:47£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen  9. Fruit Tree 4:44£0.89  Buy MP3 
Listen10. Saturday Sun 4:02£0.89  Buy MP3 


Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

There's not a single dud in the trilogy of albums that singer/songwriter Nick Drake released during his all-too-short career. And 1968's Five Leaves Left--his first album--is certainly no exception. Drake's sensitive guitar work and sensitive vocals are backed by the baroque sounds of a chamber string group and the platter's lyrics show maturity well beyond the age of their 20-year-old creator. More sparse than its follow-up, the jazzy Bryter Later , but less tortured than Drake's dark final chapter, Pink Moon, Five Leaves Left is a classic folk disc. Songs like "River Man", "The Thoughts of Mary Jane" and "Day Is Done" are among Drake's finest moments. Newcomers be forewarned: this music is as infectious as it is bleak. --Jason Verlinde

BBC Review

Twenty years ago Nick Drake was a distinctly word-of-mouth proposition whose slim back catalogue was shared by a select few. Nowadays, thanks to championing by the likes of Paul Weller, as well as a series of books and TV and radio documentaries (cf: Radio 2's effort hosted by Brad Pitt!), Nick's a household name. This may account for the recent avalanche of 'sensitive' singer songwriters but it's hard not to be still floored by the beauty of his first album.

Discovered by Fairport Convention's Ashley Hutchings and signed to Joe Boyd's Witchseason production company Drake was pigeonholed as a 'folk' artist. Five Leaves Left, recorded on a shoestring in 1969, boasted a cast of players who had paid their dues forging the new genre of folk rock (ie: Fairport's Richard Thompson and Pentangle's Danny Thompson); but this was a whole different kettle of

Englishness, with more than a hint of jazz about it. Sung in the semi-whispered tones that betrayed no hint of ersatz rurality, these cryptic songs of reflection and emotional 'otherness' were propelled by the one thing that had attracted Boyd to Drake: His idiosyncratic open-tuned picking style "Cello Song".

Drake is often painted as a retiring man, yet he was often extremely vocal over his muse. He and Boyd initially fought over Drake's wish for a stripped back approach (which he eventually found on his last masterpiece, Pink Moon). In the end old college friend, Robert Kirby, provided orchestration that beautifully captured the yearning 'autumnal' element in the songs "Way To Blue" and "Day Is Done".

What's more, the string arrangement by Harry Robinson on "River Man" - possibly Drake's finest song - succinctly turned his Delius-meets-folk-jazz opus into something that no one had ever heard before. It's a key text for Drake fans, containing the return to nature matched against the infidelities of city life: A theme he would return to again and again, while the album title's sly reference to smoker's delights (as well as "Thoughts Of Mary Jane") showed that Drake was no stranger to the standard musician's indulgences.

Widely ignored upon its release, with hindsight it's easy to see how such ignorance conspired to make Drake a bitter man. Yet ultimately all we can do is bask in the unique vision captured here and be grateful that, for a short period, Nick Drake was able to share it with us all. --Chris Jones

Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window


Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
52 of 52 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Genius an overused word 5 Mar 2005
Format:Audio CD
My introduction to Nick Drake was around the early 90s through a friend who had been introduced to him by his father - a guitarist. It's strange how Nick Drake's music often spreads like that. I so adore this album, it has one of my favourite tracks of all time "River Man" on it but I also love his other two albums as well. I've re-written what I wanted to say about Five Leaves Left and Nick Drake so many times, but I can't review / explain him. You simply have to take the plunge and experience Nick. I would say one word though - Genius - a much paraded word and I hate using it, but Nick was a very great and rare natural ability. He produced music with a deceptively simple sound but constructed with much complexity in composition, playing and emotion. Nick Drake's music can bring a tear to my eye, and no-one else's music does that. Just buy his three albums, after buying one you will probably buy them all eventually anyway, and it it'll be your life's best purchase. Like me you'll fall in love with his gentle musical genius, and everyone you play the albums to will do too.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
38 of 38 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest albums ever made 12 Aug 2006
Format:Audio CD
For anyone who hasn't listened to Nick Drake's music before, this is probably the best place to start. Listen to this and I guarantee that you will buy 'Pink Moon' and 'Bryter Later' within weeks - if you do you won't be disappointed. Both in their own way are as good as this and that's saying something! 'Five Leaves Left' is simply a masterpiece. There isn't a bad or even a mediocre track on this album. Every single note is imbued with a beauty that few artists ever attain, yet this was Drake's debut! From the wonderful opener "Time Has Told Me" to the bluesy "Saturday Sun" the album maintains excellent quality. All Drake's guitar playing and singing is fantastic but what really makes this album one of the greatest albums ever made are the collection of melancholic string-laden songs that make up the meat of the album. "Way To Blue", "Day Is Done" and "Cello Song" are masterpieces, simply stunning. Listen to them and be beguiled. Once you've heard these tracks you will forever compare them to anything you listen to and mostly find everything else wanting. Yet THE standout track on the album rises above even this. "Fruit Tree" just has to be one of the saddest songs ever recorded especially in view of what eventually became of Nick Drake - utterly prescient. 'Five Leaves Left' is truly one of the best albums I've ever heard. If you haven't heard it yet, get it. It'll be the best thing you ever do! Couldn't be anything but 10/10
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
83 of 85 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of A Great Bunch 13 Aug 2000
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
Having sampled Nick Drake's genius on "Way to Blue - An introduction to Nick Drake", I went out and bought all three of his main albums. They are all worthy of five stars, but while the stark "Pink Moon" perhaps has a couple of weak links and "Bryter Later" relies on some instrumental passages, I would say that "Five Leaves Left" stands as the ultimate monument to Nick Drake's brilliance.

It contains arguably his greatest songs, the lilting, yearning "River Man" and the harrowing, prophetic "Fruit Tree". There is playfulness too in "The Thoughts of Mary Jane" and "Man in a Shed" but all tinged with his trademark "wistfulness" Other classics are "Day is Done", "Saturday Sun" and the beautiful "Cello Song", which shows off his almost inimitable guitar technique. The whole album boasts an incredible range of interesting rhythms and melodies. If you liked Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks" you'll certainly like this

Drake on this record was whimsical yet poignant, hopeful yet hurt. He sang in a whisper that spoke a whole encyclopaedia of volumes. He was one of this country's greatest songwriters and a great musician too. A lot of stuff I used to like now sounds clumsy after listening to this.

Phew! But that's enough. Don't take my word for it. Buy this - and the other two albums too.

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?   Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Leaves Nick Drake
A good album /Cd to listen to and those who have just found out about Nick Drake. It a sad loss to British music from his early death.
Published 3 days ago by Tone the stone
4.0 out of 5 stars Stands the test of time
I've been promising myself this album for several years and am delighted that I have finally got around to owning it. It's a great album full of mellow, thought provoking songs. Read more
Published 5 days ago by Frostie
5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless classic
Everybody has heard a Nick Drake song because his work is used in TV ,film and advertising. But how many know about Drake. Read more
Published 15 days ago by Shaggie
5.0 out of 5 stars CONSIDERATION CAME....
HELLO, WHEN SHAKESPEARE SAID "CONSIDERATION LIKE AN ANGEL CAME" I THINK IT WAS MEANT FOR MOMENTS IN LIFE LIKE THIS, THE REALISATION OF A BEAUTIFUL WORK OF ART IN THIS CASE AN... Read more
Published 1 month ago by DEANO.
5.0 out of 5 stars great album
brilliant songwriter , performs with true integrity, left us too soon but leaves a great legacy. right that he should be remembered
Published 2 months ago by michael a joannides
3.0 out of 5 stars Wall-paper music?
I sent for this CD having read an article in the Sunday Times review section [ about Drake ] I did'nt know anything about him and reviews on Amazon were very positive. Read more
Published 3 months ago by William C
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb music
Beautiful album - All three of his original recordings are great. This is much cheaper than buying the original vinyl version which is rare and over £100 in good condition
Published 4 months ago by david mott
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
My awareness of Nick Drake came relatively late, but Five Leaves Left is now one of my favourite albums with every track a winner.
Published 4 months ago by Kingsley Sawyers
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Leaves Left
What a superb album,would be hard pressed to find a better album of this type of music.Can't stop listening to it...a must buy!
Published 5 months ago by S. J. Blake
5.0 out of 5 stars A Superb Debut Album From Nick Drake
This was the first Nick Drake album that I purchased . I had heard that Nick's life had been tainted with sadness and that he had died at a young age in tragic circumstances and... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Brian I Davidson
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums


What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Feedback


Fulfillment Express Privacy Statement Fulfillment Express Delivery Information Fulfillment Express Returns & Exchanges