Nick Drake: The Biography [Paperback]

I felt that Humphries was tackling his subject from a little too remote an angle and so the analysis becomes, at times, too close to hypothesis. It may be said that Humphries could have written a briefer book (he had SO little to work with!) but he has developed some themes with skill: the folk scene of the early 1970's; Nick mysterious guitar tunings; his isolation and detachment (the poor man spent hours - even days, it seems - doing nothing whatsoever, in silence, even in company); his gradual tragic slide into deep depression; and the curious cult that now defines him moreso even than his music.

I would have loved to have personal insight from Gabrielle Drake (the book feels hollow without it and, in certain places, it cries out for some personal perspective from someone who wasn't a schoolfriend or a musician) and just a little more anecdote. But the author has done something quite subtle: he has written a book that obliges you to pursue Drake's music further for he raises more questions about the man's brief life than he answers. As I read the book, I listened to Drake's three albums over and over again and I like them even more now. But I still don't feel I know very much about the man who wrote them.

The account of the sinking of the Titanic at the beginning is bizarre and irrelevant - and I'm not sure that the author's grandfather being the doctor who brought Drake into the world is of any concern or interest to anyone except Mr Humphries (who seems disproportionately proud of this incidental achievement of his forebear).

The prose is fine overall but there are purple passages. Try this from page 172: "Pink Moon has all the hallmarks of a finely crafted beauty, a sombre resonance which finds echo all these years on. The songs are pale and wistful, like the late light of a Warwickshire afternoon. It is like watching smoke coil up from a hand-rolled cigarette, as the chill fog of a late-autumn evening sneaks up and wraps itself around you, like an old frind keen to betray you. Hearing Nick Drake's voice here conjures up again the lost boy, creating a mood as irredeemable as childhood, as plaintive as unrequited love, as tragic as lost promise".

It’s interesting that the singer had completed his schooldays in 1966 when The Beatles released Revolver and Dylan was making waves with Blonde On Blonde. Nick’s visits to France and Marrakech are covered in detail. The description of the UK folk scene of those times is very informative, as Humphries writes about musicians like Danny Thompson, Fairport Convention and Richard & Linda Thompson and the clubs and circuits where they performed.

Much of the text consists of various peoples’ recollections of Drake, most of them within the music industry. So there is an amount of repetition and revisiting the same eras and incidents through the eyes of different narrators. Humphries also discusses Drake’s rare coverage by various music publications of the time like Sounds and Melody Maker, including reviews of his albums. In addition, he attempts to recreate the circumstances of the recording of each album and provides illuminating information and opinions on most of the individual songs. I was particularly pleased to read about John Cale’s contribution to Bryter Layter and his recollections of the recording sessions.

Drake’s tragic decline from a happy, well-adjusted school kid to increasingly isolated and alienated young man is treated with understatement, but the overall effect leaves a strong impression. The chapters on Drake’s posthumous rediscovery and growing influence are well-researched and provides detailed information on covers of his songs and compilation albums that contain his work. There are eight pages of black & white plates with photographs, a lino cut and a pencil sketch. The book concludes with a discography that includes Drake’s individual and compilation albums, multi-artist compilations and the tribute album Brittle Days.