Song:Way To Blue
Album:Way To Blue: An Introduction To Nick Drake
British singer songwriter Nick Drake died far too young due to psychological problems. He has become a cult figure and has sold more records in the last few years than he ever sold during his lifetime. He was born June 19, 1948 to a British family living in Rangoon, Burma. His father worked there as an engineer. While studying English literature at Cambridge University in 1966, Drake started performing in the London folk club scene. He was spotted by Fairport Convention bassist Ashley Hutchings and he introduced Drake to producer Joe Boyd. Boyd was an American record producer who specialized in British folk groups and he had a deal with Island Records. He signed Drake and the 1969 debut album Five Leaves Left was released. Way To Blue was on that album. Members of Fairport Convention played on the album. Drake's three albums never sold partly because of his almost pathological reluctance to perform live or promote his music in interviews. Drake's music was appropriately sparse and bleak but he was sinking deeper into depression when his music didn't sell. This landed him in a psychiatric hospital for a time. Drake had retired from recording when he died of an accidental drug overdose on Nov. 26, 1974 at age 26. This comp on Hannibal Records is a very good intro to his music. Over the years Nick Drake has been cited as an influence by singers like Peter Buck of R.E.M. & Robert Smith of The Cure. The BBC even produced a documentary in 1999. But no one could have foreseen the spike in record sales when Volkswagen used the Nick Drake song Pink Moon in a commercial in 2000. The CD went to #5 on Amazon.com's sales chart. So today Nick Drake is more popular than he ever was during his lifetime. Of course there is no performance footage of Nick Drake but here's a video for Way To Blue produced by his estate and the images are Drake family home movies.
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