The secret of Nick Drake, the saddest and loneliest boy still alive. babelia

At the end of November 1974 a few obituaries came to light around the image of Nick Drake and the best imaginable painter of Kam Kongoja, the death of that delicate and beautiful Muchacho brought tears to his eyes from the early loss (26 years old), Who died , in a night of lightning and insomnia, a victim of a lethal combination of drugs against depression. Nicholas Rodney Drake himself may be the first person to be surprised today who has proved the legendary dimension he has achieved…

At the end of November 1974 a few obituaries came to light around the image of Nick Drake and the best imaginable painter of Kam Kongoja, the death of that delicate and beautiful Muchacho brought tears to his eyes from the early loss (26 years old), Who died , in a night of lightning and insomnia, a victim of a lethal combination of drugs against depression. Nicholas Rodney Drake himself may be the first person to be surprised today, proving the mythical dimension that his figure has been acquiring over the years, which is now a symbol of masculine exuberance, depth of soul and, above all, a very personal troubling Wali has become synonymous with inspiration. The world was unknown until then… In fact, replicants of all kinds have not ceased to emerge: from his contemporary John Martin to the troubled boys’ massive generation, which included Iron and Wine, Vetiver, Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley, Bon Iver Grizzly Bear makes the Sondre. Lerche and our number up to Zaragozanos Tachchenko.

It only took three albums to record and its legacy is limited to half a hundred songs

We find ourselves in front of an artist who in life and his legacy only had time to record three albums, the time to collect other scattered titles – and even among a hundred songs A sketch was also found among her home recordings. We talk about a Huidizo and Ensimismado Muchacho who felt intimidated by the set and by whom no audio-visual, sound or photographic testimonials were left on the very few occasions when the tables were mounted. Genius, incomprehensible or spirited, the maker of most of his time (and certainly our own too), Drake was guarding his own ghosts while the world refused to give up.

It didn’t help that the same Mick Jagger was struck by their talent and magnetism (“Come visit us in London whenever you want”) following a chance encounter between Nicks and the Rolling Stones in Marrakech during the spring of 1967. And it was not enough. who adopted him as the discoverer and representative of producer Joe Boyd, the already flamboyant Pink Floyd. Boyd was scheduled to visit again, but after hearing Drake (he enjoyed that privilege) perform at the Roundhouse in London on December 21, 1967, he decided to sponsor his career. In his autobiography, white bike, Slides in a delicious pun about what inspired Nick among the Iban explorers: “Everyone shaved their heads trying to figure out what planet this guy came from”.

Over the summer when Drake blew out his 75 wishing candles, they gathered into a beautiful tribute and repository of senses for his fleeting but indestructible Traktoria. is on one side Life, A massive official biography (about 600 pages) of Richard Morton Jack, which Gabrielle Drake, the artist’s only sister, considers “the definitive”. But for us, you search for more people to find double anthology endless colorful ways, in which 25 artists are revising and reworking other compositions that appear on the album five cards left (1969), brighter letter (1970) and pink moon (1972); And, in that attempt to convey the short list, Birmingham’s prolific singer-songwriter Catherine Priddy also features in ‘They’re Leaving Me Behind’, which was only recorded on a home cassette.

It was never easy to recreate Drake’s unique work, which was so distinctive because of his tormented voice and unorthodox tunings with guitars galore. The best part of this compilation – by far, the most comprehensive and ambitious undertaking until the finale – is that each participant applies their own sound and ideals, but doesn’t abandon the calm melodic and harmonic framework of the original. So, Enfadikas Fontaines takes the DC immortal ‘Cello Song’ into postpunk (believe it, yeah) territory, as the restless Mike Lindsay uses the deep and prayerful voice of Guy Garvey (Elbow) to elevate the legend of Bellissima. Is. Saturday Sun’, is one that summed up the numbness and vital nostalgia in those poignant verses: “El sol del Domingo came without prior warning / And nadi supo que hecer”.

There are obvious and self-confessed fans of Drake (John Grant, Philip Selway, Liz Phair) in attendance, but there are also script twists such as Let’s Eat Grandma taking over to bring ‘From the Morning’ to the close of their territories Is.synth pop, We doubt the Norway aurora would have distorted the revered ‘Pink Moon’ until it left her helpless. And the strong intuition that Nick Drake has added to the realm of life will embrace David Gray as hedonistic, vast in approach to ‘Place to Be’, dynamic but full of pelizko of electronics. This is certainly a mere dialectical resource, but with Nicholas Rodney the idea becomes intolerable that early and sudden deaths deprive us forever of dozens of titles that will never exist.

‘Nick Drake: The Life’. Richard Mortonjack. John Murray Publishers Ltd., 2023 (in English). 576 pages. 28.77 Euro.

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