REISSUE OF THE YEAR
“Nick Was Operating At A Higher Level”
Lost tapes of intimate performances were the treasures unearthed in this exemplary box set. “I was stunned,” original
Five Leaves Left
producer
JOE BOYD
tells
MARTIN ASTON
.
Before the fall: Nick Drake with his mother Molly and sister Gabrielle;
(inset) Joe Boyd.
Getty, © Bryter Music
1
NICK DRAKE
The Making Of Five Leaves Left (ISLAND)
“I’VE NEVER been a supporter of the ‘bonus track boom’,” confesses Joe Boyd. “For me, the artist and producer present the original album the way they want it to be. So, I wasn’t expecting much from The Making Of Five Leaves Left. But I was stunned by how moving it is.”
Nick Drake aficionados felt similar emotions when digging into this four-disc journey towards Nick Drake’s 1969 debut album, which Boyd produced. Including 30 tracks from newly unearthed solo ‘practice’ tapes plus the first proper delve into the drawer of outtakes, the contents are not only moving, but blissful, as these intimate, stripped-down versions weave their spell. Sad too, of course: not just the effect of the guileless, dreamy husk of Drake’s voice and expressive words, but the dashed promise of what might have been had this most timeless and ethereal of singer-songwriters lived beyond the age of 26.