Five Leaves Left – Nick Drake
I've been a fan of Nick Drake for more than forty years, but have only just got around to reading Darker Than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake by Trevor Dann. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about it. It's one of those biographies that tries to avoid starting with the often less interesting early years by beginning with Nick at Uni and starting his short but fruitful career. We then veer backwards to his school days before waltzing ahead to his second album. It kinda works to a degree but is it really necessary? It's a well-written book, with some interesting titbits I wasn't aware of. My main complaint though is all the surmising. OK, it's not amateur psychology because he seeks opinions from a trained specialist who knew Nick many years ago, but he didn't know him professionally. And some of the other so-called theories are based on...well nothing really and I won't bother repeating them here. Some of his opinions on certain ND tracks are a little surprising, too, but hey, we all have our own opinions about his best work. But my own issue with the book has already been outlined and spoils this book for me to some extent. Anyway, it encouraged me to listen to Five Leaves Left again which is never a bad thing!
Also...
Sunken Rags (Acoustic) 45 – Marc Bolan
B-Sides & Rarities Part II – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
La Panthere Des Neiges – Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
OT/TO – Fabio Orsi & TEZ
London Social Scene – Dana Gillespie
Trip City Soundtrack EP – A Guy Called Gerald
Beyond The Pale – Jarv Is
Calentita EP – The Liminanas
S/T – Manfred Mann Chapter Three
Roots – Curtis Mayfield
El Rockers Chapters 1-4 – Augustus Pablo
Game Of The Throne EP - Lee Scratch Perry
Entangled Routes - Pye Corner Audio
Stranded – Roxy Music
A Light For Attracting Attention – The Smile
Patterns – Test Card
Mule Variations – Tom Waits
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