Forthcoming Nick Drake TV Programmes

Thanks for the heads up

Fortunately, substantially remixed and in some places overdubbed.

It left me longing for Nick's original songs, and I gave up half way through the prog. All performances sounded like a pale shadow of the real thing.

Nice that his music is revered by so many artists and fans, and kept alive though.

I thoroughly enjoyed the documentary again - albeit so sad.

John.

I'm glad I didn't go to the concert. Disappointing programme, I'm not a huge fan of Nick but these were a bit dull, also didn't get to the end.

And, as I hinted above, the programme was better than the gig itself...

A mixed bag, but some of them worked for me. Not sure about the young lady with the barrel organ - what was she working with her foot?

Joe

Some very competent musicians for sure, but it just didn't work for me.

One lad on guitar & singing was pretty good - can't recall the song or the bloke though...

At a slight tangent, for which I apologise, does anyone know if, or when, Island intend to rerelease 'Time Of No Reply'? It seems strange that it's out of the catalogue.

found this on Wikipedia:

"The Island executive who compiled the Made To Love Magic collection has indicated plans to remaster Time of No Reply (which was not originally released on Island, but on Hannibal Records), with a different track listing"

....but surely if it had a different track listing it would no longer be the same album? The original Time Of No Reply was compiled and produced by Joe Boyd in 1986, (Hannibal was originally Boyd's record label), and on this compilation Boyd's care and vision as a producer shines through. Early pressings of this album sound brilliant, especially the guitar on Black Eyed Dog and the other later tracks. You can hear a slight hesitation and frailty in Drake's presentation. Time of No Reply is probably my most listened to Nick Drake album, but often doesn't get mentioned.

Also, I haven't heard anybody to date bring anything new or particularly interesting to an interpretation of a Nick Drake song.

Maybe a new thread could be started; cover versions that are more interesting than the original.

I think that the reason why it's so hard to cover Nick Drake songs is that his voice was unique. You can (more or less) get the instruments to sound like the originals (although Nick Drake's guitar playing was exceptional), but without the vocal delivery the songs will never sound anywhere near as good. (I don't suppose that there will be many Jeff Buckley covers either, for precisely the same reason.)

I watched a delayed relay of the Barbican concert last week, and think that the opening show in Brighton (fewer artists, different songs) was considerably better. And did Joe Boyd not speak to the Barbican audience, as he did in Brighton?

quote:

Originally posted by graham halliwell:
Time of No Reply is probably my most listened to Nick Drake album, but often doesn't get mentioned.

Hello Graham,

I managed to track down a vinyl copy on the 'Hannibal' label recently and as you say it does sound brilliant. I remember you playing it at the old BS and thought then that I would have to look out for a copy.

Regards

George.

Hi George, long time no see. Glad you managed to track down a copy. Hope it didn't cost you too much!

Drake's guitar playing contemporaries, such as Davey Graham and John Renbourne, were being increasingly influenced by Indian and Eastern European music, and I love the last four tracks on Time Of No Reply because I think you can hear such a development in Drake's playing. Very dark at times. Would have been interesting to see how his playing developed, let alone his song writing. And his guitar sounds lovely in analogue/analogue/analogue :-)

quote:

Originally posted by Joe Bibb:
A mixed bag, but some of them worked for me. Not sure about the young lady with the barrel organ - what was she working with her foot?

Joe

Nothing other than the stage, Joe. She (Lisa Hannigan) was just marking out the rhythm of the piece by stamping on the boards. It came across well 'live' in the performance that I attended, less well on film that I saw.

Joe Boyd did speak at Barbican, but it was edited out for the programme. Also, as I said above, for the programme the performances were remixed and in some cases overdubbed (in some cases quite heavily so).

The Lisa Hannigan interpretation of Black Eyed Dog was itself a cover of a cover, in that it owes at least as much to Gomez's cover on their live album Out West (which morphs into Gomez's own song Free to Run) as it does to Nick Drake's original.

FWIW, take a look at the Joe Boyd website; fascinating man. I recommend reading The Wire interview, just look at that record collection!!

I really enjoy reading about Joe Boyd, his list of achievements is immense, and he even managed to "loose" Pink Floyd.