Nick Drake

The Life

Richard Morton Jack

$59.99

Hardback

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English

John Murray Publishers Ltd
12 September 2023

Music; Folk & traditional music; Rock & Pop music; Individual composers & musicians, bands & groups; Biography: arts & entertainment

'This is the book we've been waiting for . . . It is a biography to be treasured' Joe Boyd

'The Drake completist could ask for nothing else' Daily Telegraph

'Illuminating. The definitive word on Drake' Observer

In 1968 Nick Drake had everything to live for. The product of a loving, creative family and a privileged background, he was not only a handsome and popular Cambridge undergraduate, but also a new signing to the UK's hippest record label, Island.

Three years later, however - having made three well-reviewed but low-selling albums - Nick had been overwhelmed by a mysterious mental illness. He returned to live in his family home in rural Warwickshire in 1971, and died in obscurity in 1974, aged just 26.

In the decades since, Nick has become the subject of ever-growing fascination and speculation. Combined sales of his records now stand in the millions, his songs are frequently heard on TV and in films, and he has become one of the most widely known and admired singer-songwriters of his generation.

Nick Drake: The Life is the only biography of Nick to be written with the blessing and involvement of his sister and Estate. Drawing on copious original research and new interviews with his family, friends and musical collaborators, as well as deeply personal archive material unavailable to previous writers - including his father's diaries, his essays and private correspondence - this is the most comprehensive and authoritative account possible of Nick's short and enigmatic life.

Includes a foreword by Gabrielle Drake and over 75 photos, many rare or previously unseen.

By: Richard Morton Jack
Imprint: John Murray Publishers Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 236mm, Width: 160mm, Spine: 50mm
Weight: 900g
ISBN: 9781529308082
ISBN 10: 1529308089
Pages: 576
Publication Date: 12 September 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Richard Morton Jack is the editor of the music reference books Galactic Ramble and Endless Trip, and the author of Psychedelia: 101 Iconic Underground Rock Albums 1966-70. He founded Sunbeam Records, which has reissued over 100 rock, jazz and folk albums, and edits the rock history magazine Flashback. He is the co-founder of the music marketplace and archive elvinyl.com.

Reviews for Nick Drake: The Life

"This is the book we've been waiting for - the one Nick's legacy deserves and so badly needs. Richard Morton Jack has reconstructed Nick's life with great sensitivity and care, and in remarkable detail. It is a biography to be treasured -- Joe Boyd The definitive account. Faultless in its detail. The Drake completist could ask for nothing else -- Mick Brown * Daily Telegraph **** * Illuminating. The definitive word on Drake -- Kitty Empire * Observer * Morton Jack's book honours its title: it is The Life, not just a death, a rich depiction of Drake's world and the way he moved through it . . . this book might be as close as anyone's going to get to finding him * Sunday Times * Drake's flickering presence in 1970s folk-rock, recognised as a maestro by peers but not the public, is told with sensitivity and skill * Financial Times * Through the careful accretion of granular details a fully formed human being emerges from the myth. Particularly welcome are the vignettes that show Drake at his most un-wraith-like . . . These very human moments shine like starlight * Irish Independent * This phenomenally detailed biography reveals how much those who knew Drake loved, admired and puzzled over him * Oldie * Morton Jack resists the temptation to romanticise Drake's life * Uncut * Morton Jack's book is the first of its kind to be written in tandem with Drake's family and seeks to bring an equal measure of light and shade to an English musical figurehead who has become uniquely mythologised . . . Morton Jack's book is founded on ""minutiae"", bringing its subject into unparalleled focus * i News * Famously, no film of Drake exists, but through its granular detail . . . this book feels as close as you might come to seeing him in motion again * The Times *"