Nick Drake: The Biography

Nick Drake: The Biography
by Patrick Humphries

Nick Drake: The Biography
List Price: $24.95
Our Price: $22.00
You Save: $2.95 (12%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.00 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Patrick Humphries
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-10-15
ISBN: 1582340064
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Book Reviews of Nick Drake: The Biography

Book Review: No one seemed to know him very well
Summary: 5 Stars

When this came out in the late 90s there really wasn't much information out there about Nick. There was Jason Creed's excellent Pynk Moon fanzine in the UK, along with the occasional scrapbook published by David Housden (who published the excellent Love/Arthur Lee fanzine The Castle)

But there really wasn't much Nick. There was the odd bootleg like Tanworth in Arden, but not much more than that

I remember ordering this from the UK direct from Bloomsbury, just to have it rushed to me straight away. I even had it sent to care of a friend in Queens just so it would not be lost

Its a good book, I'm not gonna lie, but Humphries, an excellent writer (books on the Floyd, Beatles etc) was severely limited in that he wasn't granted permission to quote from the lyrics

Now, from what I understand about poor Nick, this is where he expressed himself so very well: in his songs. You listen to the songs on Pink Moon and I think you know pretty well what makes the fellow tick. "Place to be" is heartbreaking, "Which will" even more so.

Humphries is good at substantiating the facts. Turns out that Nick had a very happy time going to school and setting the record as a short distance runner (Arthur Lubow, who wrote the Fruit Tree essay, suggested it was a dark period of his life, before he started college at Cambridge)

Trouble is, Humphries is grasping at shadows. Everything is rather ambiguous.. For example, his drug use. Did Nick like a joint? Seems so, he named his first album after the warning in a rolling paper container: Five leaves left. But heroine? Dunno, doubtful

Or sex? Did Nick have a girlfriend? Dunno. He was well fancied, but noones come forward. And did Nick have a fiancee? Well, dunno. And how about that relationship with Francoise Hardy? Doesn't look like it

Its all incredibly vague

Perhaps the best way to understanding what makes Nick tick is by listening to the albums? Cos he didn't seem to exist very much in his own life

Whether it was cos of the drug use, or just laziness, being born with a silver spoon and accustomed to not having to, well, work..

Cos obviously Nick wasn't gonna be played on the radio unless he made the effort and did live gigs and the occasional radio gig

But he didn't seem to want to

Its a good biography, but Nick Drake fans are really gonna have to live with the fact that noone seemed to know the young man very well.

The best way is probably through the studio albums he recorded while still with us. Pick up Fruit Tree (2007)(that has the 3 cds & A Skin Too Few dvd)

The Fruit Tree vinyl from the same year has gonna bad reviews (lot of fingerprints on the pressings, scratched) so stick to the cds unless you have a Japanese pressing of the vinyl (which is said to have a very intimate sound to it)

Summary of Nick Drake: The Biography

Nick Drake was barely 26 years old when he died in 1974 following an accidental overdose of prescribed drugs. The British singer-songwriter made only three albums during his short life - Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter and Pink Moon. All are now recognized as classics.

Since his death, Nick has been cited as a seminal influence by stars as diverse as REM, Elton John, and Paul Weller. While the lives of other musicians who died before their time, such as Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Gram Parsons, have been amply documented, there has never before been a biography of Nick Drake. Patrick Humphries' illuminating text includes exclusive interviews with friends, colleagues and musicians who knew and worked with Nick. It provides an unprecedented insight not only into the life and work of Nick Drake, but also into the music scene of the 1960s that formed his backdrop.

If a week is a long time in politics, then the 23 years since Nick's death represents a lifetime in the transitory world of pop. But the music of Nick Drake has never lost its place in his fans affections, and still its haunting beauty reaches out of fresh generations. This book is for all of them.

Rock Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Rock Books
All Yesterdays' Parties: The Velvet Underground in Print, 1966-1971 ImageAll Yesterdays' Parties: The Velvet Underground in Print, 1966-1971
by Clinton Heylin
Da Capo Press; Published: 2006-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.61
Price in other shops: $16.95
Whores: An Oral Biography Of Perry Farrell And Jane's Addiction ImageWhores: An Oral Biography Of Perry Farrell And Jane's Addiction
by Brendan Mullen
Da Capo Press; Published: 2005-04-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $22.12
Price in other shops: $26.00
Clapton: Edge Of Darkness, Updated Edition ImageClapton: Edge Of Darkness, Updated Edition
by Christopher Sandford
Da Capo Press; Published: 1999-06-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.21
Price in other shops: $17.00
Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith ImageRenegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E. Smith
by E. D. Smith
101 DISTRIBUTION; Published: 2009-03-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.97
Price in other shops: $16.49
The Lennon Companion: Twenty-Five Years of Comment ImageThe Lennon Companion: Twenty-Five Years of Comment
Schirmer; Published: 1990-10-01; Paperback; Book
The Paul Simon Companion: Four Decades of Commentary ImageThe Paul Simon Companion: Four Decades of Commentary
by Stacey Luftig, Stacy Luftig
Schirmer Trade Books; Published: 1997-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops: $15.00
Complete Idiot's Guide to Elvis ImageComplete Idiot's Guide to Elvis
by Frank Coffey
Alpha; Published: 1997; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.99
Everybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga ImageEverybody Wants Some: The Van Halen Saga
by Ian Christe
Wiley; Published: 2007-08-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: $25.95
Cobain (Rolling Stone) ImageCobain (Rolling Stone)
by Rolling Stone Press
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 1997-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.21
Price in other shops: $19.99
Deborah Harry: Platinum Blonde ImageDeborah Harry: Platinum Blonde
by Cathay Che
Andre Deutsch; Published: 2006-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $297.69
Similar Books and other products
Fruit Tree (limited) ImageNick Drake - Fruit Tree (limited)
Release date: 2007-12-04; Music CD
Best price: $89.99
Five Leaves Left ImageNick Drake - Five Leaves Left
DRAKE,NICK; Release date: 2003-05-06; Music CD
Best price: $4.80
Price in other shops: $18.98
Bryter Layter ImageNick Drake - Bryter Layter
DRAKE,NICK; Release date: 2003-05-06; Music CD
Best price: $5.36
Price in other shops: $18.98
Nick Drake: Under Review ImageNick Drake: Under Review
Music Video Dist; Release date: 2007-10-09; Published: 2007-11-09; DVD
Best price: $12.78
Price in other shops: $19.95
Pink Moon ImageNick Drake - Pink Moon
DRAKE,NICK; Release date: 2003-05-06; Music CD
Best price: $4.53
Price in other shops: $18.98
Darker Than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake ImageDarker Than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake
by Trevor Dann
Da Capo Press; Published: 2006-09-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.27
Price in other shops: $16.99
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories