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{{short description|English musician (1948–1974)}}
{{for-multi|the British poet and mystery writer|Nick Drake (poet)|the American racing driver|Nick Drake (racing driver)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|name         = Nick Drake
|image        = Nick drake 1969.jpg
|caption      = Drake in 1969
|background   = singer/composer/guitarist
|birth_name   = Nicholas Rodney Drake
|genre        = {{hlist||[[Folk music|Folk]]|[[chamber folk]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Terich |first1=Jeff |title=Review: Nick Drake - Tuck Box |url=https://americansongwriter.com/nick-drake-tuck-box/ |website=[[American Songwriter]] |date=21 January 2014 |access-date=4 December 2022 |archive-date=4 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204235707/https://americansongwriter.com/nick-drake-tuck-box/ |url-status=live }}</ref>|[[folk-pop]]<ref name="Xgau">{{cite web|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=26 March 2019|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xgausez.php?d=2019-03-26|title=Xgau Sez|website=robertchristgau.com|access-date=29 March 2019|archive-date=30 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330032528/http://robertchristgau.com/xgausez.php?d=2019-03-26|url-status=live}}</ref>|[[folk-rock]]<ref name="Unterberger" />}}
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1948|6|19|df=y}}
|birth_place  = [[Yangon|Rangoon]], Burma
|death_date   = {{death date and age|1974|11|25|1948|6|19|df=y}}
|death_place  = [[Tanworth-in-Arden]], Warwickshire, England
|instrument   = {{hlist|Guitar|piano|vocals}}
|years_active = 1967–1974
|label        = [[Island Records|Island]]
|website      = {{URL|brytermusic.com}}
|module = {{Infobox person|embed=yes
| signature  = Nick Drake sig.svg
}} 
}}

'''Nicholas Rodney Drake''' (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter. An accomplished [[acoustic guitar]]ist, Drake signed to [[Island Records]] at the age of twenty while still a student at the [[University of Cambridge]]. His debut album, ''[[Five Leaves Left]]'', was released in 1969, and was followed by two more albums, ''[[Bryter Layter]]'' (1971) and ''[[Pink Moon]]'' (1972). While Drake did not reach a wide audience during his brief lifetime, his music found acclaim and he gradually received wider recognition following his death.

Drake suffered from [[depression (mood)|depression]] and was reluctant to perform in front of live audiences. Upon completion of ''Pink Moon'', he withdrew from both performance and recording, retreating to his parents' home in rural [[Warwickshire]]. On 25 November 1974, Drake was found dead at the age of 26 due to an overdose of [[antidepressant]]s.

Drake's music remained available through the mid-1970s, but the 1979 release of the retrospective collection ''[[Fruit Tree (box set)|Fruit Tree]]'' allowed his back catalogue to be reassessed. Drake has come to be credited as an influence on numerous artists. The first Drake biography in English appeared in 1997; it was followed by the documentary films ''A Stranger Among Us'' in 1999 and ''A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake'' in 2000.

==Early life==
[[File:Tanworth In Arden, geograph 5288551 by Ian Rob.jpg|thumb|[[Tanworth-in-Arden]], Warwickshire, where Drake was raised]]
Drake was born in [[Rangoon]], [[Union of Burma (1948–1962)|Burma]], on 19 June 1948,<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=23 November 1999 |title=Boy from the black stuff |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/boy-from-the-black-stuff-743718.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220620/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/boy-from-the-black-stuff-743718.html |archive-date=20 June 2022 |access-date=9 March 2022 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref> a few months after the independence from the [[British Empire]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Tim |title='Nick Drake' Review: Troubadour of Desolation |url=https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/nick-drake-review-troubadour-of-desolation-e85ffa7e |access-date=4 January 2025 |website=Wall Street Journal |date=December 2023 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=4 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250104123921/https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/nick-drake-review-troubadour-of-desolation-e85ffa7e |url-status=live }}</ref> Drake's father, Rodney Shuttleworth Drake, had moved to [[Yangon|Rangoon]] in the early 1930s as an engineer with the [[Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation]].<ref>Dann (2006), p. 75.</ref> In 1934 Rodney Drake met [[Molly Drake|Molly Lloyd]], the daughter of a senior member of the [[Indian Civil Service]]. He proposed marriage in 1936, but the couple had to wait a year until she turned 21 before her family allowed them to marry.<ref>Dann (2006), p. 76.</ref> In 1951, the Drake family returned to England to live in [[Warwickshire]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Mick |date=12 July 1997 |title=The Sad Ballad of Nick Drake |work=Sunday Telegraph |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-sad-ballad-of-nick-drake |access-date=11 June 2023 |archive-date=11 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611201157/https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-sad-ballad-of-nick-drake |url-status=live }}</ref> at their home, Far Leys, in [[Tanworth-in-Arden]]. Rodney Drake worked from 1952 as the chairman and managing director of [[Wolseley plc|Wolseley Engineering]].<ref>Dann (2006), pp. 83–84.</ref>

Drake's older sister, [[Gabrielle Drake]], became a successful screen actress. Both of Drake's parents wrote music. Recordings of Molly's songs, which have come to light since her death, are similar in tone and outlook to the later work of her son;<ref name="ASTF">{{Cite AV media |url=https://mubi.com/films/a-skin-too-few-the-days-of-nick-drake |title=A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake |date=2000 |last=Berkvens |first=Jeroen |type=Documentary |publisher=Roxie Releasing}}</ref> they shared a similar fragile vocal delivery, and Gabrielle and biographer [[Trevor Dann]] noted a parallel foreboding and [[fatalism]] in their music.<ref name=ASTF/><ref>Dann (2006), p. 91.</ref> Encouraged by his mother, Drake learned to play piano at an early age and began to compose songs which he recorded on a [[Reel-to-reel audio tape recording|reel-to-reel tape recorder]] that she kept in the family drawing-room.<ref name="Macdonald">{{Cite magazine |last=MacDonald |first=Ian |author-link=Ian MacDonald |date=January 2000 |title=Nick Drake: Exiled From Heaven |url=http://www.algonet.se/~iguana/DRAKE/exiled1.html |url-status=dead |magazine=MOJO |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150406033031/http://www.algonet.se/~iguana/DRAKE/exiled1.html |archive-date=6 April 2015 |access-date=11 June 2023}}</ref> In 1957, Drake was sent to [[Eagle House School]], a preparatory [[boarding school]] near [[Sandhurst, Berkshire]]. Five years later, he went to [[Marlborough College]], a [[Public school (UK)|public school]] in Wiltshire which had also been attended by his father and grandfather. He developed an interest in sport, becoming an accomplished 100- and 200-yard sprinter, representing the school's Open Team in 1966. He played [[Rugby football|rugby]] for the C1 House team and was appointed a House Captain in his last two terms.<ref>Marlborough College archives.</ref> School friends recall Drake as having been confident, often aloof, and "quietly authoritative".<ref>Dann (2006), pp. 95, 97.</ref> His father remembered: "In one of his reports [the headmaster] said that none of us seemed to know him very well. All the way through with Nick, people didn't know him very much."<ref name="Paphides1">{{Cite news |last=Paphides |first=Peter |date=25 April 2004 |title=Stranger to the world |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/apr/25/popandrock4 |access-date=11 June 2023 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref>

Drake played piano and learned [[clarinet]] and [[saxophone]]. He formed a band, the Perfumed Gardeners, with four schoolmates in 1964 or 1965. With Drake on piano and occasional [[Alto saxophone|alto sax]] and vocals, the group performed [[Pye International Records|Pye International R&B]] covers and jazz standards, as well as [[Yardbirds]] and [[Manfred Mann]] songs. [[Chris de Burgh]] asked to join the band, but was rejected as his taste was "too poppy".<ref>Humphries (1997), p. 36.</ref> His attention to his studies deteriorated and, although he had accelerated a year in Eagle House, at Marlborough he neglected his studies in favour of music. In 1963 he attained seven [[General Certificate of Education|GCE O-Levels]], fewer than his teachers had been expecting, failing "Physics with Chemistry".<ref>Dann (2006), p. 100.</ref> In 1965, Drake paid £13 ({{Inflation|UK|13|1965|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}) for his first acoustic guitar, a [[Levin (guitar company)|Levin]], and was soon experimenting with [[open tuning]] and [[finger-picking]] techniques.<ref name="McGrath">{{Cite magazine |last=McGrath |first=T. J. |date=October–November 1992 |title=Darkness Can Give You the Brightest Light |magazine=[[Dirty Linen (magazine)|Dirty Linen]] |issue=42}}</ref>

In 1966 Drake enrolled at a [[Cram school|tutorial college]] in [[Five Ways, Birmingham]], where he won a scholarship to study at [[Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge]].<ref>Dann (2006), pp. 110–111.</ref> As his place at Cambridge was offered for September 1967, he had ten months to fill, so he decided to spend six months at the [[Aix-Marseille University|University of Aix-Marseille]], France, beginning in February 1967. There, he began to practise guitar in earnest. To earn money, he would [[Busking|busk]] with friends in the town centre. Drake began to smoke [[Cannabis (drug)|cannabis]], and he travelled with friends to Morocco; according to travelling companion Richard Charkin, "that was where you got the best pot".<ref>Dann (2006), p. 124.</ref> There is some evidence that he began using [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]] while in Aix, although this is debated.<ref>Humphries (1997), pp. 51–52.</ref>

[[File:Fitzwilliam College 2012.jpg|thumb|[[Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge]], where Drake studied English literature]]
Drake returned to England in 1967 and moved into his sister's flat in [[Hampstead]], London. That October, he enrolled at Cambridge to begin his studies in [[English literature]].<ref name="telegraph">{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Mick |date=25 November 2014 |title=Nick Drake: the fragile genius |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/worldfolkandjazz/11250728/Nick-Drake-the-fragile-genius.html |access-date=11 June 2023 |archive-date=11 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311214233/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/worldfolkandjazz/11250728/Nick-Drake-the-fragile-genius.html |url-status=live }}</ref> His tutors found him bright but unenthusiastic and unwilling to apply himself.<ref>Dann (2006), p. 28.</ref> One of his biographers, [[Trevor Dann]], notes that he had difficulty connecting with staff and fellow students, and that matriculation photographs from this time portray a sullen young man.<ref name="d25" /> Cambridge placed emphasis on its rugby and cricket teams, but Drake had lost interest in sport, preferring to stay in his college room smoking cannabis and playing music. According to fellow student Brian Wells, "They were the rugger buggers and we were the cool people smoking dope."<ref name="d25">Dann (2006), p. 25</ref>

==Career==
In January 1968, Drake met [[Robert Kirby]], a music student who went on to write many of the string and woodwind arrangements for Drake's first two albums.<ref>Dann (2006), pp. 40–43.</ref> By this time, Drake had discovered the British and American [[folk music]] scenes, and was influenced by performers such as [[Bob Dylan]], [[Donovan]], [[Van Morrison]], [[Josh White]] and [[Phil Ochs]] (he later cited [[Randy Newman]] and [[the Beach Boys]] as influences).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lister |first=Kat |date=5 July 2022 |title='I knew this was different': Nick Drake's producer on misunderstood classic Pink Moon |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jul/05/nick-drake-pink-moon-50-years-producer-misunderstood-classic-john-wood |access-date=11 June 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> He began performing in local clubs and coffee houses around London, and in December 1967, while playing at a five-day event at [[Roundhouse (venue)|the Roundhouse]] in [[Camden Town]], made an impression on [[Ashley Hutchings]], bass player with [[Fairport Convention]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=John |date=19 January 2018 |title=Nick Drake remembered: "My first impression was that he was a genius – it was that simple" |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/nick-drake-remembered-first-impression-genius-simple-103042/ |access-date=2 November 2022 |website=UNCUT |language=en-GB |archive-date=2 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102113942/https://www.uncut.co.uk/features/nick-drake-remembered-first-impression-genius-simple-103042/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Chronology">{{Cite web |last=Organ |first=Michael |title=Nick Drake Chronology |url=https://documents.uow.edu.au/~morgan/drake2.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316120441/https://documents.uow.edu.au/~morgan/drake2.htm |archive-date=16 March 2021 |access-date=11 June 2023 |website=Nick Drake}}</ref> Hutchings recalls being impressed by Drake's guitar skill, but even more so by his image: "He looked like a star. He looked wonderful, he seemed to be 7 ft [tall]."<ref name="Paphides">{{cite web |last=Paphides |first=Peter |date=21 May 2004 |title=Like a Heart with Legs On |url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5008063651 |url-access= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815213051/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5008063651 |archive-date=15 August 2011 |access-date= |publisher=[[Western Mail (Wales)|Western Mail]]}}</ref>

Hutchings introduced Drake to the 25-year-old American producer [[Joe Boyd]], owner of the production and management company [[Witchseason Productions]], which at the time was licensed to [[Island Records]].<ref name="Paphides1"/> Boyd, who had discovered Fairport Convention and introduced [[John Martyn]] and the [[The Incredible String Band|Incredible String Band]] to a mainstream audience, was a respected figure in the UK folk scene.<ref name="Paphides"/> He and Drake formed an immediate bond, and Boyd acted as a mentor to Drake throughout his career. Impressed by a [[Stereo-Pak|four-track]] demo recorded in Drake's college room in early 1968, Boyd offered Drake a management, publishing, and production contract. Boyd recalled listening to a [[Reel-to-reel audio tape recording|reel-to-reel]] home recording Drake had made: "Halfway through the first song, I felt this was pretty special. And I called him up, and he came back in, and we talked, and I just said, 'I'd like to make a record.' He stammered, 'Oh, well, yeah. Okay.' Nick was a man of few words."<ref name="Paphides"/> According to Drake's friend Paul Wheeler, Drake had already decided not to complete his third year at Cambridge and was excited about the contract.<ref name="Paphides"/>

===''Five Leaves Left'' (1969)===
Drake recorded his debut album ''[[Five Leaves Left]]'' later in 1968, with Boyd as producer. He had to skip lectures to travel by train to the sessions in [[Sound Techniques]] studio, London. Inspired by [[John Simon (record producer)|John Simon]]'s production of [[Leonard Cohen]]'s 1967 album ''[[Songs of Leonard Cohen]]'', Boyd was keen to record Drake's voice in a similar close and intimate style, "with no shiny pop [[reverb effect|reverb]]".<ref name="b192">Boyd (2006), p. 192.</ref> He sought to include a string arrangement similar to Simon's, "without overwhelming&nbsp;... or sounding cheesy".<ref name="b192"/> To provide backing, Boyd enlisted contacts from the London [[folk rock]] scene, including Fairport Convention guitarist [[Richard Thompson (musician)|Richard Thompson]] and [[Pentangle (band)|Pentangle]] bassist [[Danny Thompson]] (no relation).<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Rosen |first=Dave |date= |title=Five Leaves Left |url=http://inkblotmagazine.com/rev-archive/drake.htm |url-status=dead |magazine=Ink Blot Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014082115/http://inkblotmagazine.com/rev-archive/drake.htm |archive-date=14 October 2007 |access-date=11 June 2023}}</ref>

Initial recordings did not go well: the sessions were irregular and rushed, taking place during studio downtime borrowed from Fairport Convention's production of their ''[[Unhalfbricking]]'' album. Tension arose as to the direction of the album: Boyd was an advocate of [[George Martin]]'s approach of using the [[studio as an instrument]], while Drake preferred a more organic sound. Dann observed that Drake appears "tight and anxious" on bootleg recordings from the sessions, and notes a number of Boyd's unsuccessful attempts at instrumentation.<ref>Dann (2006), pp. 59–60.</ref> Both were unhappy with arranger [[Richard Anthony Hewson]]'s contribution, which they felt was too mainstream for Drake's songs.<ref>Dann (2006), p. 60.</ref> Drake suggested his college friend Robert Kirby as a replacement. Though Boyd was sceptical about taking on an inexperienced amateur music student, he was impressed by Drake's uncharacteristic assertiveness and agreed to a trial.<ref>Boyd (2006), p. 194.</ref> Kirby had previously presented Drake with some arrangements for his songs.<ref name="Paphides1"/> While Kirby provided most arrangements for the album, its centrepiece, "[[River Man]]", which echoed the tone of [[Frederick Delius]], was orchestrated by the veteran composer [[Harry Robertson (musician)|Harry Robertson]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Jones |first=Chris |date=2007 |title=Review of Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/3g54/ |access-date=11 June 2023 |website=BBC Music |archive-date=22 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122104309/https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/3g54/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{listen
| filename     =
| title        = "River Man"
| description  = "River Man" is noted for its 5/4 time, harmonic changes and use of [[prosody (poetry)|prosody]]. An early solo acoustic version recorded in Drake's Cambridge college bedroom appears on the 2004 compilation ''[[Made to Love Magic]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fitzsimmons |first=Mick |date=2004 |title=Review of Nick Drake - Made to Love Magic |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/cnhj/ |access-date=11 June 2022 |website=BBC Music |archive-date=16 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416131346/https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/cnhj/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

[[Post-production]] difficulties delayed the release by several months, and the album was poorly marketed and supported.<ref>Dann (2006), p. 133.</ref> In July, ''[[Melody Maker]]'' described ''Five Leaves Left'' as "poetic" and "interesting", though ''[[NME]]'' wrote in October that there was "not nearly enough variety to make it entertaining".<ref>Humphries (1997), pp. 101–02.</ref> It received little radio play outside shows by more progressive BBC DJs such as [[John Peel]]<ref>Boyd (2006), p. 197.</ref> and [[Bob Harris (radio)|Bob Harris]]. Drake was unhappy with the inlay sleeve, which printed songs in the wrong running order and reproduced verses omitted from the recorded versions.<ref>Dann (2006), p. 134.</ref> In an interview, his sister Gabrielle said: "He was very secretive. I knew he was making an album but I didn't know what stage of completion it was at until he walked into my room and said, 'There you are.' He threw it onto the bed and walked out!"<ref name="Paphides1"/>

===''Bryter Layter'' (1971)===
[[File:Nick drake running man.jpg|thumb|Image of Drake by Keith Morris in 1969]]
Drake ended his studies at Cambridge nine months before graduation and in late 1969 moved to London. His father remembered "writing him long letters, pointing out the disadvantages of going away from Cambridge&nbsp;... a degree was a safety net, if you manage to get a degree, at least you have something to fall back on; his reply to that was that a safety net was the one thing he did not want."<ref name=ASTF/> Drake spent his first few months in London drifting from place to place, occasionally staying at his sister's [[Kensington]] flat but usually sleeping on friends' sofas and floors.<ref>Humphries (1997), pp. 107–08.</ref> Eventually, in an attempt to bring some stability and a telephone into Drake's life, Boyd organised and paid for a ground floor [[bedsit]] in [[Belsize Park]], [[London Borough of Camden|Camden]].<ref>Dann (2006), p. 141.</ref>

On 5 August 1969, Drake pre-recorded four songs for the [[BBC]]'s [[Night Ride (BBC Radio 2)|Night Ride]] show presented by [[John Peel]] ("Cello Song", "Three Hours", "River Man" and "Time of No Reply" ), which were broadcast after midnight on 6 August. Nick subsequently recorded "Bryter Layter" for another BBC radio broadcast, in April 1970. A month after the initial BBC recordings, on 24 September, he opened for Fairport Convention at the [[Royal Festival Hall]] in London, followed by appearances at folk clubs in Birmingham and Hull. According to the folk singer [[Michael Chapman (singer)|Michael Chapman]], the audiences did not appreciate Drake and wanted "songs with choruses". Chapman said: "They completely missed the point. He didn't say a word the entire evening. It was actually quite painful to watch. I don't know what the audience expected, I mean, they must have known they weren't going to get sea-shanties and sing-alongs at a Nick Drake gig!"<ref name="Chronology" />{{listen
| filename     =
| title        = "Northern Sky"
| description  = "[[Northern Sky]]" features piano, organ, and [[celesta]] performed by [[John Cale]].
}}

The experience reinforced Drake's decision to retreat from live appearances; the few concerts he did play were usually brief, awkward, and poorly attended. Drake seemed reluctant to perform and rarely addressed his audience. As many of his songs were played in different tunings, he frequently paused to retune between numbers.<ref name="Sandall">{{Cite news |last=Sandall |first=Robert |date=20 May 2004 |title=Brighter very much later |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3617296/Brighter-very-much-later.html |access-date=11 June 2023 |archive-date=22 July 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130722162549/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3617296/Brighter-very-much-later.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Although ''Five Leaves Left'' attracted little publicity, Boyd was keen to build on what momentum there was. Drake's second album, ''[[Bryter Layter]]'' (1971),<ref name="autogenerated1">Drake, Gabrielle, ''Nick Drake: Remembered For A While'', Little, Brown and Co., 2014.</ref> again produced by Boyd and engineered by [[John Wood (record producer)|John Wood]], introduced a more upbeat, jazzier sound.<ref name="Unterberger">{{AllMusic|id=nick-drake-mn0000336783|title=Nick Drake Biography|tab=biography|last=Unterberger|first=Richie|access-date=11 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Holden |first=Stephen |date=6 February 1987 |title=Pop and Jazz Guide |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/06/arts/pop-and-jazz-guide-860187.html |access-date=11 June 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Disappointed by his debut's poor sales, Drake sought to move away from his [[pastoral]] sound and agreed to Boyd's suggestions to include bass and drum tracks. "It was more of a pop sound, I suppose," Boyd later said. "I imagined it as more commercial."<ref>Dann (2006), p. 142.</ref> Like its predecessor, the album featured musicians from Fairport Convention, as well as contributions from [[John Cale]] on two songs: "[[Northern Sky]]" and "Fly". Trevor Dann noted that while sections of "Northern Sky" sound more characteristic of Cale, the song was the closest Drake came to a release with chart potential.<ref>Dann (2006), p. 242.</ref>

''Bryter Layter'' was a commercial failure, and reviews were again mixed; ''[[Record Mirror]]'' praised Drake as a "beautiful guitarist—clean and with perfect timing, [and] accompanied by soft, beautiful arrangements", but ''[[Melody Maker]]'' described the album as "an awkward mix of folk and cocktail jazz".<ref name="Sandall"/> Soon after its release, Boyd sold Witchseason to Island Records and moved to Los Angeles to work with [[Warner Brothers]] to develop film soundtracks. The loss of his mentor, coupled with the album's poor sales, led Drake into further [[major depressive disorder|depression]]. His attitude to London had changed: he was unhappy living alone, and visibly nervous and uncomfortable performing at a series of concerts in early 1970. In June, Drake gave one of his final live appearances at [[North East Surrey College Of Technology|Ewell Technical College]], Surrey. [[Ralph McTell]], who also performed that night, remembered: "Nick was monosyllabic. At that particular gig he was very shy. He did the first set and something awful must have happened. He was doing his song 'Fruit Tree' and walked off halfway through it."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Macaulay |first=Stephen |date=2 October 2006 |title=Nick Drake: Bartleby the Musician |url=https://gloriousnoise.com/2006/nick_drake_bartleby_the_musici |access-date=11 June 2023 |website=Glorious Noise |language=en-US |archive-date=11 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611195203/https://gloriousnoise.com/2006/nick_drake_bartleby_the_musici |url-status=live }}</ref>

Island Records urged Drake to promote ''Bryter Layter'' through interviews, radio sessions, and live appearances. Drake refused. Disappointed by the reaction to ''Bryter Layter'', he turned inwards and withdrew from family and friends.<ref name=":2"/>

===''Pink Moon'' (1972)===
Although Island had not expected a third album,<ref>Dann (2006), pp. 168–170, 172.</ref> Drake approached Wood in October 1971 to begin work on what would be his final release. Sessions took place over two nights, with only Drake and Wood in the studio.<ref name="Macdonald"/> The bleak songs of ''[[Pink Moon]]'' are short, and the eleven-track album lasts only 28 minutes, a length described by Wood as "just about right. You really wouldn't want it to be any longer."<ref name="Paphides"/> Drake had expressed dissatisfaction with the sound of ''Bryter Layter'', and believed that the string, brass, and saxophone arrangements resulted in a sound that was "too full, too elaborate".<ref>Cooper, Colin. [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/nick-drake-bryter-layter.htm "Nick Drake&nbsp;— Bryter Layter"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128014507/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/nick-drake-bryter-layter.htm |date=28 November 2007 }}, stylusmagazine.com, 2 March 2004; retrieved 3 February 2007.</ref> Drake appears on ''Pink Moon'' accompanied only by his own carefully recorded guitar save for a piano [[overdub]] on the title track. Wood later said: "He was very determined to make this very stark, bare record. He definitely wanted it to be him more than anything. And I think, in some ways, ''Pink Moon'' is probably more like Nick is than the other two records."<ref>Wood, John. Interview conducted by ''Walhalla Radio Station'', 1979.</ref>{{listen
| filename     =
| title        = "Pink Moon"
| description  = The piano overdub on "Pink Moon" displays a musicality absent from some of the barer tracks on Drake's final album.<ref>Dann (2006), p. 245.</ref>
}}

Drake delivered the tapes of ''Pink Moon'' to [[Chris Blackwell]] at Island Records, contrary to a popular legend which claims that he dropped them off at the receptionist's desk without saying a word.<ref>Dann (2006), p. 170.</ref> An advertisement for the album in ''Melody Maker'' in February opened with "''Pink Moon''—Nick Drake's latest album: the first we heard of it was when it was finished."<ref>Sandison, Dave. [http://www.tannforsen.com/nickdrake/media.asp?intId=46&intCatId=44 "Pink Moon"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929130526/http://www.tannforsen.com/nickdrake/media.asp?intId=46&intCatId=44 |date=29 September 2007 }}, UK Press Release (1971); retrieved 14 November 2006.</ref> ''Pink Moon'' sold fewer copies than its predecessors, although it received some favourable reviews. In ''Zigzag'', Connor McKnight wrote: "Nick Drake is an artist who never fakes. The album makes no concession to the theory that music should be escapist. It's simply one musician's view of life at the time, and you can't ask for more than that."<ref>McKnight, Connor, "In search of Nick Drake", ''Zigzag Magazine'', #42, 1974.</ref>

Blackwell felt ''Pink Moon'' had the potential to bring Drake to a mainstream audience; however, his staff were disappointed by Drake's unwillingness to promote it. [[A&R]] manager [[Muff Winwood]] recalled "tearing his hair out" in frustration and said that without Blackwell's enthusiastic support "the rest of us would have given him the boot".<ref>Dann (2006), p. 162</ref> At Boyd's insistence, Drake agreed to an interview with Jerry Gilbert of ''Sounds Magazine''.<ref>Gilbert, Jerry. "Something else for Nick? An interview with Nick Drake". ''Sounds Magazine'', 13 March 1971.</ref> The "shy and introverted" Drake spoke of his dislike of live appearances and little else.<ref name="d163&4">Dann (2006), pp. 163–64.</ref> "There wasn't any connection whatsoever," Gilbert said. "I don't think he made eye contact with me once."<ref name="d163&4"/> Disheartened and convinced he would be unable to write again, Drake retired from music. He toyed with the idea of a different career and considered the army.<ref name="barnes">{{cite magazine|last=Barnes|first=Anthony|date=22 February 2004|title=The forgotten tapes of Nick Drake|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/revealed-the-forgotten-tapes-of-nick-drake-lost-genius-of-british-rock-70490.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220620/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/revealed-the-forgotten-tapes-of-nick-drake-lost-genius-of-british-rock-70490.html |archive-date=20 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|magazine= [[The Independent]]|location=UK|access-date=1 November 2016}}</ref> His three albums had together sold fewer than 4,000 copies.<ref name="Sandall"/>

===Later career (1973–74)===
In February 1973, Drake contacted John Wood, saying he was ready to begin work on a fourth album.<ref name="autogenerated1"/> Boyd was in England at the time and agreed to attend the recordings. The initial session was followed by recordings in July 1974. In his 2006 autobiography, Boyd recalled being taken aback at Drake's anger and bitterness: "[He said that] I had told him he was a genius, and others had concurred. Why wasn't he famous and rich? This rage must have festered beneath that inexpressive exterior for years."<ref>Boyd (2006), pp. 259, 261.</ref> Boyd and Wood noticed a deterioration in Drake's performance, requiring him to overdub his voice separately over the guitar. However, the return to the Sound Techniques studio raised Drake's spirits; his mother recalled, "We were so absolutely thrilled to think that Nick was happy because there hadn't been any happiness in Nick's life for years."<ref name="Hunt"/>

== Personal life ==
In 1971 Drake's family persuaded him to visit a psychiatrist at [[St Thomas' Hospital]] in London. He was prescribed [[antidepressant]]s, but felt uncomfortable and embarrassed about taking them, and tried to hide the fact from his friends.<ref>Humphries (1997), p. 166.</ref> He worried about their side effects and was concerned that they would react with his regular cannabis use.<ref>Dann (2006), p. 166.</ref> By this time, Drake was smoking what Kirby described as "unbelievable amounts" of cannabis<ref>Kirby, Robert. Quoted in Dann (2006), p. 157.</ref> and exhibiting "the first signs of [[psychosis]]". He rarely left his flat, and then only to play an occasional concert or to buy drugs.<ref name=":2"/> According to photographer Keith Morris, by 1971 Drake was a "hunched, dishevelled figure, staring vacantly...ignoring the overtures of a friendly labrador or gazing blankly over [[Hampstead Heath]]."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Feay|first=Suzi|date=19 February 2006|title=Darker than the Deepest Sea: the search for Nick Drake by Trevor Dann|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/darker-than-the-deepest-sea-the-search-for-nick-drake-by-trevor-dann-6108836.html|access-date=11 June 2023|website=The Independent}}</ref> His sister recalled: "This was a very bad time. He once said to me that everything started to go wrong from [this] time on, and I think that was when things started to go wrong."<ref name=":2">Dann (2006), p. 157.</ref>

In the months following ''Pink Moon''{{'s}} release, Drake became increasingly asocial and distant.<ref>Humphries (1997), pp. 166–168.</ref> He returned to live at his parents' home in [[Tanworth-in-Arden]], and while he resented the regression, he accepted that it was necessary. "I don't like it at home," he told his mother, "but I can't bear it anywhere else."<ref name=ASTF/> His return was often difficult for his family, as Gabrielle said: "Good days in my parents' home were good days for Nick, and bad days were bad days for Nick. And that was what their life revolved around, really."<ref name="Paphides"/>{{listen
| filename     =
| title        = "Black Eyed Dog"
| description  = "Black Eyed Dog" from one of Drake's final recording sessions in February 1974. The title was inspired by [[Winston Churchill]]'s description, taken from [[Samuel Johnson#Final years|Samuel Johnson]], of depression as a black dog.<ref>Dann (2006), p. 251.</ref>
}}

Drake lived a frugal existence; his only income was a £20-a-week retainer from Island Records ({{Inflation|UK|20|1973|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}). At one point he could not afford a new pair of shoes.<ref name="NKent">{{cite news |last=Kent |first=Nick |author-link=Nick Kent |title=Requiem For A Solitary Man|work=[[NME|New Musical Express]]|date=8 February 1975}}</ref> He would disappear for days, sometimes arriving unannounced at friends' houses, uncommunicative and withdrawn. Robert Kirby described a typical visit: "He would arrive and not talk, sit down, listen to music, have a smoke, have a drink, sleep there the night, and two or three days later he wasn't there, he'd be gone. And three months later he'd be back."<ref>Dann (2006), p. 175.</ref> Nick's supervision partner at Cambridge, John Venning, saw him on an underground train in London and felt he was seriously depressed: "There was something about him which suggested that he would have looked straight through me and not registered me at all. So I turned around."<ref>Dann (2006), p. 177.</ref>

Drake was a close friend of fellow folk musicians [[John Martyn|John]] and [[Beverley Martyn]], and visited them regularly when they lived in London and subsequently [[Hastings]]. Martyn later wrote the title song of his 1973 album ''[[Solid Air]]'' about Drake and described him, in this period, as the most withdrawn person he had ever met.<ref name="guardian">{{cite web |title=The alternative top 10 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/albums/Story/0,,209103,00.html |website=The Guardian |access-date=18 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210034952/https://www.theguardian.com/albums/Story/0,,209103,00.html |archive-date=10 December 2019 |date=29 January 1999 |url-status=live}}</ref> Drake would borrow his mother's car and drive for hours without purpose, until he ran out of petrol and had to ring his parents to ask to be collected. Friends recalled the extent to which his appearance had changed.<ref>Boyd (2006), p. 259.</ref> During particularly bleak periods, he refused to wash his hair or cut his nails.<ref name="barnes"/> Early in 1972, Drake had a [[nervous breakdown]], and was hospitalised for five weeks.<ref name="Hunt">{{Cite web |last=Hunt |first=Rupert |title=Nick First Hand - his Life and Music in Quotes |url=http://www.nickdrake.com/nick_life_in_quotes.html |access-date=11 June 2023 |website=NickDrake.com |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174029/http://www.nickdrake.com/nick_life_in_quotes.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He was initially believed to have [[Major depressive disorder|major depression]], although his former therapist suggested he had [[schizophrenia]].<ref name="Cole" />

By late 1974, Drake's weekly retainer from Island had ceased, and his depression meant that he remained in contact with only a few close friends. He had tried to stay in touch with Sophia Ryde, whom he had met in London in 1968.<ref>Dann (2006), pp. 54, 183.</ref> Ryde has been described by Drake's biographers as "the nearest thing" to a girlfriend in his life, but she used the description "best (girl) friend".<ref>Dann (2006), p. 55.</ref> In a 2005 interview, Ryde said that a week before he died, she had sought to end the relationship: "I couldn't cope with it. I asked him for some time. And I never saw him again."<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last=Brooks |first=Richard |date=24 May 2024 |title=Heartbreak letter clue to death of cult singer |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/heartbreak-letter-clue-to-death-of-cult-singer-8ksdhlq2xmq |url-access=subscription |access-date=24 May 2024 |work=The Times |language=en |issn=0140-0460 |archive-date=24 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240524100250/https://www.thetimes.com/article/heartbreak-letter-clue-to-death-of-cult-singer-8ksdhlq2xmq |url-status=live }}</ref> John Martyn claimed to have had a heated argument with Drake around a month before the latter's death which was never reconciled. [[Phill Brown]] later said that this "destroyed" Martyn.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thomson |first1=Graeme |date=15 July 2020 |title='Greek, without the sex': Nick Drake and John Martyn's folk bromance |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jul/15/nick-drake-john-martyn-complex-friendship-small-hours-extract |website=The Guardian}}</ref>

Drake's perceived inability to connect has led to speculation about his sexuality.<ref>Dann (2006), p. 217.</ref> Boyd detected a [[virgin]]al quality in Drake's lyrics and music and notes that he never knew of him behaving in a sexual way with anyone, male or female.<ref>Boyd (2006), p. 263.</ref> [[Ian MacDonald]], who was distantly acquainted with Drake at Cambridge, wrote that he "was probably fonder of sex than has been suggested so far, but otherwise he held aloof from worldly attachment".<ref name="Macdonald" /> The claim that Drake died a virgin has been falsely attributed to his sister Gabrielle, who responded that "I never said any such thing because I don't know! I have no idea. And I don't mind what he was."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jeffries |first=Stuart |date=2014-11-15 |title=I want to complicate the Nick Drake story |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/15/i-want-to-complicate-the-nick-drake-story |access-date=2025-01-27 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==Death==
[[File:Drake's Family Grave Gravestone.jpg|upright|thumb|The grave where Drake's ashes are buried with those of his parents.<ref name="gab" /> The gravestone is inscribed with the [[epitaph]] "Now we rise / And we are everywhere", taken from the lyrics of "From the Morning", the final song on Drake's final album, ''[[Pink Moon]]''.<ref name="gab">Drake, Gabrielle. [http://www.brytermusic.com/molly-drake Molly Drake profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129004338/http://www.brytermusic.com/molly-drake/ |date=29 January 2016 }}, BryterMusic.com (2012).</ref>|alt=]]During the early hours of 25 November 1974, Drake died in his bedroom at Far Leys. He had gone to bed early after spending the afternoon visiting a friend. His mother said that around dawn he left his room for the kitchen. His family had heard him do this many times before, and presumed he was eating cereal. He returned to his room a short while later, where it is believed that he took an overdose of [[amitriptyline]], an [[tricyclic antidepressant|antidepressant]].<ref>Dann (2006), p. 184.</ref>

Drake had been accustomed to keeping his own hours; he frequently had difficulty sleeping and often stayed up through the night playing and listening to music, then slept late into the following morning. His mother later said: "I never used to disturb him at all. But it was about 12 o'clock, and I went in, because really it seemed it was time he got up. And he was lying across the bed. The first thing I saw was his long, long legs."<ref>Humphries (1997), pp. 213–14.</ref> According to Rodney Drake's personal diary, Nick's body was first discovered by their housemaid who looked in on Drake around 11:45 and called out to Molly who went in to discover he was dead.<ref name="Cole">{{cite web |last=Cole |first=Paul |date=22 November 2014 |title=The last 10 days of singer-songwriter Nick Drake's life are revealed in his father's heartbreaking diary |url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/last-10-days-singer-songwriter-nick-8153684 |access-date=18 August 2022 |website=Birmingham Live |archive-date=13 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221213193232/https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/last-10-days-singer-songwriter-nick-8153684 |url-status=live }}</ref> There was no [[suicide note]], although a letter addressed to Ryde was found close to his bed.<ref>Dann (2006), p. 187.</ref> At the inquest on 18 December, the coroner stated that the cause of death was "Acute amitriptyline poisoning—self-administered when suffering from a depressive illness" and concluded a verdict of suicide.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=telegraph/> The inquest revealed "a minimum of 35 [amitriptyline] pills' worth from stomach samples and up to a further 50 from blood samples".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Morton Jack |first1=Richard |title=Nick Drake: the life |last2=Drake |first2=Gabrielle |date=2023 |publisher=John Murray |isbn=978-1-5293-0809-9 |location=London}}</ref>

On 2 December 1974, after a service in the [[Church of St Mary Magdalene, Tanworth-in-Arden]], Drake's remains were cremated at [[Solihull]] Crematorium and his ashes interred under an oak tree in the church's graveyard.<ref>Humphries (1997), p. 215.</ref> The funeral was attended by around fifty mourners, including friends from Marlborough, Aix, Cambridge, London, Tanworth and Witchseason Productions.<ref name="Dann 2006, 193–194">Dann (2006), pp. 193–94.</ref> Referring to Drake's tendency to compartmentalise relationships, Brian Wells observed that many met each other for the first time that morning.<ref>Humphries (1997), p. 75.</ref> His mother recalled "a lot of his young friends came up here. We'd never met many of them."<ref name="Dann 2006, 193–194"/>

==Musical and lyrical style==
Boyd wrote that "the roots of Nick's harmonies" were in his mother's piano playing,<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Deluca |first=Leo |date=2024-11-25 |title=Nick Drake And The Mother Of His Mysterious Sound |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2288658/nick-drake-and-the-mother-of-his-mysterious-sound/columns/sounding-board/ |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=[[Stereogum]] |language=en |archive-date=17 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250117135651/https://www.stereogum.com/2288658/nick-drake-and-the-mother-of-his-mysterious-sound/columns/sounding-board/ |url-status=live }}</ref> which drew from [[West End theatre|West End]] acts such as [[Noël Coward]], [[Sandy Wilson]], and [[Julian Slade]].<ref name="Macdonald" /> As a teenager, Drake learned songs by [[Bob Dylan]], [[Paul Simon]], and [[Peter, Paul and Mary]] on guitar, having been particularly affected by Dylan's "[[A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall]]".<ref name=":7" /><ref name="Macdonald" /> Boyd additionally listed [[Django Reinhardt]], [[Miles Davis]], [[Bert Jansch]], and [[Donovan]] as influences and speculated that Drake was familiar with [[bossa nova]], specifically with the Brazilian guitarist [[João Gilberto]]. The string arrangement for "River Man" was done in the style of [[Frederick Delius]]<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOb2X8XVRuQ |title=Joe Boyd on Nick Drake's ''Five Leaves Left'' |date=2014-09-24 |last=John Peel Archive |access-date=2025-01-27 |via=YouTube |archive-date=29 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250129140053/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOb2X8XVRuQ&gl=US&hl=en |url-status=live }}</ref> and according to Kirby, the instrumental tracks on ''Bryter Layter'' were inspired by [[the Beach Boys]]' ''[[Pet Sounds]]'' and [[the 5th Dimension]]'s ''[[The Magic Garden]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=An interview with Robert Kirby |url=http://www.nickdrake.com/Robert_Kirby_Q__A.html |access-date=2025-01-28 |website=www.nickdrake.com |archive-date=28 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250128042132/http://www.nickdrake.com/Robert_Kirby_Q__A.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Similarities have been noted between Drake's compositions and the work of [[Johann Sebastian Bach]];<ref name="Macdonald" /> Drake was listening to Bach's ''[[Brandenburg Concertos]]'' on the night he died.<ref name=":7" />

Drake was obsessive about practising his guitar technique and would stay up through the night writing and experimenting with [[Scordatura|alternative tunings]]. His mother remembered hearing him "bumping around at all hours. I think he wrote his nicest melodies in the early morning hours."<ref name="McGrath" /> Self-taught,<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/nick-drake-comes-to-life-in-film-197316/|title=Nick Drake Comes to Life in Film|last1=Sullivan|first1=Denise|date=6 March 2002|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=30 July 2019}}</ref> he achieved his guitar style through the use of alternative tunings to create [[Tone cluster|cluster chords]],<ref name="Frederick">{{cite web|first=Robin|last=Frederick|url=https://robinfrederick.com/nick-drake-place-to-be/|title=Nick Drake&nbsp;— A Place To Be|date=2001|website=RobinFrederick.com|accessdate=26 October 2006|archive-date=23 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823165131/http://robinfrederick.com/nick-drake-place-to-be/|url-status=live}}</ref> which are difficult to achieve on a guitar using [[standard tuning]]. Similarly, many of his vocal melodies rest on the [[Extended chord|extensions]] of chords, not just on notes of the triad.<ref name="Frederick" /> He sang in the [[baritone]] range, often quietly and with little projection.<ref name=":5">{{cite web |last=Levith |first=Will |date=26 July 2013 |title=10 Artists That Owe Nick Drake a Round |url=https://diffuser.fm/artists-that-owe-nick-drake-a-round/ |access-date=11 June 2023 |work=[[Townsquare Media|Diffuser.fm]] |archive-date=11 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611195159/https://diffuser.fm/artists-that-owe-nick-drake-a-round/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Drake was drawn to the works of [[William Blake]], [[William Butler Yeats]], and [[Henry Vaughan]], whose influences are reflected in his lyrics.<ref name="Macdonald"/> He also employed a series of elemental<ref name="RS PM">{{cite magazine|first=Anthony|last=DeCurtis|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/pink-moon-nick-drake-album-204646/|title=Pink Moon|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=17 February 2000|accessdate=31 December 2021|archive-date=31 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231112114/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/pink-moon-nick-drake-album-204646/|url-status=live}}</ref> symbols and codes, largely drawn from nature. The moon, stars, sea, rain, trees, sky, mist, and seasons are all commonly used, influenced in part by his rural upbringing. Images related to summer figure centrally in his early work; from ''Bryter Layter'' on, his language is more autumnal, evoking a season commonly used to convey senses of loss and sorrow.<ref name="Macdonald"/> Throughout, Drake writes with detachment, more as an observer than a participant, a point of view ''[[Rolling Stone (magazine)|Rolling Stone's]]'' [[Anthony DeCurtis]] described "as if he were viewing his life from a great, unbridgeable distance".<ref name="RS PM"/> Kirby described Drake's lyrics as a "series of extremely vivid, complete observations, almost like a series of [[epigrammatic]] proverbs", though he doubts that Drake saw himself as "any sort of poet". Instead, Kirby believes that Drake's lyrics were crafted to "complement and compound a mood that the melody dictates in the first place".<ref name="NKent" />

==Posthumous popularity and legacy==
There were no documentaries or compilation albums in the wake of Drake's death.<ref name="Dann 2006, 193–194"/> His public profile remained low throughout the 1970s, although his name appeared occasionally in the music press. By this time, his parents were receiving an increasing number of fans at the family home. Following a 1975 ''NME'' article by Nick Kent, Island Records said they had no plans to reissue Drake's albums,<ref name=h238>Humphries (1997), p. 238.</ref> but in 1979 Rob Partridge joined Island Records as press officer and commissioned the release of the ''[[Fruit Tree (box set)|Fruit Tree]]'' [[box set]]. The release compiled Drake's three studio albums, the four tracks he recorded with Wood in 1974 and an extensive biography written by the American journalist [[Arthur Lubow]]. Although sales were poor, Island Records did not delete the albums from its catalogue.<ref name=h238/>

By the mid-1980s, Drake was being cited as an influence by musicians such as [[Kate Bush]], [[Paul Weller]], the [[Black Crowes]],<ref name=":1">Dann (2006), 201</ref> [[Peter Buck]] of [[R.E.M.]] and [[Robert Smith (musician)|Robert Smith]] of the [[The Cure|Cure]]. Drake gained further exposure in 1985 when [[the Dream Academy]] included a dedication to Drake on the sleeve of its hit single "[[Life in a Northern Town]]".<ref>Fitzsimmons, Mick. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/documentaries/nickdrake/nickdrake_influences.shtml "Nick Drake&nbsp;— Under the Influence"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511112729/https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/documentaries/nickdrake/nickdrake_influences.shtml |date=11 May 2023 }}, BBC.co.uk; retrieved 2 September 2006.</ref> In 1986 a biography of Drake by [[Gorm Henrik Rasmussen]] was published in Danish;<ref>Rasmussen (1986).</ref> an updated version with new interviews was published in English in 2012.<ref>Rasmussen (2012).</ref> By the end of the 1980s his name was appearing regularly in music magazines and newspapers in the UK,<ref>Dann (2006), p. 206.</ref> where he frequently was cast in the role of the "doomed [[romantic hero]]".<ref>Southall, Nick. "[http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/nick-drake/made-to-love-magic.htm Made To Love Magic"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070126041344/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/nick-drake/made-to-love-magic.htm |date=26 January 2007 }}, stylusmagazine.com, 3 June 2003; retrieved 2 February 2007.</ref> The earliest Drake profile in a US magazine was the article "Hanging On A Star" by the [[AllMusic]] critic Peter Kurtz, which appeared in the 3 September 1993 issue of ''[[Goldmine (magazine)|Goldmine]]''.<ref>Kurtz, Peter. "[http://www.goldminemag.com/reviews/nick-drake/hanging-on-a-star.htm Hanging On A Star"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19930903041344/http://www.goldminemag.com/reviews/nick-drake/hanging-on-a-star.htm |date=3 September 1993 }}, goldminemag.com, 3 September 1993; retrieved 25 August 2024.</ref>

The first biography of Drake in English was published in November 1997 by Patrick Humphries. On 20 June 1998, [[BBC Radio 2]] broadcast a documentary, ''Fruit Tree: The Nick Drake Story'', featuring interviews with Boyd, Wood, Gabrielle and Molly Drake, Paul Wheeler, Robert Kirby and Ashley Hutchings, and narrated by Danny Thompson.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.algonet.se/~iguana/DRAKE/fruittreedoc.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000304135906/http://www.algonet.se/~iguana/DRAKE/fruittreedoc.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 March 2000|title=Transcript of documentary reproduced on "The Nick Drake Files" website|publisher=algonet.se|access-date=16 November 2014}}</ref><ref>Humphries (1997).</ref> In early 1999, [[BBC Two]] broadcast a 40-minute documentary, ''A Stranger Among Us—In Search of Nick Drake''. The following year, Dutch director Jeroen Berkvens released the documentary ''A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake'', featuring interviews with Boyd, Gabrielle Drake, Wood and Kirby. Later that year, ''[[The Guardian]]'' named ''Bryter Layter'' the best alternative album of all time.<ref name="guardian"/>

In 1999, "Pink Moon" was used in a [[Volkswagen]] commercial, boosting Drake's US album sales from about 6,000 copies in 1999 to 74,000 in 2000.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Rothenberg Grtiz |first=Jennie |date=25 November 2014 |title=How the Internet (and Volkswagen) Made a Dead Folksinger Into a Star |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/11/how-the-internet-and-volkswagen-made-a-dead-folksinger-into-a-star/383145/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424173836/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/11/how-the-internet-and-volkswagen-made-a-dead-folksinger-into-a-star/383145/ |archive-date=24 April 2015 |access-date=31 December 2021 |website=The Atlantic}}</ref><ref name="boston.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.boston.com/culture/music/2016/07/21/four-boston-ad-professionals-volkswagen-shed-light-almost-forgotten-music-career/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620080509/https://www.boston.com/culture/music/2016/07/21/four-boston-ad-professionals-volkswagen-shed-light-almost-forgotten-music-career/ |archive-date=20 June 2021 |access-date=7 August 2021 |url-status=live |title=How four Boston ad professionals and a Volkswagen shed light on an almost-forgotten music career | website=Boston.com |date=21 July 2016 |first=Perry |last=Eaton}}</ref> The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' saw this as an example of how, following the consolidation of US radio stations, previously unknown music was finding audiences through advertising.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-apr-11-ca-49418-story.html|title=From Obscurity to Hit in 1 TV Commercial|last=Schoenburg|first=Nara|date=11 April 2001|location=Los Angeles, California|access-date=11 April 2001|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|archive-date=25 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625082822/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-apr-11-ca-49418-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Fans used the [[File sharing|filesharing]] software [[Napster]] to circulate digital copies of Drake's music. According to ''[[The Atlantic]],'' "The chronic shyness and mental illness that made it hard for Drake to compete with 1970s showmen like [[Elton John]] and [[David Bowie]] didn't matter when his songs were being pulled one by one out of the ether and played late at night in a dorm room."<ref name=":0"/>

Over the following years Drake's songs appeared in soundtracks for films such as ''[[The Royal Tenenbaums]]'', ''[[Serendipity (film)|Serendipity]]'' and ''[[Garden State (film)|Garden State]]''.<ref name=":0" /> ''[[Made to Love Magic]]'', an album of outtakes and remixes released by Island Records in 2004, far exceeded Drake's lifetime sales.<ref name=":0" /> In November 2014, Gabrielle Drake published a companion to her brother's music.<ref>Drake, G. and Callomon, C. (2015), ''Nick Drake: Remembered for a While'', London: [[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]]; {{ISBN|978-1444792591}}</ref> Also in 2014, a 10" live EP, released alongside the book, ''Remembered For A While'', was released, titled ''[[The John Peel Session]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/56208-nick-drake-10-featuring-unreleased-music-to-be-released-with-comprehensive-biography/|title=Nick Drake 10" Featuring Unreleased Music to Be Released With Comprehensive Biography|website=Pitchfork|date=August 6, 2014|access-date=8 July 2025|archive-date=8 July 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250708200347/https://pitchfork.com/news/56208-nick-drake-10-featuring-unreleased-music-to-be-released-with-comprehensive-biography/|url-status=live}}</ref> An authorised biography by Richard Morton Jack was published in June 2023, with a foreword by Gabrielle Drake.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jack |first=Richard Morton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxMhEAAAQBAJ |title=Nick Drake: The Life |date=8 June 2023 |publisher=John Murray Press |isbn=978-1-5293-0811-2 |language=en}}</ref> Other contemporary artists influenced by Drake include [[José González (singer)|José González]],<ref name=":4">Kearney, Ryan. "[https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/4126-the-creek-drank-the-cradle/ Iron & Wine: The Creek Drank the Cradle] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229163447/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/4126-the-creek-drank-the-cradle/ |date=29 December 2021 }}". ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'', 1 October 2002. Retrieved 31 December 2021</ref> [[Bon Iver]],<ref name=":4" /> [[Iron & Wine]],<ref name=":4" /> [[Alexi Murdoch]],<ref name=":4" /> [[Steven Wilson]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ultimatemetal.com/threads/steve-wilson-interview.217126/ | title=Steve Wilson Interview | date=26 November 2005 }}</ref> and [[Philip Selway]] of [[Radiohead]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 January 2015 |title=This music made me: Radiohead's Philip Selway |url=https://www.musicomh.com/features/this-music-made-me/philip-selway |access-date=7 April 2022 |website=[[MusicOMH]] |language=en-GB |archive-date=23 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523080113/https://www.musicomh.com/features/this-music-made-me/philip-selway |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Discography==
{{main|Nick Drake discography}}
* ''[[Five Leaves Left]]'' (1969)
* ''[[Bryter Layter]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Pink Moon]]'' (1972)

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Joe Boyd|Boyd, Joe]] (2006). ''White Bicycles&nbsp;– Making Music in the 1960s'', Serpent's Tail. {{ISBN|978-1-85242-910-2}}
* [[John Cale|Cale, John]] (1999). ''What's Welsh for Zen'', Bloomsbury. {{ISBN|978-0-7475-4383-1}}
* Chartier, Henry (2008). "Nick Drake : l'abécédaire", Le Bord de l'eau (in French) {{ISBN|978-2-35687-002-5}}
* [[Trevor Dann|Dann, Trevor]] (2006). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=fOdbp8I_vyAC Darker Than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake]'', Da Capo Press. London. {{ISBN|978-0-306-81520-1}}
* De Angelis, Paola (2007). "Journey to the Stars&nbsp;— I testi di Nick Drake", Arcana Editrice (in Italian)
* Drake, Gabrielle and Callomon, C. (2015), ''Nick Drake: Remembered for a While'', London: John Murray; {{ISBN|978-1444792591}}
* Drake, Nick: Under Review DVD (2007) ASIN: B000TV4PZG
* Hogan, Peter K. (2008). ''Nick Drake: The Complete Guide to His Music.''
* Humphries, Patrick (1997). ''Nick Drake: The Biography'', Bloomsbury USA. {{ISBN|978-1-58234-035-7}}
* Petrusich, Amanda (2007). ''33{{fraction|1|3}} Nick Drake's Pink Moon''. {{ISBN|978-0-8264-2790-8}}
* [[Gorm Henrik Rasmussen|Rasmussen, Gorm Henrik]] (1986). ''Pink Moon&nbsp;— Sangeren og guitaristen Nick Drake'' (in Danish), Forlaget Hovedland.
* Rasmussen, Gorm Henrik (2012). ''Pink Moon: A Story about Nick Drake'', Rocket 88. {{ISBN|978-1-906615-28-4}}
* Various sources (2003). ''Way to Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake'', Omnibus Press. {{ISBN|978-0-7119-8179-9}}
* Various sources (2003). ''The Nick Drake Song Collection'', Music Sales. {{ISBN|978-0-7119-4464-0}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|date=16 January 2012|En wikipedia Nick Drake.ogg}}
* [https://www.brytermusic.com/ Bryter Music: The Estate of Nick Drake]
* [http://www.paulmagnussen.com/singer-songwriter.html Gabrielle Drake] (Nick's sister) interviewed on BBC Radio (2005)
* [https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/three-records-from-sundown/ "Three Records From Sundown" - documentary by Charles Maynes w interviews of Joe Boyd] - via 99% Invisible (18 November 2014)
{{Nick Drake|state=expanded}}
{{authority control}}
{{Featured article}}

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[[Category:Nick Drake| ]]
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