Five Leaves Left

This article describes an album by the English singer-songwriter Nick Drake. The Hamburg folk band Torpus & the Art Directors later released an album of the same name .

Five Leaves Left
Nick Drake's studio album
Publication (s)	3rd September 1969
Label (s)	Island Records
Format (s)	LP , CD , MC
Genre (s)	Folk , Baroque Folk
Title (number)	10
running time	41:43
occupation	Nick Drake - vocals , guitar Rocki Dzidzornu - congas , shaker Tristran Fry - drums , vibraphone Paul Harris - piano Clare Lowther - cello Danny Thompson - double bass Richard Thompson - guitar
production	Joe Boyd
Studio (s)	Sound Techniques, London
chronology - Five Leaves Left Bryter Layter (1970)

Five Leaves Left is the debut album by British folk singer Nick Drake . It was released in 1969 on the Island Records label .

The title means “five sheets left” in German ; This is a label in Rizla brand cigarette paper packets, which indicates that the papers are running out. Although the album title quotes the marker leaves, it was later interpreted as a gloomy prophecy (Drake died five years after publication).

background

Nick Drake made his debut album between June 1968 and July 1969 in London. He was accompanied in the studio by jazz musician Danny Thompson , his friend Richard Thompson , then a member of the Fairport Convention , and Tristan Fry, who was previously a member of the London Symphony Orchestra and years later co-founder of the band Sky . Was produced Five Leaves Left by Joe Boyd , who with Fairport Convention and the Incredible String Band worked. The sound engineer was John Wood, who was to produce Drake's third and final album, Pink Moon , in 1971 . The first work combines folk with chamber music . Robert Kirby and Harry Robinson were responsible for the arrangements of cello and double bass in charge.

reception

source	rating
Allmusic
Pitchfork Media

The album, like all three of Nick Drake's albums, is considered a classic in music history and appears in many best lists of music magazines; for example in the list of the 500 best albums of all time by Rolling Stone in the German edition - as Drake's best-placed album - at number 68 and in the US version at number 283.

“Drake's youthful vocals and his idiosyncratic , sensitive songs remain unique. In commercial terms, "Five Leaves Left" was a failure. "

- Rolling Stone, 2004

Also in similar lists of other music magazines it reached top places, including number 45 of the "100 best albums 1969-2009" ( Musikexpress ) or number 61 of the 200 best albums of the 1960s by Pitchfork Media . New Musical Express magazine voted Five Leaves Left 64th of the 100 Best Albums in 2003 and 258th of the 500 Best Albums of All Time in 2013. In the selection of the 200 best albums of all time of the magazine Uncut occupied Five Leaves Left Place 183rd

In addition, the debut album and its successors were included in the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die .

Track list

All songs are written by Nick Drake .

page 1 1. Time Has Told Me - 4:27 2. River Man - 4:21 3. Three Hours - 6:16 4. Way to Blue - 3:11 5. Day Is Done - 2:29

Page 2 6. Cello song - 4:49 7. The Thoughts of Mary Jane - 3:22 8. Man in a Shed - 3:55 9. Fruit Tree - 4:50 10. Saturday Sun - 4:03 am

Cover versions

Many of the tracks on the album have been covered by other artists over the years; including such well-known as Elton John or Norah Jones . The recordings of Elton John, however, date from 1970, when Elton John was still relatively unknown. He got the demos from producer Joe Boyd , who wanted to make the compositions of Drake better known.

• Time Has Told Me - Elton John , Micha Marah , Nikki Sudden
• River Man - Andy Bey , Blackmail , Brad Mehldau , Claire Martin , Paul Weller , Till Brönner , Tom Barman / Guy Van Nueten, David Lemaitre, Natacha Atlas , Lizz Wright , Sara Gazarek , Chrissie Hynde
• Way to Blue - Elton John , Guido "Lude" Lucas
• Day Is Done - Charlie Hunter feat. Norah Jones , Elton John , Brad Mehldau
• Cello Song - Ashley MacIsaac , The Walkabouts , The Books feat. José González
• Saturday Sun - Elton John , Favez

Web links

• Trevor Then: Darker Than The Deepest Sea ; The Search for Nick Drake

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Review by Ned Raggett on AllMusic.com (accessed December 1, 2016)
2. ↑ Review by Jayson Greene on Pitchfork.com (accessed December 1, 2016)
3. ↑ ^{a b} p. 17 in the corresponding special issue
4. ↑ The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s on pitchfork.com, accessed October 11, 2017
5. ↑ The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time on nme.com, accessed October 11, 2017
6. ↑ Uncut: 200 Greatest Albums Of All Time on rateyourmusic.com, from: Uncut 02/2016 (accessed on September 15, 2018)
7. ^ "In Search of a Master - In Search of a Slave. A Tribute to Nick Drake"
8. ↑ Nick Drake Sessions ( January 17, 2010 memento in the Internet Archive )
9. ↑ www.mp3.com - Elton John - 1968 Nick Drake Session ( Memento from January 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )