 | | Reviews | | |  NICK DRAKE
Made to Love Magic
Island CID8141
The announcement of the discovery of a 'new' Nick Drake song, found at the end of a tape reel and forgotten for over 20 years, has been met with the enthusiasm normally reserved for the earthly materialisation of minor deities.
Leaving aside the merits of the rest of this new compilation of rarities, previously unreleased material and occasional picks from Drake's small but perfectly formed canon, it's Tow the Line which will prove the most irresistible lure to his vociferous and evangelical fan base. Possibly the last song he ever recorded, it mines a similar vein to the other songs taped shortly before his death. Sparse and direct, its resigned tone is enhanced by an insistent guitar and the quiet poignancy of Drake's vocal.
Whether it's worth the price of admission alone depends on your devotion to the Cult of Drake, but certainly there's other startling material on offer, including a version of Three Hours in which Nick is accompanied by future Traffic percussionist 'Reebop' Kwaakhu Baah and an unknown flautist. There's also a solo rendition of River Man dating from 1968 and recorded in a Cambridge college bedroom by Drake's friend and future arranger Robert Kirby - shorn of its string arrangement, Drake's incredible guitar playing and effortless melodic sense are all the more apparent.
Less effective is the re-arrangement of I Was Made to Love Magic, ditching Richard Hewson's dire string arrangement heard on the posthumous Time of No Reply album and replacing it with Kirby's original charts. Whatever the ethics of such posthumous tinkering, it's just not a particularly great song.
The addition of strings to Time of No Reply itself is more successful, and at least benefits from the presence of Drake's intricate guitar filigree, but the effect remains slightly akin to coming home and finding someone's redecorated your favourite room without asking you. That said, Kirby's arrangements remain benchmarks of sensitivity.
More welcome are remixed versions of Drake's other final recordings, including a previously unreleased version of Hanging on a Star. Impassioned and austere, they retain their gripping allure, although sensitive listeners may find Black Eyed Dog's creeping foreboding slightly too harrowing in the light of Drake's subsequent fate.
One wonders what would have happened had Drake followed his own advice, overcome his demons and toed the line of contemporary record industry mores - interviews, tours, appearances on Whistle Test. This has led some critics to argue that Drake's tragic end lends his music a gravitas it doesn't always deserve.
Certainly, Drake's death has frozen his reputation in aspic - the eternal youth, gilded with romantic allure, a Chatterton for our time. However, none of this should diminish the achievement of his music, which continues to retain its honest and beguiling power despite this compilation's admittedly minor faults.
Mick Fitzimmons - May 2004
See also:
Details of the Radio 2 documentary 'Lost Boy', to be presented by Brad Pitt on May 22nd.
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Folk & Acoustic
