Nick Drake

(1948-1974) Folk musician born in Burma but lived most of his life in Tanworth-in-Arden, England. Attended Marlborough Boarding School and Cambridge college before dropping out to pursue a career in music after being signed by Island Records. Drawing on a wide variety of influences, from classical music to music of the day such as Bob Dylan, Drake created a style of music that was both of the folk genre and was reminiscent of music from the first half of the 20th century. His first two albums, Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, are considered to be excellent albums in many circles. With the orchestral backing Drake's fragile baritone delivery and delicate and yet intricate finger-picking chords, Drake shines. Throughout his career, Nick Drake only performed a handful of shows and began to resent performing following a bad experience. Disappointed with his album sales, Drake became even more reluctant to perform and began to suffer from bouts of depression, anxiety, and possibly social anxiety. Drake became withdrawn and was known to spend hours staring at walls or driving aimlessly. Many friends of the day remember speaking to him and his replies were nothing more than grunts. His final album, Pink Moon, was dropped off at Island Records by Nick Drake himself and sat on a desk in the office for a week. The album was released, and was much more bare (only guitar, vocals, and a single piano line in the bridge of the title track), but still did not sell well. Drake then began to distance himself from music, spiraling further into depression. After a month-long stay in a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown, Drake began to put his life back together, getting a job involved with computers and even recording once again. His final session in Febuary 1974 yielded "Rider on the Wheel", "Voice from the Mountain", "Hanging on a Star" , and the haunting "Black-Eyed Dog". Drake continued on with his life until he died on November 25, 1974 at the age of 26 from an overdose of amitriptyline, a prescribed anti-depressant. Following his death, his presence remained low, until the 1980's when he was cited as influence by many musicians of the day. Since his song Pink Moon was featured in a Volkswagen commercial, Drake's albums sold more copies in a month than they ever did in his entire life. Since his death, Drake has been recognized and cited as a skilled musician who contributed much to the music of his day. Currently, he has received much more attention after Heath Ledger's death (in a similar manner), as Ledger cited Drake as one of his favorite artists.