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Five Leaves Left

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Five Leaves Left
Studio albumby
Nick Drake
Released3 July 1969[1]
RecordedMay 1968 – April 1969
StudioSound Techniques,London
Genre
Length41:43
LabelIsland
ProducerJoe Boyd
Nick Drakechronology
Five Leaves Left
(1969) 		Bryter Layter
(1971)

Five Leaves Leftis the debut studio album by EnglishfolkmusicianNick Drake.Recorded between 1968 and 1969, it was released in 1969 byIsland Records.

Recording

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Five Leaves Leftwas recorded between May 1968 and April 1969 atSound Techniquesin London, England. EngineerJohn Woodrecalled that "[Drake] would track live, singing and playing along with the string section" without the use of anyoverdubbing.For the song "River Man",producerJoe Boyddescribed Drake playing on a stool in the centre of the studio while surrounded by a semi-circle of instruments. The studio's environment was also an important factor as it had multiple levels to it which enabled the creation of interesting sounds and atmospheres.[1][5]

Among his various backing musicians, Drake was accompanied byRichard ThompsonfromFairport ConventionandDanny ThompsonofPentangle.Robert Kirby,a friend of Drake's from Cambridge University, arranged the stringed instruments for several tracks whileHarry Robinsonarranged the strings for "River Man".[6]The title of the album is a reference to the oldRizlacigarette papers packet, which used to contain a printed note near the end saying "Only five leaves left".[7]

Critical reception

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Reviews of the album in the months following its release were mixed. The brief review inMelody Makerdiscussed the origins of the album's title and added simply, "It sounds poetic and so does composer, singer and guitarist Nick Drake. His debut album for Island is interesting."[8]Rating the album three out of four stars,Disc and Music Echoalso described the album as "interesting" and said, "His guitar work is soft, gentle and tuneful; his voice highly attractive, husky and bluesy—but his songs uncertain and indirect." It concluded, "It's more a restful album than a stimulating one."[9]In October 1969 Gordon Coxhill of theNMEexpressed his disappointment with the record, saying, "I'm sorry I can't be more enthusiastic because he obviously has a not inconsiderable amount of talent, but there is not nearly enough variety on this debut LP to make it entertaining. His voice reminds me very much ofPeter Sarstedt,but his songs lack Sarstedt's penetration and arresting quality. "[10]A review the same month by Maurice Rosenbaum inThe Daily Telegraphwas more positive, describing the record as an "excellent LP of [Drake's] own songs", and observing, "His voice is slow, reflective and warm, and although the verse structure tends to melodic monotony, there is no mistaking the quality and the promise of 'River Man', 'The Thoughts of Mary Jane', 'Man in a Shed' and other items on this disc".[11]

Professional ratings
Legacy reviews
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[13]
Entertainment WeeklyA[14]
NME9/10[15]
Pitchfork9.5/10[16]
Q[17]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[18]
Uncut[19]

Until the 1990s Drake's albums had been critically and popularly underappreciated.[5][6]By the 1990s, though, Drake and his work had begun to attract more attention. A 1989 retrospective assessment ofFive Leaves Leftby Len Brown inNMEawarded the album 9/10 and stated that it "remains a masterpiece of English melancholy; a moving work that first revealed Drake's remarkable talent to communicate his fears of passing light and life, with simple beauty; his skill to charge listeners with emotions equal to his own".[15]Including it in a 1999 list of twelve of "the best folk albums of all time",Qin 1999 called it "the pinnacle of a melancholy canon of work so distinctive that admirers can only speculate miserably on what might have been".[20]A 2007 review by Chris Jones for theBBCsaid, "it's hard not to be still floored by the beauty of [Drake's] first album" and lauded its "unique vision" mixing elements of English folk music and jazz.[6]

The release of the remastered version in 2000 resulted in further positive retrospective reviews from music magazines.John Harriswrote inQthat "the record's abiding impression" was of "a hesitant, slightly troubled soul peering at the straight world and wondering what will become of both him and the people he beholds".[17]InUncutIan MacDonaldsaid, "A fine debut,Five Leaves Leftwould have been stronger still had 'I Was Made to Love Magic' and 'Time of No Reply' been used instead of 'Thoughts of Mary Jane' and 'Man in a Shed'... This aside, the album remains singular – cool and shady amid the celebratory sunshine of the late Sixties. "[19]Alternative Presscalled it "[one] of the most beautiful and melancholy albums ever recorded".[21]

Accolades

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Five Leaves Lefthas regularly appeared on lists of the best albums of all time. The album was ranked number 283 onRolling Stonemagazine's original 2003 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".[22]NMEranked it at number 258 on their 2013 list of "NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time",noting that" his maudlin songs are brought vividly to life with orchestration from Fairport Convention, Pentangle and arranger Robert Kirby ".[23]A list of the "200 Greatest Albums of All Time" inUncutin 2016 placed the album at number 183.[24]

A list of "The 100 Greatest Debut Albums" inUncutin 2006 placedFive Leaves Leftat number 29.[25]The record was also included in a list of "Debut Albums That Changed Music" inQmagazine in 2017.[26]In a 2007Mojoarticle titled "100 Records That Changed the World"Five Leaves Leftwas placed at number 78.[27]It is also included in the book1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die,which called it "a remarkable work: stuffed with complex, introspective music but leavened with arrangements and production straight off the top shelf... the record is full of glittering, warm sounds that have not aged a jot in the interim", and concluded that Drake "rarely excelled himself more than on this first album".[28]It was voted number 55 inColin Larkin'sAll Time Top 1000 Albums3rd Edition (2000).[29]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Nick Drake

Side A
No.TitleLength
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
Side B
No.TitleLength
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

Personnel

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  • Nick Drake– vocals; acoustic guitar(1-3, 5-9);piano(10)
Additional musicians
Technical

Release history

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Region Date Label Format Catalogue
United Kingdom 3 July 1969 Island LP ILPS 9105
March 1987 CD CID 9195
26 June 2000 IMCD 8

References

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  1. ^abDrake, Gabrielle(2014).Nick Drake: Remembered for a While.Little, Brown and Company.
  2. ^"20 Best Folk Music Albums of All Time".NME.7 June 2016.Retrieved20 August2016.
  3. ^Raggett, Ned."Pink Moon – Nick Drake | Songs, Reviews, Credits".AllMusic.Retrieved10 October2020.
  4. ^Terich, Jeff."Review: Nick Drake - Tuck Box".American Songwriter.Retrieved4 December2022.
  5. ^abTouzeau, Jeff (3 March 2008)."Lost Boy".Electronic Musician.
  6. ^abcJones, Chris (2007)."Nick Drake:Five Leaves Left:Review ".BBC.
  7. ^"Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake".www.nickdrake.com.Retrieved2 October2010.
  8. ^"Reviews".Melody Maker.26 July 1969. p. 18.
  9. ^"The New LPs".Disc and Music Echo.23 August 1969. p. 15.
  10. ^Coxhill, Gordon (4 October 1969). "LP Page".NME.p. 14.
  11. ^Rosenbaum, Maurice (13 October 1969). "Recent Records".The Daily Telegraph.p. 14.
  12. ^Raggett, Ned."Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake: Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards: AllMusic".Allmusic.Retrieved27 January2014.
  13. ^Larkin, Colin,ed. (2007).Encyclopedia of Popular Music(5th concise ed.).Omnibus Press.ISBN978-0-85712-595-8.
  14. ^Entertainment Weekly.12 May 2000. p. 24.{{cite magazine}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)
  15. ^abBrown, Len (11 March 1989). "Deja Vu".NME.p. 34.
  16. ^Greene, Jayson (22 January 2014)."Nick Drake:Tuck Box:Album Reviews: Pitchfork ".Pitchfork.Retrieved27 January2014.
  17. ^abHarris, John(August 2000). "Delicate Flower".Q.No. 167. pp. 112–13.
  18. ^Brackett, Nathan;Hoard, Christian,eds. (2004).The New Rolling Stone Album Guide(4th ed.).Simon & Schuster.p. 257.ISBN978-0-74320-169-8.
  19. ^abMacDonald, Ian(August 2000). "Behind the sun".Uncut.No. 39. p. 92.
  20. ^"The Best Folk Albums of All Time".Q.November 1999. pp. 162–163.
  21. ^Alternative Press.No. 152. March 2001. p. 88.{{cite magazine}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)
  22. ^"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".Rolling Stone.No. 937. 11 December 2003. pp. 83–178.
  23. ^"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".NME.26 October 2013.Retrieved5 February2018.
  24. ^"200 Greatest Albums of All Time".Uncut.No. 225. February 2016.
  25. ^"100 Greatest Debut Albums".Uncut.No. 111. August 2006.
  26. ^"100 Greatest Debut Albums".Q.No. 370. April 2017.
  27. ^"100 Records That Changed the World".Mojo.No. 163. June 2007.
  28. ^Dimery, Robert, ed. (2016).1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.Cassell Illustrated.ISBN978-1-84403-890-9.
  29. ^Colin Larkin,ed. (2000).All Time Top 1000 Albums(3rd ed.).Virgin Books.p. 60.ISBN0-7535-0493-6.
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