Five Leaves Left is the debut studio album by English folk musician Nick Drake. It was recorded between 1968 and 1969 and released in 1969 by record label Island.
Among his various backing musicians, Drake was accompanied by Richard Thompson, at that time with Fairport Convention and Danny Thompson of The Pentangle. Robert Kirby, a friend of Drake's from his youth, arranged the string instruments for several tracks while Harry Robinson arranged the strings for "River Man".
The title of the alb...
Five Leaves Left is the debut studio album by English folk musician Nick Drake. It was recorded between 1968 and 1969 and released in 1969 by record label Island.
Among his various backing musicians, Drake was accompanied by Richard Thompson, at that time with Fairport Convention and Danny Thompson of The Pentangle. Robert Kirby, a friend of Drake's from his youth, arranged the string instruments for several tracks while Harry Robinson arranged the strings for "River Man".
The title of the album is said to be a reference to the old Rizla cigarette papers packet, which used to contain a printed note near the end saying "Only five leaves left". Drake died five years after recording the album.
The album regularly appears on lists of the best albums of all time. The album was ranked number 283 on Rolling Stone magazine's original 2003 list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". NME ranked it at number 258 on their 2013 list of "NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
It is said that Drake felt frustrated at the lack of commercial success his music initially gathered, considering the help he had on his debut record. Besides fine production from Joe Boyd and assistance from folks like Fairport Convention's Richard Thompson and his unrelated bass counterpart from Pentangle, Danny Thompson, Drake also recruited school friend Robert Kirby to create most of the just-right string and wind arrangements. His own performance itself steered a careful balance between too-easy accessibility and maudlin self-reflection, combining the best of both worlds while avoiding the pitfalls on either side. The result was a fantastic debut appearance, and if the cult of Drake consistently reads more into his work than is perhaps deserved, Five Leaves Left is still a most successful effort.
Having grown out of the amiable but derivative styles captured on the long-circulating series of bootleg home recordings, Drake assays his tunes with just enough drama -- world-weariness in the vocals, carefully paced playing, and more -- to make it all work. His lyrics capture a subtle poetry of emotion, as on the pastoral semi-fantasia of "The Thoughts of Mary Jane," which his soft, articulate singing brings even more to the full. Sometimes he projects a little more clearly, as on the astonishing voice-and-strings combination "Way to Blue," while elsewhere he's not so clear, suggesting rather than outlining the mood. Understatement is the key to his songs and performances' general success, which makes the combination of his vocals and Rocky Dzidzornu's congas on "Three Hours" and the lovely "'Cello Song," to name two instances, so effective. Danny Thompson is the most regular side performer on the album, his bass work providing subtle heft while never standing in the way of the song -- kudos well deserved for Boyd's production as well.
According to the River Man Songfacts, the album title referred to the warning found towards the end of a packet of Rizla cigarette papers, that there were only five leaves left. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
