Five Leaves Left

''Five Leaves Left'' is the debut studio album by English folk musician Nick Drake. Recorded between 1968 and 1969, it was released in 1969 by Island Records.

Recording

''Five Leaves Left'' was recorded between July 1968 and June 1969 at Sound Techniques in London, England. Engineer John Wood recalled that "rakewould track live, singing and playing along with the string section" without the use of any overdubbing. For the song " River Man", producer Joe Boyd described 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.

Among his various backing musicians, Drake was accompanied by Richard Thompson from Fairport Convention and Danny Thompson of 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 a reference to the old Rizla cigarette papers packet, which used to contain a printed note near the end saying "Only five leaves left".

Critical reception

Reviews of the album in the months following its release were mixed. The brief review in ''Melody Maker'' discussed 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." Rating the album three out of four stars, '' Disc and Music Echo'' also 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." In October 1969 Gordon Coxhill of the '' NME'' expressed 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 of Peter Sarstedt, but his songs lack Sarstedt's penetration and arresting quality." A review the same month by Maurice Rosenbaum in '' The Daily Telegraph'' was more positive, describing the record as an "excellent LP of rake'sown 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".

Until the 1990s Drake's albums had been critically and popularly ignored. By the 1990s, though, Drake and his work had begun to attract more attention. A 1989 retrospective assessment of ''Five Leaves Left'' by Len Brown in ''NME'' awarded 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". Including it in a 1999 list of twelve of "the best folk albums of all time", ''Q'' in 1999 called it "the pinnacle of a melancholy canon of work so distinctive that admirers can only speculate miserably on what might have been". A 2007 review by Chris Jones for the BBC said, "it's hard not to be still floored by the beauty of rake'sfirst album" and lauded its "unique vision" mixing elements of English folk music and jazz.

The release of the remastered version in 2000 resulted in further positive retrospective reviews from music magazines. John Harris wrote in '' Q'' that "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". In ''Uncut'' Ian MacDonald said, "A fine debut, ''Five Leaves Left'' would 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." '' Alternative Press'' called it " neof the most beautiful and melancholy albums ever recorded".

Accolades

''Five Leaves Left'' has regularly appeared 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", noting that "his maudlin songs are brought vividly to life with orchestration from Fairport Convention, Pentangle and arranger Robert Kirby". A list of the "200 Greatest Albums of All Time" in ''Uncut'' in 2016 placed the album at number 183.

A list of "The 100 Greatest Debut Albums" in ''Uncut'' in 2006 placed ''Five Leaves Left'' at number 29. The record was also included in a list of "Debut Albums That Changed Music" in ''Q'' magazine in 2017. In a 2007 '' Mojo'' article titled "100 Records That Changed the World" ''Five Leaves Left'' was placed at number 78. It is also included in the book ''1001 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". It was voted number 55 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).

Track listing

Personnel

Nick Drake performs vocals and acoustic guitar, except where indicated otherwise.

* "Time Has Told Me"
*: Paul Harris – piano
*: Richard Thompson – electric guitar
*: Danny Thompson – double bass
* "River Man"
*: Danny Thompson – double bass
*: Harry Robinson – string arrangement
* "Three Hours"
*: Danny Thompson – double bass
*: Rocky Dzidzornu – congas
* "Way to Blue"
*: Nick Drake – vocals
*: Robert Kirby – string arrangement
* "Day is Done"
*: Robert Kirby – string arrangement
* Cello Song"
*: Danny Thompson – double bass
*: Rocky Dzidzornu – congas, shaker
*: Clare Lowther – cello
* "Thoughts of Mary Jane"
*: Robert Kirby – string arrangement
*: uncredited – flute
* "Man in a Shed"
*: Paul Harris – piano
*: Danny Thompson – double bass
* "Fruit Tree"
*: Robert Kirby – string arrangement
*: uncredited – oboe, bass oboe and English horn
* "Saturday Sun"
*: Nick Drake – vocals, piano
*: Danny Thompson – double bass
*: Tristan Fry – drums and vibraphone

Technical

* Simon Heyworth – mastering
* Joe Boyd – production
* John Wood – engineering
* Keith Morris – photography

Release history

References

External links

A radio special about ''Five Leaves Left''
with Nick Drake biographers Trevor Dann, Patrick Humphries and Peter Hogan on ''The Marketplace of Ideas''.

{{Authority control

Nick Drake albums
1969 debut albums
Island Records albums
Albums arranged by Robert Kirby
Albums produced by Joe Boyd