"Magic" (also known as "I Was Made to Love Magic") is the second listed song from Nick Drake's 2004 compilation album ''

Made to Love Magic ''Made to Love Magic'' is a 2004 compilation album of outtakes and remixes by English singer/songwriter Nick Drake. It features a previously unreleased solo acoustic version of "River Man", dating from early 1968, and the song "Tow the Line" ...

'' and was remastered and released as a single in 2004. The single was released on both CD and

vinyl record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

formats, with ''

Bryter Layter ''Bryter Layter'' is the second studio album by English folk singer-songwriter Nick Drake. Recorded in 1970 and released on 5 March 1971 by Island Records, it would be his last album to feature backing musicians, as his next and final studio a ...

'' track " Northern Sky" as a B-side. "Magic" was originally recorded for the '' Five Leaves Left'' sessions but did not appear on the final album. A version of the song with a different string arranger features on '' Time of No Reply'', Drake's 1986

outtakes An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and D ...

compilation. For ''Made to Love Magic'' the song was artificially sped up and stripped of its original string section, which was scored by

Richard Hewson Richard Anthony Hewson (born 17 November 1943) is an English producer, arranger, conductor and multi-instrumentalist, who created the studio group RAH Band. Career Hewson began in the late 1960s as an arranger, and has worked with musicians s ...

. A separate string arrangement written in 1969 by

Robert Kirby Robert Kirby (16 April 1948 – 3 October 2009) was a British-born arranger of string sections for rock and folk music. He was best known for his work on the Nick Drake albums, ''Five Leaves Left'' and '' Bryter Layter'', but also worked ...

, recorded in 2004, was used as a backing to the new faster track. Upon its 2004 issue as a single, it was placed at #32 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, the first time the single had appeared on the chart.

Track listing

All songs are written by Nick Drake. #"Magic" – 2:45 #" Northern Sky" – 3:46

Personnel

*Nick Drake – vocals, guitar *Robert Kirby –

arrangements In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

* John Cale – celeste, piano and organ on "Northern Sky" *

Dave Pegg Dave Pegg (born 2 November 1947) is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, primarily a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of folk ...

– bass on "Northern Sky" *

Mike Kowalski Mike Kowalski (born July 28, 1944) is an American drummer, percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as a longtime touring and session drummer for the rock band the Beach Boys. Early career Mike Kowalski was born in Hollywood, Los Ange ...

– drums on "Northern Sky"

Chart

References

{{authority control 2004 singles 2004 songs Island Records singles Nick Drake songs Song recordings produced by Joe Boyd Songs written by Nick Drake