Robert Kirby (16 April 1948 – 3 October 2009) was a British-born arranger of string sections for

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. He was best known for his work on the

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...

albums, ''

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 S ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'', but also worked with

Vashti Bunyan Vashti Bunyan (born Jennifer Vashti Bunyan, 1945) is an English singer-songwriter. Beginning her career in the mid-1960s, she released her debut album, ''Just Another Diamond Day'', in 1970. The album sold very few copies and Bunyan, discourage ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Ralph McTell Ralph McTell (born Ralph May, 3 December 1944) is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s. McTell is best known for his song " Streets of London" (19 ...

Strawbs Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known fo ...

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...

and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

Early life

He was educated at

Bishop's Stortford College Bishop's Stortford College is a independent day and boarding school in the English public school tradition for more than 1,200 pupils aged 4–18, situated in a campus on the edge of the market town of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, Englan ...

an independent school in Hertfordshire, and then

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

Cambridge University

Patrick Humphries' book ''Way To Blue'' gives some details of Kirby's time at university. He sang in a group called 'The Gentle Power of Song'. His tutor once told him that his compositions sounded like a breakfast cereal commercial. This was intended as an insult, but Kirby took this as his high praise: "As good as that, eh?". Kirby went to

Caius College Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and made friends with Paul Wheeler. They were both members of the Caius Breakfast Club, also called "The Loungers". There were few rules. You had to have a Loungers' breakfast on Sundays, and 'stand by ye gate once a day and observe what strange creatures God hath made'. There was a rule that permitted an outsider (the 'Oddefellowe') to become a member. Robert and Paul were both friends with Nick Drake so they invited him to be the Oddefellowe. There is a line in Drake's song "Way To Blue" which seems to echo one of the rules of the Loungers: ''"We will wait at your gate, hoping like the blind..."''

The May Ball

Kirby recruited eight musicians (seven women and one man) to play alongside Nick Drake at the Caius May Ball. Kirby wore evening dress, and the seven women wore black ankle-length dresses with white feather boas. They performed in the library. Four of the songs were with the string orchestra and a couple of others were Drake solo. After every third song, they played classical music (

Leopold Mozart Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (November 14, 1719 – May 28, 1787) was a German composer, violinist and theorist. He is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook ''Versuch einer gründlichen ...

and

Tomaso Albinoni Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January 1751) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera comp ...

''Five Leaves Left''

When

Joe Boyd Joe Boyd (born August 5, 1942) is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked on recordings of Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band ...

recruited Drake to record an album, he already had a string arranger in mind, Richard A. Hewson. Drake rejected the few Hewson arrangements produced and announced that he already had a friend at university who could do a better job—Kirby. Drake had decided to leave university without completing his final year. When Kirby was offered the contract to arrange music for an entire album, he, too, gave up Cambridge university. Though Kirby arranged and conducted strings for the majority of ''Five Leaves'', Harry Robinson was commissioned to arrange the strings for the centerpiece song, "

River Man "River Man" is the second listed song from Nick Drake's 1969 album ''Five Leaves Left''. According to Drake's manager, Joe Boyd, Drake thought of the song as the centrepiece of the album. In 2004 the song was remastered and released as a 7" viny ...

".
- John Wood, sound engineer for ''

Life as an arranger

Although Kirby had recorded arrangements for over 40 albums by 1978, it was a struggle to make ends meet. In the end he decided to work in marketing industry instead. He was rumoured still to have his scores for Drake's records in his mother's potting shed. (He also was for three years, 1975–1978 one of the two keyboard players for

, touring the UK and internationally, and getting some composing credits on the albums '' Deep Cuts'', '' Deadlines'' and ''

Burning for You ''Burning for You'' is the eleventh studio album by English band Strawbs, with cover art by Patrick Woodroffe. Recording The producer of the album Jeffrey Lesser was, according to songwriter/singer Dave Cousins, "...a great engineer but didn't ...

''). He also did some further arranging for Strawbs with ''

Baroque & Roll ''Baroque and Roll'' is the sixteenth studio album by Acoustic Strawbs. Acoustic Strawbs were formed by accident after Dave Cousins and Brian Willoughby were booked to perform as a duo in Twickenham in 2000. Cousins damaged his wrist and Dave La ...

'' (2001), ''

Déjà Fou ''Déjà Fou'' is the 16th studio album by English band Strawbs. The title is a play on the phrase déjà vu, French for "already seen", as the band line-up had been seen 30 years before on the ''Hero and Heroine'' album. The phrase ''déjà fo ...

'' (2004) and ''

Dancing to the Devil's Beat ''Dancing to the Devil's Beat'' is a studio album by English band Strawbs. Track listing #"Revenge (Can Be So Sweet)" (Dave Cousins, Chas Cronk)– 5:18 #"Beneath the Angry Sky" (Cousins, Cronk) – 4:29 #"Copenhagen" (Cousins, Cronk) – 4:46 ...

'' (2009). He talks extensively about his career in Nick Awde's study ''

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

'', subtitled ''The Machine and the Musicians That Revolutionized Rock'' (2008) – the book opens with a quote from him. One of Roberts lasting associations was with

Shelagh McDonald Shelagh McDonald (born 1948, Edinburgh, Scotland) is a Scottish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist who released two albums before her abrupt disappearance in 1971. Nothing further was heard of her until 2005, when she made contact with the ...

. It was Sandy Roberton, Shelagh's then producer who invited her to visit Robert's flat, and to introduce her to what was to be one of the legendary associations of all time. Robert's instant liking for Shelagh resulted in his orchestral arrangements for songs on both Shelagh McDonald's albums 'Stargazer' and 'Album'....The legacy of these recordings could possibly be regarded today as the genesis of 'Folk Rock'

Public performances of Nick Drake's music

On 2 July 2005, Kirby conducted an 18-piece orchestra in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

for a show of Drake's music, using his original scores. ''Five Leaves Left'' was performed in its entirety as well as excerpts from ''Bryter Later'' and ''Made To Love Magic''. The show starred guitarist Josh Max and singer Julie James of the Manhattan-based group The Maxes, and was attended by 3,000 Drake fans from all over the US.

Death

Robert Kirby died in a West London hospital following emergency heart surgery after a short illness on 3 October 2009. He was 61 years old.Nick Drake's string arranger Robert Kirby dies
''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

''. Retrieved on 9 October 2009.

Discography

: ''

'' (1969) *Nick Drake: ''

'' (1970) *

: ''

Just Another Diamond Day ''Just Another Diamond Day'' is the debut album by the English folk singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan, and was released on Philips Records in December 1970. Much of the album is a musical reflection on Bunyan and travelling partner Robert Lewis's e ...

'' (1970) *

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English songwriter, singer and visual artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with musician Elton John, a songwriting partnership that is one of the most successful in history. Tau ...

: ''Bernie Taupin'' (1970) *Shelagh McDonald: ''Stargazer'' (1971) *

Audience An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...

: '' The House on the Hill'' (1971) *Gillian McPherson: ''Poets and Painters and Performers of Blues'' (1971) *

: ''

You Well-Meaning Brought Me Here ''You Well-Meaning Brought Me Here'' is the 1971 album by British Folk music, folk musician Ralph McTell. The album was produced by Gus Dudgeon, who also produced Elton John's early albums. McTell was now managed by Jo Lustig but still living wi ...

'' (1971) *

Keith Christmas Keith Peter Christmas (born 13 October 1946, Wivenhoe, near Colchester, Essex, England) is an English singer and songwriter. He attended Bath University to read architecture but, because the Architecture School was, at that time, based in Kin ...

: ''Pigmy'' (1971) *

Tim Hart Tim Hart (9 January 1948 – 24 December 2009) was an English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as a founding member of British folk rock band Steeleye Span. Early years Tim Hart was born in Lincoln, England, but moved to St ...

and

Maddy Prior Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police dr ...

: ''

Summer Solstice The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer ...

'' (1971) *Cochise: ''So Far'' (1971) * Steve Gibbons: ''Short Stories'' (1971) *Andy Roberts: ''Nina and the Dream Tree'' (1971) *

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: ''John Kongos'' (1971) *

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: ''St. Radigunds'' (1971) *

: ''

Madman Across The Water ''Madman Across the Water'' is the fourth studio album by English musician Elton John, released in 1971 through DJM and Uni Records. The album was his third album to be released in 1971, at which point John had been rising to prominence as a po ...

'' (1971) *Claggers: ''Chumley's Laughing Gear'' (1971) *Strawbs: ''

Grave New World ''Grave New World'' is the fourth studio album by English band Strawbs, their fifth overall. It was the first album to be released after the departure of Rick Wakeman, who was replaced by Blue Weaver, late of Amen Corner. Background Tony ...

'' (1972) *

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: ''

American Gothic ''American Gothic'' is a 1930 painting by Grant Wood in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Wood was inspired to paint what is now known as the ''American Gothic'' House in Eldon, Iowa, along with "the kind of people efancied shoul ...

'' (1972) *Mick Audsley: ''Dark and Devil Waters'' (1972) *

B.J. Cole Brian John Cole is an English pedal steel guitarist, who has long been active as a session and solo musician. Coming to prominence in the early 1970s with the band Cochise, Cole has played in many styles, ranging from mainstream pop and rock t ...

: ''The New Hovering Dog'' (1972) *David Elliott: ''David Elliott'' (1972) *

Dave Cousins Dave Cousins (born David Joseph Hindson; 7 January 1945) is an English musician who has been the leader, singer and most-active songwriter of Strawbs since 1967. Career Cousins is a founder member of the Strawbs, which started out as the S ...

: ''Two Weeks Last Summer'' (1972) *Strawbs: ''

Bursting at the Seams ''Bursting at the Seams'' is the fifth studio album by English band Strawbs, released on 1 January 1973 by A&M Records. It was the first album to be released after the departure of founder member Tony Hooper and the recruitment of Dave Lambert. ...

'' (1972) * Mike Silver: ''Troubadour'' (1973) * Lynsey De Paul: '' Surprise'' (1973) *Steve Ashley: ''Stroll On'' (1974) *Steve Ashley: ''Speedy Return'' (1975) *

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: ''

Helen of Troy Helen of Troy, Helen, Helena, (Ancient Greek: Ἑλένη ''Helénē'', ) also known as beautiful Helen, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believe ...

'' (1975) *

Gary Shearston Gary Rhett Shearston (9 January 19391 July 2013) was an Australian singer and songwriter and Anglican priest. He was a leading figure of the folk music revival of the 1960s and was notable as a performer of Australian traditional folk songs in ...

: ''The Greatest Show on Earth'' (1975) *Richard Digance: ''Trading the Boards'' (1975) * Chris DeBurgh: ''Spanish Train and Other Stories'' (1975) *Strawbs: '' Deep Cuts'' (1976) *

Design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

: ''By Design'' (1976) (three tracks) *Spriguns: ''Time Will Pass'' (1977) *

Sandy Denny Alexandra Elene MacLean Denny (6 January 1947 – 21 April 1978) was an English singer who was lead singer of the British folk rock band Fairport Convention. She has been described as "the pre-eminent British folk rock singer". After briefly w ...

: ''Rendezvous'' (1977) *Strawbs: ''

'' (1977) *Strawbs: '' Deadlines'' (1978) *

Arthur Brown Arthur Brown may refer to: Entertainment * Arthur William Brown (1881–1966), Canadian commercial artist * H. Arthur Brown (1906–1992), American orchestral conductor * Arthur Brown (musician) (born 1942), English rock singer * Arthur Brown, ak ...

: ''Chisholm in my Bosom'' (1978) *

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: ''First Light'' (1978) *

Roger McGough Roger Joseph McGough (; born 9 November 1937) is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children's author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Poetry Please'', as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one o ...

: ''Summer with Monika'' (1978) *

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: ''Stealin' Home'' (1978) *Jim Rafferty: ''Solid Logic'' (1979) *

: ''Slide Away the Screen'' (1979) *Aj Webber: ''Of This Land'' (1980) *

: ''

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'' (1982) *

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: ''Screen Classics, Vol. 7'' (1994) *

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: ''Stooping to Fit'' (1998) *

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: ''Hello'' (1999) *Steve Ashley: ''The Test of Time'' (1999) *

: ''

Heliocentric Heliocentrism (also known as the Heliocentric model) is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the center of the universe. Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at ...

'' (2000) *Acoustic Strawbs: ''

'' (2001) *Flemming: ''Starry Night'' (2001) *Flemming: ''Old Boys'', ''Chances for tomorrow'' (2002) *Nick Drake: ''

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" ...

'' (2004) *Henrik Levy: ’’A Letter from a City Man’’ (2004) *Strawbs: ''

'' (2004) *Vashti Bunyan: ''Lookaftering'' (2005) *Steve Ashley: ''Live in Concert'' (2006) *The Magic Numbers: ''Those The Brokes'' (2006) *

a balladeer A Balladeer (styled as a balladeer) is a Dutch band, originating from Amsterdam, founded by singer-songwriter Marinus de Goederen. In 2002, the band won the 3FM BuZz Award and another award the following year at the final of the annual Dutch mu ...

: ''Panama'' (2006) *

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: ''Upfront & Down Low'' (2007) * Linda Thompson: ''Versatile Heart'' (2007) *Steve Ashley: ''Time and Tide'' (2007) *Luke Jackson: ''...And Then Some'' (2008) *Strawbs: ''

'' (2009) *James Edge and the Mindstep: ''In The Hills, The Cities'' (2010) *

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: '' The Runaway'' (2010)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Robert 1948 births 2009 deaths People from Bishop's Stortford People educated at Bishop's Stortford College Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge British rock keyboardists British music arrangers