"River Man" is the second listed song from

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 ...

's 1969 album ''

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 ...

''. According to Drake's manager,

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 ...

, Drake thought of the song as the centrepiece of the album. In 2004 the song was remastered and released as a

7" vinyl In music, a single is a type of Art release#Music, release, typically a song Sound recording, recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for record sales, sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most ca ...

and as

enhanced CD Enhanced CD is a certification mark of the Recording Industry Association of America for various technologies that combine audio and computer data for use in both Compact Disc and CD-ROM players. Formats that fall under the "enhanced CD" ca ...

single including a video to the song by

Tim Pope Timothy Michael Pope (born 12 February 1956) is a film director most known for his music videos, for having directed feature films, and for a brief pop career. Early life and career Pope grew up in the north London suburb of Enfield. Both his ...

Musical structure and lyrics

The song is in a 5/4 time signature and is one of the few songs Drake wrote to be played in

standard tuning In music, standard tuning refers to the typical Musical tuning, tuning of a string instrument. This notion is contrary to that of scordatura, i.e. an alternate tuning designated to modify either the timbre or technical capabilities of the desired i ...

. The string arrangement was composed by Harry Robertson (aka Harry Robinson), after Drake's friend

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 ...

felt he couldn't compose it alone, although he did most of the arrangements on ''Five Leaves Left''. Drake did not reveal the identity of the 'Betty' character in the lyrics, although

Trevor Dann Trevor John Dann (born 6 November 1951) is an English writer and broadcaster best known for his radio and print journalism with BBC Radio, ''Q magazine'', ''Mojo'', and ''The Guardian'', and his critically praised 2006 "Darker Than the Deepest Se ...

speculated that she may have been drawn from

Betty Foy "The Idiot Boy" is a lyrical poem by William Wordsworth. Poem The poem is of 463 lines and is written in five-line stanzas with a varying rhyme scheme. It was first published in the ''Lyrical Ballads'' of 1798, where it appeared between ''The Mad ...

, a character in

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

's " The Idiot Boy", a poem Drake had studied while attending

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 ...

.Dann, Trevor. ''Darker than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake'' (2006), (Hardback) Portrait. '' However, the only similarity to the poem is the existence of a Betty.A Tentative, Yet Serendipitous Discovery Upon Reading Wordsworth
by Donnah Boyce

Covers

The song has been covered numerous times.

R. Stevie Moore Robert Steven Moore (born January 18, 1952) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter who pioneered lo-fi (or "DIY") music. Often called the "godfather of home recording", he is one of the most recognized artists of the cas ...

recorded the song in 1987, which later appeared on the Nick Drake tribute album CD ''Brittle Days'' (Imaginary Records UK, 1992). The first 1000 copies of

Sidi Bou Said Sidi Bou Said ( ar, سيدي بو سعيد ') is a town in northern Tunisia located about 20 km from the capital, Tunis. Named for a religious figure who lived there, Abu Said al-Baji, it was previously called Jabal el-Menar. The town it ...

's 1993 album ''Broooch'' included a bonus 7", of which a recording of River Man is featured on the b-side. The American jazz singer

Andy Bey Andrew W. Bey (born October 28, 1939) is an American jazz singer and pianist. Bey has a wide vocal range, with a four-octave baritone voice. Raised in Newark, New Jersey,Adler, David R"Andy Bey" ''JazzTimes'', April 25, 2019. Accessed December ...

included an arrangement of the song with a string section, guitar and bass on his 1998 album ''

Shades of Bey Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names below) are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can ...

'' (

Evidence Music Evidence Music is an American jazz and blues record label founded in 1992 by Howard Rosen and Jerry Gordon. The label's name comes from the song "Evidence" by Thelonious Monk. The label's first releases were reissues of Sun Ra albums from the ca ...

). Bey used what he called a 'soft palette' singing technique. Music producer

Herb Jordan Herbert Arthur Jordan (October 23, 1884 – June 2, 1973) was a Canadian amateur and later professional ice hockey player, most notably for the Quebec Bulldogs and the Renfrew Millionaires. Playing career Born in Quebec City, Quebec, Jordan mad ...

brought the song to Bey's attention, the success of which brought Bey and Nick Drake a new and wider audience. The song was also part of jazz pianist

Brad Mehldau Bradford Alexander Mehldau (; born August 23, 1970) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Mehldau studied music at The New School, and toured and recorded while still a student. He was a member of saxophonist Joshua Redman's Quar ...

's trio repertoire; it is featured on his 1998 album '' Songs: The Art of the Trio Volume Three'', an over 11-minute-long improvisation on '' Progression: The Art of the Trio, Vol. 5'' recorded live at the

Village Vanguard The Village Vanguard is a jazz club at Seventh Avenue South in Greenwich Village, New York City. The club was opened on February 22, 1935, by Max Gordon. Originally, the club presented folk music and beat poetry, but it became primarily a jazz ...

in 2000, and in another concert slightly shorter solo interpretation recorded in 2003 '' Live in Tokyo''. Other jazz versions of the song include a vocal version by Claire Martin from her 1999 album ''Take My Heart''. The German alternative rock band

Blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

covered the song on their 1999 album ''

Science Fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

''. British folk musician

Norma Waterson Norma Christine Waterson (15 August 1939 – 30 January 2022) was an English singer and songwriter, best known as one of the original members of The Watersons, a celebrated English traditional folk group. Other members of the group included h ...

included a cover of "River Man" on her second solo album ''

The Very Thought of You "The Very Thought of You" is a pop standard that was recorded and published in 1934 with music and lyrics by Ray Noble. The song was first recorded by Ray Noble and His Orchestra with Al Bowlly on vocals for HMV in England in April 1934. This re ...

'' in 1999. The song was paired with a cover of

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

's "Solid Air", originally dedicated to Drake on Martyn's 1973 album ''

Solid Air ''Solid Air'' is the fourth studio album by Scottish folk singer-songwriter John Martyn, released in February 1973 by Island Records. Background The album was recorded over eight days and features instrumental contributions by bassist Danny Th ...

''. Accompanying

were Richard Thompson and

Danny Thompson Daniel Henry Edward Thompson (born 4 April 1939) is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Mart ...

who were both on the original ''

'' album. Danny was also the double bass player on many

albums from that period. Australian band

Elixir ELIXIR (the European life-sciences Infrastructure for biological Information) is an initiative that will allow life science laboratories across Europe to share and store their research data as part of an organised network. Its goal is to bring t ...

recorded a version for their 2003 self-titled album. Becky Unthank interpreted the song on '' Cruel Sister'', the 2005 album by

Rachel Unthank and the Winterset Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

The Swingle Singers 270px, The Swingles at the Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten, Germany">Kirchzarten.html" ;"title="Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten">Black Forest Voices Festival in Kirchzarten, Germany on 29 June 2019 The Swingles are a v ...

included vocal cover of the song on their album Ferris Wheels in 2009. An oriental version of "River Man" was provided by singer

Natacha Atlas Natacha Atlas ( ar, نتاشا أطلس}; born 20 March 1964) is an Egyptian-Belgian singer known for her fusion of Arabic and Western music, particularly hip-hop. She once termed her music "'' cha'abi moderne''" (modern popular music). Her mu ...

in 2010 for her album '' Mounqaliba''. An interpretation by the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

singer

Patricia O'Callaghan Patricia Mary O'Callaghan (born October 2, 1970) is a classically trained Canadian singer. She is a soprano who has built an international reputation as a performer of contemporary opera, early 20th-century cabaret music and the songs of Leonard Co ...

is featured on her 2011 album with the

Gryphon Trio The Gryphon Trio is a Canadian classical music ensemble that has been nominated for several and has won three Juno Awards for its classical recordings released by the Analekta label. Its members are Annalee Patipatanakoon (violin), Roman Borys (cel ...

, '' Broken Hearts & Madmen''. Jazz singer

Kurt Elling Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Rockford, Illinois, Rockford, Elling became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran chur ...

is featured on "River Man" on the album ''Rhythm Sessions'' by guitarist

Lee Ritenour Lee Mack Ritenour ( ; born January 11, 1952) is an American jazz guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s. Biography Ritenour was born on January 11, 1952, in Los Angeles, California, United States. At the age of eight he started play ...

(Concord, 2012). On ''Joe Boyd Presents Way to Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake'' (

Navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...

, 2013), a compilation which features a new vocal interpretation by

Teddy Thompson Teddy Thompson (born 19 February 1976) is an English folk and rock musician. He is the son of folk rock musicians Richard and Linda Thompson and brother of singer Kamila Thompson. He released his first album in 2000. Biography Teddy Thompson ...

over Harry Robinson's original string arrangement. Singer

Lizz Wright Elizabeth LaCharla Wright (born January 22, 1980) is an American jazz and gospel singer. Life and career Wright was born in the small town of Hahira, Georgia, one of three children and the daughter of a minister and the musical director of t ...

recorded her version of the song on her 2015 album ''Freedom & Surrender'' featuring

Till Brönner Till Brönner (born 6 May 1971 in Viersen, West Germany) is a jazz musician, trumpeter, flügelhorn player, singer, composer, producer and photographer. History From 1989–1991, Brönner was a member of the Peter Herbolzheimer Rhythm Combin ...

on trumpet.

Benjamin Clementine Benjamin Sainte-Clémentine (; born 7 December 1988) is a British composer, musician and actor. Born and raised in London, England, Clementine later moved to Paris, France, where he experienced homelessness for a time. After moving back to Lond ...

included his version of the song in bonus tracks of his debut At Least for Now (Deluxe) album. British jazz singer Zoe Gilby covered it in her 2018 album with bassist Andy Champion.

Chrissie Hynde Christine Ellen Hynde (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician. She is a founding member and the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band the Pretenders, and one of the band's two remaining original members alon ...

recorded the song for her 2019 jazz collection "

Valve Bone Woe ''Valve Bone Woe'' is the second solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Chrissie Hynde. The album consists entirely of cover versions, and was released on September 6, 2019, by BMG Rights Management. Critical reception ''Valve Bone Woe ...

Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

covered the song on his 2020 album '' The Man Downstairs: Demos & Rarities''.

Track listing

;2004 CD # "River Man" # "Day Is Done" (by

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...

and the

Charlie Hunter Charlie Hunter (born May 23, 1967) is an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter plays custom-made seven- and eight-string guitars on which he simultaneously plays bass lines, chords, a ...

Band) # "River Man" (video by Tim Pope) ;2004 7" # "River Man" # "River Man" (demo version)

References

{{Authority control 2004 singles Nick Drake songs Island Records singles Song recordings produced by Joe Boyd Natacha Atlas songs 1969 songs Songs written by Nick Drake