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Live Review
THE SONGS
OF NICK DRAKE,
WAY TO BLUE.
Warwick Arts
Centre, 23/01/10 |
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Review & photography by Hugh Padfield |
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I was 20
years old in 1969 , and living in West London at the time. Much of
my spare time was spent supping coffees or lemon teas at folk clubs
like Les Cousins, Bunjies or the Troubadour, when I first heard of
Nick Drake. His contemporaries like John Martyn, Michael Chapman,
Al Stewart, Bridget St John, Keith Christmas, Martin Carthy, Dave
Swarbrick and the Young Tradition, amongst others, captured my
fascination and have influenced my music tastes and been an
inspiration ever since.
Though I knew
Nick Drake was ‘out there somewhere’ he simply didn’t gig as
frequently as the others. We know now that he was withdrawn, using
too many drugs and had come to believ he was a musical failure. It
seems he simply couldn’t fathom that despite the praise that was
heaped upon him as a ‘creative genius’, sales of his albums at the
time never reflected this. |
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Nick Drake, like Syd Barrett, Frank
Zappa and Captain Beefheart, have a special place embedded in the
mythology of contemporary music history. They are spoken of in
reverential terms and there is a general acknowledgement that they
brought a new musical dimension to what was being played by others
at the time. They were messing with jazz phrasing, discordant
arrangements and guitar tunings that most of us at the time,
struggled to make sense of. |
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Undoubtedly the
British folk scene in the late 60’s and early 70‘s was at it’s
zenith, and delivered us so much pleasure that we have been drunk on
it ever since.
Last weekend at
the Warwick Arts Centre a concert of Nick Drake’s music was
delivered by a multitude of fine acoustic musicians, some famous
currently, some famous at the time when Nick Drake was alive.
Danny Thompson
was playing bass on Saturday, and had done so for Nick Drake on the
album ‘Five Leaves Left’ (1969). Vashti Bunyan in a ‘shaky’ voice
sang a couple of Drake numbers. (Interestingly, in 1969, she had
herself been encouraged to co-produce music with Nick Drake,
however this venture was unproductive, and their liaison was
ultimately shelved).
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Others
contributing, were Robyn Hitchcock, Krystle Warren, Teddy Thompson,
Lisa Hannigan, Scott Matthews, Green Gartside , Kirsty Almeida,
Neill MacColl, Martyn Barker, (drums), Zoe Rahman, (piano)
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Most of the
songs were just delightfully executed, reminding us of the core
beauty of Drake’s music. The concert was delicately orchestrated by
a Kate St John, who had endeavoured to give the songs a fresh
newness, enhancing the overall impact of the songs, making them
more digestible than the originals, (almost).
(A word about
the Warwick Arts Centre.... its huge, modern, comfortable and the
sound was great. This venue is only slightly smaller than the
Barbican on the South Bank). |
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