Nick Drake – “Way to Blue”
In 1968, Nick Drake recorded and released his first album – Five Leaves Left – with Island Records. It was supposed to be a huge success, but ended up a commercial failure. Suffering from pretty severe depression, Drake was reluctant to put himself out there again and record a follow-up. Convinced it was a good idea, he recorded the songs for Bryter Layter and it was released in 1970.
Like the first, Drake’s second record was a colossal failure from a commercial standpoint. The story from here is that he completely withdrew and recorded his final album, Pink Moon alone. The album featured almost exclusively guitar and voice, with some piano on the title track.
Apparently, Drake dropped the tapes off at his label and left without a word. Not long afterwards, he committed suicide.
The commercial failure of his records is considered to be a big factor in his depression and subsequent suicide. The irony is that in 2000, Volkswagen bought “Pink Moon” for a commercial and the album became a runaway success.
It seems far too idealistic to believe that something could have changed his mind and given us 30 more years of great music, but posthumous releases like this one make it hard not to dream:
« NYC LEGO - Clubland: The Fabulous Rise and Murderous Fall of Club Culture »
Comments
Post a comment