ROBERT KIRBY

We have news of a highly recommended release on the Ace label. A single CD selection of the fine orchestrations by Nick Drake’s friend and collaborator, the late Robert Kirby.

I was asked to write a review for the Caught By The River journal, it can be read (and purchased) here:

https://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2018/03/robert-kirby-cally-callomon-ace-records/

REMEMBERED FOR A WHILE: THE SUITE

April the 12th sees the debut concert of what we hope may become a regular touring event in time.

Hosted and produced by John Parish (producer, composer, artist and cohort with P. J. Harvey) the newly refurbished Saint George’s Hall in Bristol (England) will be the setting for an evening of Nick Drake material arranged especially for the event by Rob Ellis (Orchestrator for Bat For Lashes, Mick Harvey, Anna Calvi and one-time drummer with P. J. Harvey) and Enrico Gabrielli ( Orchestrator, reed player and arranger with P. J. Harvey and The Winstons).  The vocals will be supplied by Aldous Harding, H. Hawkline and Nadine Khouri, combined with a consortium of musicians and a string quartet,

Tickets and further details can be found by gently tapping on the following link:

https://www.stgeorgesbristol.co.uk/event/john-parish-guests-remembered-for-awhile/

THE TIDE’S MAGNIFICENCE
The poems and songs of Molly Drake
Released on December 4th 2017

ABOUT MOLLY DRAKE

Molly Drake wrote songs and poems from the mid 1930s until her death in 1993. They were never meant for public release, rather, they were the gentle but profound observations of a very private person. Nick Drake was indeed his mother’s son. And like her son, Molly was a perfectionist who refined and edited her work to the enth degree.

Many years after her death it was realised that her material might have had an influence on her son Nick Drake’s own work which was why, originally, it became of interest; only gradually has it become obvious that her creations have a merit all of their own.

ABOUT THE PUBLICATION

The Tide’s Magnificence comes as a full colour 196 page hard-back case-bound and stitched book printed on contrasting paper stock with printed page edges. The book contains 79 poems by Molly Drake, lyrics to the songs, a 14 page introduction by her daughter, the actor Gabrielle Drake, photos, diary extracts, song manuscripts and handwritten notes by Molly, as well as the essay Give Me A Place To Be, which previously appeared in the book about Nick Drake: Remembered For A While,

There are two CDs containing 26 songs. The first CD was originally released as a limited private pressing in 2013, the second contains 7 unreleased songs all of which were recorded in mono in the 1950s on home tape recorders by Molly’s husband Rodney Drake. The songs were digitally transferred by Nick’s producer and engineer; John Wood and mastered by Simon Heyworth at Super Audio Mastering carefully preserving the varying qualities inevitably found in such old recordings.

“This is the missing link in the Nick Drake story” – Joe Boyd

Many of the songs and poems were so exquisitely performed on the 2017 tour by The Unthanks and recorded on their CD and Vinyl release: ‘The Songs Of Molly Drake’

The Tide’s Magnificence is a limited edition, there will only be one pressing of the set before it is made available as a single CD. Initially it will only be available by direct purchase from the website below:

Order it from: http://bit.ly/2zLjS1x

Released on the Fledg’ling label (FLED 3105) December 4th 2017
ISBN 978-0-9926395-2-5

THE POEMS

Martha
Will O’ The Wisp
The Sloth
The Tall Trees
The Pinewood
Full Moon
After Rain
The Ambitious Moth
The Collector
Song Of The Flute
Waning Moon
The Wind
The Thaw
The Clear Rejoicing Water I
The Clear Rejoicing Water II
For Mary
The Valley
Early Blossom
Cock Lane
The Crow
Nineteen Thirty Nine
1940
August 28th 1944
Warning To Heroes
A Prayer For Love
Colder Than The Dew Drenched Stone
Escape Me Never
The Prison
And When I Look At You…
Cry Of A Very Young Girl
My Love
Bacchus
Love And Beauty
Well, It Is Finished
Epitaph
Nasim Bagh
Iver
A Place Revisited
Dog On The Wheel
The Travellers
New York
London
Evening In The City
The Road To Mandalay
The Journey
Midnight Mass, Penn Church
The Ruin
After
The Bench In The Park
Lost Blue
The Killers
Primary Colour
The Mind Of Memory I
The Mind Of Memory II
Lost Grief
On Waking
Dawn
The Intelligentsia
I Have Gone Stale
Remember This
Tears
Cut Out The Corn
The Rift
Cold Nose
April Things
The Two Worlds
The Shell
The Gulf
Beauty Is Gone
Spring Flowers
Is It Hard To Remember?
November
Autumn Afternoon
Puget Sound
The Rose
The Gate
The End Of The Day
The Shock Of Dying
Molly’s Last Poem

THE SONGS

Happiness
Little Weaver Bird
Cuckoo Time
Love Isn’t A Right
Dream Your Dreams
How Wild The Wind Blows
What Can A Song Do To You?
I Remember
A Sound
Ballad
Woods In May
Night Is My Friend
Fine Summer Morning
Set Me Free
Breakfast At Bradenham Woods
Never Pine For The Old Love
Poor Mum
Do You Ever Remember?
The First Day
Funny Little Tune
Some Other Spring
Laugh Of The Year
Road To The Stars
Oh To Be In England (words by Robert Browning)
Lullaby
The Oak And The Ash (Traditional; a duet with Molly’s sister Nancy)

Order it from: http://bit.ly/2zLjS1x

It is a great pleasure to alert you to a new release and tour by the English band The Unthanks of their own recordings of songs and poems by Nick’s mother Molly Drake.

For many of you, The Unthanks will need no introduction. Surprisingly there are still a few who will be new to their work and we will leave it up to them to introduce themselves here:

www.the-unthanks.com/about/

The recordings of Molly Drake’s songs are augmented by her poems read by Molly’s daughter Gabrielle Drake.

The official retail release date for the record is not until late May, but order direct from their website and The Unthanks guarantee early delivery, plus the exclusive opportunity to buy a second, supplementary EP of Molly Drake songs and poems – a record only available from the band directly. Their commitment to deliver a whole month ahead of retail release date is to coincide with the start of their tour of Molly’s work, starting April 18th, on which the two releases will also be available. Dates only cover England and Ireland for now and are selling out fast. The audio visual show will only feature Molly Drake material, save for hints about Nick Drake material in the encore. Details of their tour and releases can all be found on the following link:

http://www.the-unthanks.com/Diversions-Vol-4-pre-order/The-Unthanks-Diversions-Vol-4.pdf

Bryter Music have been involved with much of this project from the start and are enthused in recommending it to you all. The care and attention that Molly’s songs have been given are a testament to the love and respect The Unthanks always deliver to their releases, new life has been given to these timeless songs.

_____________________________________________________

For those who missed out on our own, now long-deleted CD release of original period recordings of Molly Drake’s songs there is good news. We plan to re-issue the set in August with an extra CD of unreleased songs and a comprehensive hard-back book of her poetry. Pre-order interest in this release can be lodged by using the details found in the programme available on The Unthanks tour, and more details on this set will be mailed out to you in due course.

]]> http://www.brytermusic.com/how-wild-the-wind-blows/feed/ 0 http://www.brytermusic.com/autumn-reached-for-her-golden-crown/ http://www.brytermusic.com/autumn-reached-for-her-golden-crown/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2014 11:02:10 +0000 gavin http://www.brytermusic.com/?p=307

The last three titles in the Nick Drake canon will come out on vinyl this week.

They are

Made To Love Magic:
Studio out-takes, lost songs and the unfinished fourth album on single audiophile vinyl with extensive booklet and gatefold sleeve

Family Tree:
Historic home recordings and very early first-album demos on double audiophile vinyl with gatefold sleeves and booklet

A Treasury:
The definitive ‘best-of’ compilation, a great introduction to Nick’s world, on single audiophile vinyl

Also re-pressed is Tuck Box, a 5 CD collection of Nick’s complete songs with 5 shop posters inside a stout box

Also available is Remembered For a While the 450 page hardback Companion Volume to Nick’s life and music. The only authorised book in full colour with essays, diary extracts, notebooks, unseen photos, poems, lyric sheets, and a comprehensive guide to every Nick Drake song.

All the above are available via Rough Trade and the usual stockists.

Limited copies are still available of Remembered For a While, the Signature Boxed edition, signed and numbered by the editors and compilers; Gabrielle Drake and Cally Callomon, the box contains three photographic prints of Nick in a portfolio signed by Julian Lloyd, a 10″ Vinyl recording of the lost 5 song John Peel BBC Radio Session, with free download, and the book bound in different papers to the hardback edition with acetate dust wrapper all numbered in a cloth-covered box. Details of this can be seen at www.rememberedforawhile.com

Friends in the Nottinghamshire region of the UK may wish to attend a film and discussion evening at the new Rough Trade shop in  Nottingham this  coming Thursday (27th), for more details please go to:

http://www.roughtrade.com/events/2014/11/790

All are welcome

For those of you who don’t know, Rough Trade are a small chain of record shops in England and also have a fine new store in Brooklyn, America. They have been constant supporters of Nick Drake and we are pleased to join with them in the celebration of the launch of our new book ‘Remembered For A While’ which they will be stocking in their shops and for mail order as well.

www.roughtrade.com/albums/88141

Rough Trade have bought an amount of the Signature Boxed Edition for sale as well, and we are planning a series of events in their London, Bristol and Nottingham shops in early November, final details will be mailed out in due course.

www.roughtrade.com/events/2014/11/790

The book is coming out in two editions.

The first is the Boxed Signature Edition that can be ordered here:

www.rememberedforawhile.com

whilst stocks last (there are only 1,000 of these being made)

The second is a standard unsigned, un-numbered hardback edition available from all outlets. The contents of the two books is identical, but the Signature Edition comes in a box, the book has a different binding and dust-jacket, plus the 10″ vinyl and the portfolio of prints by Julian Lloyd

We also wanted to alert those of you who have bought the Boxed Signature Edition not to worry if the hardback appears on sale before you get your copy. Because we chose to have the books hand-assembled in Italy (rather than the far east) they may take a little longer to complete and ship, especially to countries outside the EEC, we really hope you agree that the slightly longer delivery time is worth the wait.

There will be more news as it happens, including more Nick Drake on vinyl, (a new fangled format that appears to be catching on these days despite needing the purchase of a ‘gramophone iplayer’)

The following little film will give you an idea of what’s inside

Click here to view the embedded video.

There are still a few copies available so please order by visiting here:

www.rememberedforawhile.com

Bryter Music announce plans to publish in November the first and only authorised book of Nick Drake’s life and work.

Carefully compiled and edited over six years by Nick’s sister Gabrielle Drake, and by Cally Callomon, manager of Nick’s musical Estate, this book will be published by John Murray (Publishers). There will be contributions from Nick’s peers, critics, adherents, family – and, above all, from Nick Drake himself.

Remembered For A While will be published in two editions: a classic hardback edition and a Signature Boxed Edition.

The Signature Boxed Edition will be accompanied by an exclusive 10” vinyl pressing: an unreleased recording of five Nick Drake tracks from a lost 1969 John Peel programme which was recorded while Nick was writing his Bryter Layter album. This was the only John Peel BBC Radio session that Nick Drake ever recorded, and it was previously thought that it only included four songs: ‘Time Of No Reply’, ‘River Man’, ‘Three Hours’, and ‘Cello Song’. However, when the tape was discovered, it was revealed that there was one extra track – a version of Bryter Layter

To learn more or pre-order a copy of the Signature Boxed Edition please visit www.rememberedforawhile.com

On December 11th Island Records release a 5 CD limited edition collection of the complete Nick Drake catalogue all housed in mini-replica LP sleeves in a handsome 7” box with original shop posters for each release.

This has been released as a convenient way to buy the complete works of Nick Drake in one go, from one place, at a decent price.

The set consists of

1. Five Leaves Left: Nick’s debut album of 1969

2. Bryter Layter: the second album released in 1970

3. Pink Moon: Nick’s final release from 1972

4. Made To Love Magic: the collection of Island-period recordings, out-takes, off cuts, cast-offs, orphans and the last 5 songs Nick recorded for his proposed 4th album. Originally released in 2004 to add to and replace the ‘Time Of No Reply’ compilation

5. Family Tree: A collection of recordings made before the Island Records period, from a 9 year old Nick playing Mozart through to spoken word pieces, early songs, cover versions and demos recorded to secure his contract, as well as two recordings by his mother Molly Drake perhaps written in response to her son. Originally released in 2007

Each CD comes complete in original card sleeves with full booklets.

Also included are the 5 official shop posters used to sell each album.

The box art depicts Nick Drake’s own lockable tuck box from his Marlborough College days, used to guard the various cakes dispatched weekly from home by his mother, Molly Drake.

Tuck Box will be available electronically via iTunes with high-resolution downloads also available separately.

It will be available to pre-order through your usual outlets as well as here on Bryter Music.

BUILD YOUR OWN TUCK BOX

An empty version of the Tuck Box package will be available separately, upon release – not including the CDs but just the posters – for those that already have bought all, or some of the recent cardboard editions of Nick’s albums.

You can also buy your missing items to complete your own Tuck Box, or build up your collection over time.

Click here to purchase from Bryter Music.

Please note, there will only be a limited amount of these empty boxes-and-posters made available.

Click here to view the embedded video.

FIVE LEAVES LEFT
Boxed vinyl Re-issue July 29^th 2013

Poverty stricken students of 1968 rolled their own: not for them the cigarette temptations of a pack of 10 Embassy. Oh no – their tobacco thrills came hand rolled, usually in Rizla papers, which contained a kindly reminder to the user when they were about to run out. Typed in bold red on a yellow interleaf paper, it stated ONLY FIVE LEAVES LEFT.

It was from this reminder that Nick Drake’s debut album derived its name. With its bucolic autumnal shades, it heralded a new type of signing for Island Record, being neither traditional enough to be folk, not weird enough to be psychedelic. Drake avoided the pitfalls of what was expected and collaborated with producer Joe Boyd, orchestrator Robert Kirby and recording engineer John Wood to make a singular and almost unique record – which was released to a largely indifferent media.

However, a few leaves fell in the right place and, despite Nick’s early death at the age of 26 in 1974, his reputation slowly escalated into the world-wide fame he enjoys today.

Originally the album was released on vinyl and cassette. But these formats became redundant with the advent of CDs, and then downloads. For those still wanting the album in its original form, the choice was limited to a highly priced original pressing, or a poor quality bootleg.

But now, Island Records is completing the ReDISCovered vinyl set of Nick Drake’s albums with this boxed replica of his debut album. As with the other two albums, it was remastered from the original un-eq’d quarter inch master tapes by John Wood at Abbey Road Studios and pressed using wholly analogue processes onto 180 gsm virgin vinyl. The sleeve is an exact replica of the first edition of the album and is coupled with a period shop poster, lyrics to two of Nick’s songs and options to download the tracks in MP3, Hi-Res FLAC files or the new DFD (dubbed-from-disc) files for that authentic listening experience.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As with the previous two titles, the boxed edition is a ‘limited’ edition – the vinyl will be issued without the box and extra materials at a later date.

Wednesday 19th June marks the 65th anniversary of Nick’s birth and the BBC are marking this with an hour long radio broadcast dedicated to Nick’s music.

Ever since the initial broadcast of the David Barber produced BBC radio documentary on Nick, way back in the mid 1990s, BBC Radio 2 have quietly championed Nick’s music as well as traditional British folk music in the broadest sense of that term.

Next Wednesday is no exception as Mark Radcliffe will interview Joe Boyd and play various versions of Nick’s music, – you may even get to hear the odd Molly Drake song too!

Further details can be found at:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02x94ns

The show is usually available on-line for a week after broadcast.