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Nick Drake: The Life
'This is the book we've been waiting for . . . It is a biography to be treasured' Joe Boyd
'The Drake completist could ask for nothing else' Telegraph
'Illuminating. The definitive word on Drake' Observer
In 1968 Nick Drake had everything to live for. The product of a loving, creative family and a privileged background, he was not only a handsome and popular Cambridge undergraduate, but also a new signing to the UK's hippest record label, Island.
Three years later, however - having made three well-reviewed but low-selling albums - Nick had been overwhelmed by a mysterious mental illness. He returned to live in his family home in rural Warwickshire in 1971, and died in obscurity in 1974, aged just 26.
In the decades since, Nick has become the subject of ever-growing fascination and speculation. Combined sales of his records now stand in the millions, his songs are frequently heard on TV and in films, and he has become one of the most widely known and admired singer-songwriters of his generation.
Nick Drake: The Life is the only biography of Nick to be written with the blessing and involvement of his sister and Estate. Drawing on copious original research and new interviews with his family, friends and musical collaborators, as well as deeply personal archive material unavailable to previous writers - including his father's diaries, his essays and private correspondence - this is the most comprehensive and authoritative account possible of Nick's short and enigmatic life.
Includes a foreword by Gabrielle Drake and over 75 photos, many rare or previously unseen.
'The Drake completist could ask for nothing else' Telegraph
'Illuminating. The definitive word on Drake' Observer
In 1968 Nick Drake had everything to live for. The product of a loving, creative family and a privileged background, he was not only a handsome and popular Cambridge undergraduate, but also a new signing to the UK's hippest record label, Island.
Three years later, however - having made three well-reviewed but low-selling albums - Nick had been overwhelmed by a mysterious mental illness. He returned to live in his family home in rural Warwickshire in 1971, and died in obscurity in 1974, aged just 26.
In the decades since, Nick has become the subject of ever-growing fascination and speculation. Combined sales of his records now stand in the millions, his songs are frequently heard on TV and in films, and he has become one of the most widely known and admired singer-songwriters of his generation.
Nick Drake: The Life is the only biography of Nick to be written with the blessing and involvement of his sister and Estate. Drawing on copious original research and new interviews with his family, friends and musical collaborators, as well as deeply personal archive material unavailable to previous writers - including his father's diaries, his essays and private correspondence - this is the most comprehensive and authoritative account possible of Nick's short and enigmatic life.
Includes a foreword by Gabrielle Drake and over 75 photos, many rare or previously unseen.
576 pages, Hardcover
First published June 8, 2023
105 people are currently reading
1068 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
November 4, 2023
**Five Stars**
The story of Nick Drake has been teasing at the edges of my mind for several years as I would skim snatches of articles about this tragic artist from decades ago. All I gleaned to date was that he was a British musician, extremely talented, not appreciated globally during his time, a tortured soul who committed suicide in his twenties- but remarkably- achieved mass appreciation for his music many years after his death.
The book opens with a foreward by Nick's sister Gabrielle Drake, where she clarifies that this biography was not technically authorized, but absolutely has her blessing. She came to trust the author Richard Morton Jack, introducing him to many contacts who knew Nick, and credits him with treating this project with such love and respect to detail. In fact, she marvels that even she, his own sister, learned new things about Nick, and considers this subject now "closed" with this comprehensive biographical offering.
I was swept away with minute details of Nick's days documented by his father Rodney's own diary entries, which added such depth and authenticity to understanding Nick's sad decline into a psychological, dark abyss. There are no videos in existence of Nick performing, but each public performance was described to a tee, as if you were there. I came to know a reluctant, solitary performer, of masterful dexterity and skill picking on his Martin acoustic guitar, who would quietly get up and leave the stage without once having uttered a word (other than his soft and understated vocals). He would often be upset at gigs when people would talk, drink, and not pay attention to his artful, soulful performances that were quiet in nature, but where he was giving his all. Another common refrain from friends was his penchant for not talking and thus being hard to know, yet he kept visiting and reaching out to all these friends who loved him very much but honestly did not know how to help him.
This book is truly a journey through Nick's life and death, augmented throughout by commentary from his many friends, fellow musicians, record label personnel, and family. We know that he died by suicide in 1974 at the age of 26, and it feels like a tumultuous climax towards that end as the book comes to a close. I will be thinking about Nick and his artistry for a long time after reading this excellent biography.
Thank you to the publisher Hachette Books who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
The story of Nick Drake has been teasing at the edges of my mind for several years as I would skim snatches of articles about this tragic artist from decades ago. All I gleaned to date was that he was a British musician, extremely talented, not appreciated globally during his time, a tortured soul who committed suicide in his twenties- but remarkably- achieved mass appreciation for his music many years after his death.
The book opens with a foreward by Nick's sister Gabrielle Drake, where she clarifies that this biography was not technically authorized, but absolutely has her blessing. She came to trust the author Richard Morton Jack, introducing him to many contacts who knew Nick, and credits him with treating this project with such love and respect to detail. In fact, she marvels that even she, his own sister, learned new things about Nick, and considers this subject now "closed" with this comprehensive biographical offering.
I was swept away with minute details of Nick's days documented by his father Rodney's own diary entries, which added such depth and authenticity to understanding Nick's sad decline into a psychological, dark abyss. There are no videos in existence of Nick performing, but each public performance was described to a tee, as if you were there. I came to know a reluctant, solitary performer, of masterful dexterity and skill picking on his Martin acoustic guitar, who would quietly get up and leave the stage without once having uttered a word (other than his soft and understated vocals). He would often be upset at gigs when people would talk, drink, and not pay attention to his artful, soulful performances that were quiet in nature, but where he was giving his all. Another common refrain from friends was his penchant for not talking and thus being hard to know, yet he kept visiting and reaching out to all these friends who loved him very much but honestly did not know how to help him.
This book is truly a journey through Nick's life and death, augmented throughout by commentary from his many friends, fellow musicians, record label personnel, and family. We know that he died by suicide in 1974 at the age of 26, and it feels like a tumultuous climax towards that end as the book comes to a close. I will be thinking about Nick and his artistry for a long time after reading this excellent biography.
Thank you to the publisher Hachette Books who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
April 6, 2025
Nick Drake's story is a melancholic melody, one that starts with a promising intro but fades into a heart-wrenching descent. Unlike his sardonic contemporary Bob Dylan, Drake craved recognition yet retreated from the very audiences who could provide it. This irony is a recurring motif throughout the biography.
Richard Morton Jack's book isn't afraid to play the full score of Drake's life. We see the unwavering support of his family juxtaposed against his own self-destructive tendencies. Despite their best efforts, Drake remained resistant to both medication and therapy, a constant dissonance in his life's composition.
Drake's audience, though devoted, remained niche during his lifetime. His music resonated deeply, but with a limited group. Only after the final curtain fell did his influence truly take center stage, becoming a foundational riff for countless contemporary artists.
The final act of the book is harrowing. Drawing on his father's diary, Morton Jack chronicles Drake's unraveling with unflinching honesty. It's a difficult section, but one that exposes the full emotional range of his life. "The Life" is a comprehensive biography that fills the silences in Drake's story, a powerful tribute to a complex and ultimately influential artist and the sad challenges of mental illness.
Richard Morton Jack's book isn't afraid to play the full score of Drake's life. We see the unwavering support of his family juxtaposed against his own self-destructive tendencies. Despite their best efforts, Drake remained resistant to both medication and therapy, a constant dissonance in his life's composition.
Drake's audience, though devoted, remained niche during his lifetime. His music resonated deeply, but with a limited group. Only after the final curtain fell did his influence truly take center stage, becoming a foundational riff for countless contemporary artists.
The final act of the book is harrowing. Drawing on his father's diary, Morton Jack chronicles Drake's unraveling with unflinching honesty. It's a difficult section, but one that exposes the full emotional range of his life. "The Life" is a comprehensive biography that fills the silences in Drake's story, a powerful tribute to a complex and ultimately influential artist and the sad challenges of mental illness.
June 17, 2023
This is an engrossing, deeply moving portrait of one of the most gifted British musicians of the 20th Century. Heartbreaking, tender and moving. Morton Jack leaves no stone unturned. I got through the beautifully read audiobook of 19hrs(!) in just over a week. I couldn’t stop listening.
April 4, 2024
Back in 1985 I was sitting in a caravan in Wales listening to Richard Skinner’s Saturday Sequence on BBC Radio 1. Andy Kershaw came on and waxed lyrical about a new compilation album by the little known (and deceased) English folk musician Nick Drake. I was transfixed and bought the record, titled Heaven in a Wild Flower, as soon as I could.
Nearly 30 years later I wrote to Richard Morton Jack to express my disappointment that somehow he had missed the above event from his comprehensive biography of Nick Drake, entitled The Life. I cut him some slack, though, as I think it is about the only detail he does seen to have missed!
I have read a lot about Nick Drake, and this book is the definitive account. The basic trajectory of Drake’s life and death has previously been well, if often inaccurately, documented but it is remarkable how RMJ has made it fresh, compelling and moving all over again.
This is a wonderful book.
Nearly 30 years later I wrote to Richard Morton Jack to express my disappointment that somehow he had missed the above event from his comprehensive biography of Nick Drake, entitled The Life. I cut him some slack, though, as I think it is about the only detail he does seen to have missed!
I have read a lot about Nick Drake, and this book is the definitive account. The basic trajectory of Drake’s life and death has previously been well, if often inaccurately, documented but it is remarkable how RMJ has made it fresh, compelling and moving all over again.
This is a wonderful book.
July 15, 2023
For many years Nick Drake has seemed like an almost mythological figure, an aloof, detached genius: ‘a mystery wrapped up in an enigma’. This groundbreaking biography fleshes him out into a three dimensional human being, helped by the co-operation of Gabrielle Drake and others. There are many new revelations about his mental illness and relationships with friends and family. Drake was a virtuoso acoustic guitarist and had a gently soothing and distinctly English singing voice but evidently loathed performing to larger audiences due to his painful shyness. He could have become a composer like John Barry, who was also too shy to perform on stage, or a producer like George Martin but he apparently never considered a music career behind the scenes as he felt he had a message to deliver directly to his generation. Being forced to play rowdy clubs didn’t help matters. They were not the best environment for his music. If he had been around today he could have generated a following on you tube and then gone on to play at concert type venues where the audience are better behaved.
August 31, 2025
Not often do I sit down and write a review for a book on Goodreads, but this biography has reduced me to tears. I can't recall another book that has made me so emotional, and I think that means I'll never be able to write a fully developed review because so much of this reading experience was raw emotion for me. Nick Drake has always been one of those artists for me that I just never seem to grow sick of, whether I am happy or sad or bored or feel nothing, his music just fits like a puzzle piece into some part of my soul. I was always aware his story was a sad one, often lumped in with other artists like Elliott Smith and Jeff Buckley, but something about either Jack's writing/research or my own connection with Nick's music has rendered me speechless and teary-eyed. I am so used to reading fiction that I almost want to believe this is just another one of my novels, but it happened. I have never believed in God or the afterlife, but I hope it is real just for his sake, and he knows somehow how much he means to so many people.
December 13, 2023
I read Patrick Humphries's Drake biography many years ago, and this book, which mentions and draws on it, goes in to much more detail about Nick Drake, the man, rather than Nick Drake, the musician. This gives a rounded overview of who he was, and posits some questions as to why he never found success or, indeed, happiness and fulfilment.
This is, in places, a crushingly sad book, especially the last quarter which focusses on his mental illness and eventual death. In other parts, though, there is much made of his generosity, his kindness and his unwavering belief in his vision.
The 500 pages seem daunting and at times were a little heavy going, but it's worth persevering.
Drake undoubtedly led a privileged life, and Jack does not shy away from this. Indeed, one theory that is explored is that the only time he ever really faced a challenge was during his music career, and, having never experienced hardship, he was ill-equipped to deal with it. There is, I think something in this, but it seems that his mental fragility had other roots than that.
It seems, from my personal experience (and with no psychological training to back this up) , that he was more than likely neuro-divergent, possibly autistic, and struggled to meet the demands of what being a musician was about. He struggled with live performance and, indeed, with being around others, often being non-verbal or close to it. He had many friends in his life who very obviously loved and admired him, but was unable to maintain these friendships in ways that many others find easy.
If you're looking for a straight down the line biography of what it was like making his albums, this is not the book for you.
If, like me, you want to know more about this still criminally underknown singer, songwriter and man beyond the tragi-romantic pop-cultural narrative, I highly recommend it.
This is, in places, a crushingly sad book, especially the last quarter which focusses on his mental illness and eventual death. In other parts, though, there is much made of his generosity, his kindness and his unwavering belief in his vision.
The 500 pages seem daunting and at times were a little heavy going, but it's worth persevering.
Drake undoubtedly led a privileged life, and Jack does not shy away from this. Indeed, one theory that is explored is that the only time he ever really faced a challenge was during his music career, and, having never experienced hardship, he was ill-equipped to deal with it. There is, I think something in this, but it seems that his mental fragility had other roots than that.
It seems, from my personal experience (and with no psychological training to back this up) , that he was more than likely neuro-divergent, possibly autistic, and struggled to meet the demands of what being a musician was about. He struggled with live performance and, indeed, with being around others, often being non-verbal or close to it. He had many friends in his life who very obviously loved and admired him, but was unable to maintain these friendships in ways that many others find easy.
If you're looking for a straight down the line biography of what it was like making his albums, this is not the book for you.
If, like me, you want to know more about this still criminally underknown singer, songwriter and man beyond the tragi-romantic pop-cultural narrative, I highly recommend it.
July 7, 2025
Not normally the kind of thing I’d read, and while I love his music, I stumbled upon his mother Molly’s songs and fell in love all over again. And it’s the parents here, and Nick’s sister Gabrielle, who really anchor the book—warm, decent, creative and trying everything to bring their son out of a very dark place. There’s been a lot of discourse around children ghosting their parents(sometimes for horrifyingly insubstantial reasons) of late, which is part of what drew me. I found Molly and Rodney’s deaths to be more moving than the subject’s. They tried. He did too when he was able. They just couldn’t reach him.
January 24, 2025
Read this 450-page sucker in about a day! Typing this in something of a delirium, but oh well. Nick Drake is an all-timer for me. I’m knocking off a star because this bio does the annoying “at X time on X day, [FULL LEGAL NAME] was birthed to a loving mother and father…” thing. You have to read a sizable chunk before getting to the man’s three albums. Anyways, the book is VERY well-told. Friends, acquaintances, family members do some satellite revolving around a very hard-to-crack, withdrawn, depressed individual with songwriting skills for centuries. Eerie to read how Drake falls down the hole because he thinks that he’s not seen. Felt somehow poignant to take all of that in. A heartbreaking biography’s biography. If you like cheesy ‘early years’ bs, call this a 5/5
June 17, 2023
Just superb! Nick Drake is on the top tier of artists and this biography added greatly ro my understanding of his life and work.
July 31, 2023
The book Drake fans have waited patiently for. A beautifully researched and written biography- humane and forensic at the same time. Amazing.
April 25, 2024
Equal parts sublime and shattering - rather like the man's music.
March 30, 2025
I first discovered Nick Drake around December 2024, when I first heard 'Pink Moon'.
Immediately grabbed by Nick's husky, unique style of delivery and his haunting guitar, I quickly listened to all three of his albums and wanted to learn everything I could about this enigmatic, fascinating folk singer from the 1970s.
Imagine my joy at learning that this detailed, deeply-researched biography came out just last year -- complete with endless interviews from everybody in and around Nick's life, as well as vivid retellings of his handful of live performances.
Richard Morton Jack takes time to tell as faithful an account of Nick's life as possible, not sparing the dark, miserable chapters that led to his unfortunate death by suicide.
It's not always an easy read, but this book has given me so much more appreciation for Nick's music and the kind of considerate, gentle guy he really was.
And it isn't all bleak; the book also tells of a funny, witty, massively intelligent musician who was around at a time when his mental illnesses weren't nearly as understood as they should have been.
Immediately grabbed by Nick's husky, unique style of delivery and his haunting guitar, I quickly listened to all three of his albums and wanted to learn everything I could about this enigmatic, fascinating folk singer from the 1970s.
Imagine my joy at learning that this detailed, deeply-researched biography came out just last year -- complete with endless interviews from everybody in and around Nick's life, as well as vivid retellings of his handful of live performances.
Richard Morton Jack takes time to tell as faithful an account of Nick's life as possible, not sparing the dark, miserable chapters that led to his unfortunate death by suicide.
It's not always an easy read, but this book has given me so much more appreciation for Nick's music and the kind of considerate, gentle guy he really was.
And it isn't all bleak; the book also tells of a funny, witty, massively intelligent musician who was around at a time when his mental illnesses weren't nearly as understood as they should have been.
December 13, 2024
This is by far the most comprehensive and sensitive rendering of Nick Drake‘s life and musical output. I would highly recommend this to any Nick Drake fan or for that matter, any music fan. It’s exceptionally well written, exhaustively researched and it’s a story told with love, patience, and compassion. RIP Nick.
July 5, 2025
Extremely well sourced and beautifully written. This is a very sympathetic story with a desperately sad ending; it's not often that a biography makes me cry. Probably the most complete portrait of Nick Drake we'll ever get, and it's wonderful.
March 7, 2024
Thoroughly insightful and completely heartbreaking. An incredibly comprehensive biography of one of the most underrated singer/songwriters of the 60s and 70s.
December 1, 2024
Great work.
July 10, 2023
I found Nick Drake: The Life by Richard Morton Jack to be an absorbing, moving biography to read. Before I bought the book, after reading that it had a foreword written by Gabrielle Drake, the sister of Nick Drake, who became known as an actress on stage and on screen, and that she had given it her blessing and was involved in its development, and that Joe Boyd, who produced Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, the first two albums by Nick Drake, had praised it as "a biography to be treasured", I thought I would be in safe hands when I finally started reading it, and I was, to my pleasure and comfort. Richard Morton Jack did a fine job in writing his book, to say the least. What impressed me most about how he put his book together was how he concentrated on what is most important, that is, the truth. Instead of imposing his own judgements and theories on Nick Drake, his personality, life and songs, he has gathered together the words of his mother and father, his sister, friends he had at school, at Cambridge University, where he studied English literature, and the people he encountered when he started recording his songs in London, so the reader can decide what he was like through their eyes. His own clear, flowing prose acts as a link between the many quotes from Nick Drake's family, and others who knew him during his life. Unlike some biographers, he does not intrude too much in the space that belongs to his subject. He allows the reader to learn about Nick Drake through the opinions, impressions and remembrances of those who knew him. I found it fascinating to read every word that was quoted. One of the things the reader of the biography will learn is what it is like to be an introvert. Like many creative people, Nick Drake was an introvert, as the biography clearly reveals. He liked expressing himself in his songs, not so much in speech. Being a quiet person, he confused, frustrated, even angered at times, people he knew in his life who wanted to hear him speak. Page after page in the biography reveal how his encounters with others were hampered by his introverted nature. In the last years of his life, it is shown how his introverted nature became extreme.
Of course, what I wanted to know most from the biography was what is most important about Nick Drake, that is, his songs and his acoustic guitar playing skills. I was very interested to read about the recording of his three albums, Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon, which I have in my CD collection, together with Time Of No Reply, the compilation album released after his death. Sadly, Time Of No Reply includes the last four songs ever recorded by Nick Drake in the studio in London, which were intended to be on his fourth album, but that never was to be. Those last four recorded songs, Hanging On A Star, Rider On The Wheel, Black Eyed Dog, and Voice From A Mountain are among the finest that Nick Drake ever wrote, I think. What is said about them in the biography I found revealing, interesting. Black Eyed Dog may be rooted in Nick Drake's troubled mental state, but I find it exhilarating as much as it is disturbing to listen to. Had he lived to complete it, his fourth album would have been another great work. What I learned from the biography about the songs of Nick Drake cleared away a puzzle I had about some of them. Who is Betty in the song, River Man, on Five Leaves Left, I wondered when I listened to it. Was she someone Nick Drake knew? And who was Jane who was mentioned in The Thoughts of Mary Jane on the same album? Was she the same Jane mentioned in Hazey Jane 11 and Hazey Jane 1 on Bryter Layter? The biography answered my questions, confirmed what I had already partly guessed. It seems that Betty and Jane, like the River Man himself, only existed in the world Nick Drake created in his songs. They were too much air and water, to be real women of flesh and blood. Some novelists form characters in their novels that have hints and shades of people they have known in their lives while being, fundamentally, original fictional creations. In the same way, Nick Drake may have given names to some of the women in his songs, and they may have had shades of some he had known in his life, but they had their airy life only in his lyrics and tunes. I was pleased to read about how people reacted to hearing Nick Drake play his acoustic guitar, from his friends to those who heard him in concert and in the recording studio. His skills on the acoustic guitar astounded them all. As far as singer songwriters are concerned, who accompany themselves on the acoustic guitar, no one astounds or impresses me more than Nick Drake. I was pleased to read in the biography that Joe Boyd was more than impressed when he first heard Nick Drake play the acoustic guitar. He called him a genius, and an even better guitar player than Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, John Martyn or Robin Williamson of the Incredible String Band.
There is something the biography did not clear up for me, but I did not think it would. It was either in late December, 1969, when I was seventeen, or sometime in 1970, I went to the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool, my home city, to see Fairport Convention in concert. While I was sitting in my seat, waiting for the concert to begin, I noticed a tall young man leaning back against the wall, to the right of the stage. He was smiling, seemingly embarrassed by something, nervous. When he was not looking down at the floor, he glanced at the chair which stood on the stage, and sometimes at a young woman with long dark hair who sat near him in the front row. Why was there a chair by itself on the stage, I wondered. Then I became convinced who the young man was. It was Nick Drake. I recognized him from his photograph on the front cover of his first album, Five Leaves Left, which a friend of mine had bought, and had played it for me to hear on his record player. I watched him mumble a few words to the young woman, while shaking his head, as if to say, no. Seeming to have come to a decision, he left the concert hall through a side door. Not long later the chair was removed from the stage by a man. Then onto the stage came the members of Fairport Convention. Some members of the audience on the front row stood up and started shouting something up to the stage.
"Where is Sandy Denny?" That is what they wanted to know.
Dave Swarbrick, the violin player of Fairport Convention, explained that Sandy Denny had left the band to start a career as a solo singer songwriter. It had been announced in the music press, he said, and he thought everyone knew. About six people left the concert hall then, looking angry, upset, having expected to see Sandy Denny on stage. She had been the lead singer of Fairport Convention, after all. I was disappointed that she was not on stage, too. I soon settled down and enjoyed the concert, however. Dave Swarbrick did most of the singing, with help from Richard Thompson. It was a great concert, in the end, despite the absence of Sandy Denny. At the time, Fairport Convention consisted of Dave Swarbrick, Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, Dave Mattacks and Dave Pegg. So at that concert, I did not see Sandy Denny perform with Fairport Convention, to my disappointment, but I did see Nick Drake. I am now convinced, after reading the biography by Richard Morton Jack, that it was Nick Drake I saw that evening in the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool. Not only did he look like him, but he behaved like him, as described in the biography. People who knew Nick Drake often described in the pages of the biography, how he would stand, staring at the floor, how he mumbled, how he did not like performing his songs in public, how he sometimes did not turn up for gigs, being only interested in recording his songs in the recording studio. I think now that the chair I saw on the stage of the Philharmonic Hall was there for Nick Drake to sit on to sing some of his songs as the opening act before Fairport Convention came on the stage, but his dislike of performing in public had got the better of him, and suffering from stage fright, he had decided not to do what he was supposed to do, that is, entertain the audience, and thereby, promote his album, Five Leaves Left.
Now to return to the biography. Of course, having read other books about Nick Drake, I was not looking forward to reading its final chapters. I knew they would deal with his fall into mental illness and his death in 1974 at the age of twenty six. I remember once, while reading Othello by William Shakespeare, wishing I could read it one time and the end would be different. If only Othello could see through the lies of Iago and have him imprisoned, and then ask Desdemona for his forgiveness for doubting her. But the end of Othello would remain the same, the tragedy could not be changed. In the same way, I wished I could read to the end of the biography of Nick Drake, and he did not become mentally ill, and he did not die. If he had lived on, he would have been seventy five this year of 2023. Cat Stevens, another gifted singer songwriter, was seventy five this year of 2023, having been born in 1948, the same year as Nick Drake. In 2023, Cat Stevens appeared at the Glastonbury Festival, went on tour, and released a fine album, called King of a Land, which I have in my CD collection. Nick Drake could still be here, making albums, giving concerts, like Cat Stevens, if it had not been for his fall into mental illness.
The last chapters of the biography I found upsetting to read. I felt so sad after finishing it I felt like I had been to a funeral. There is much detail of how Nick Drake lived through the last years of his life, back at home with his mother and father, having to take pills for his mental illness, acting in an unpredictable manner, until he died in his bedroom in 1974 at the age of twenty six.
The biography clears away any false ideas about Nick Drake people may have read or heard. In its pages you find him as he was through the eyes of those who knew him. Anyone who loves listening to his albums will find the biography an engrossing, moving, enlightening book to read.
Of course, what I wanted to know most from the biography was what is most important about Nick Drake, that is, his songs and his acoustic guitar playing skills. I was very interested to read about the recording of his three albums, Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon, which I have in my CD collection, together with Time Of No Reply, the compilation album released after his death. Sadly, Time Of No Reply includes the last four songs ever recorded by Nick Drake in the studio in London, which were intended to be on his fourth album, but that never was to be. Those last four recorded songs, Hanging On A Star, Rider On The Wheel, Black Eyed Dog, and Voice From A Mountain are among the finest that Nick Drake ever wrote, I think. What is said about them in the biography I found revealing, interesting. Black Eyed Dog may be rooted in Nick Drake's troubled mental state, but I find it exhilarating as much as it is disturbing to listen to. Had he lived to complete it, his fourth album would have been another great work. What I learned from the biography about the songs of Nick Drake cleared away a puzzle I had about some of them. Who is Betty in the song, River Man, on Five Leaves Left, I wondered when I listened to it. Was she someone Nick Drake knew? And who was Jane who was mentioned in The Thoughts of Mary Jane on the same album? Was she the same Jane mentioned in Hazey Jane 11 and Hazey Jane 1 on Bryter Layter? The biography answered my questions, confirmed what I had already partly guessed. It seems that Betty and Jane, like the River Man himself, only existed in the world Nick Drake created in his songs. They were too much air and water, to be real women of flesh and blood. Some novelists form characters in their novels that have hints and shades of people they have known in their lives while being, fundamentally, original fictional creations. In the same way, Nick Drake may have given names to some of the women in his songs, and they may have had shades of some he had known in his life, but they had their airy life only in his lyrics and tunes. I was pleased to read about how people reacted to hearing Nick Drake play his acoustic guitar, from his friends to those who heard him in concert and in the recording studio. His skills on the acoustic guitar astounded them all. As far as singer songwriters are concerned, who accompany themselves on the acoustic guitar, no one astounds or impresses me more than Nick Drake. I was pleased to read in the biography that Joe Boyd was more than impressed when he first heard Nick Drake play the acoustic guitar. He called him a genius, and an even better guitar player than Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, John Martyn or Robin Williamson of the Incredible String Band.
There is something the biography did not clear up for me, but I did not think it would. It was either in late December, 1969, when I was seventeen, or sometime in 1970, I went to the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool, my home city, to see Fairport Convention in concert. While I was sitting in my seat, waiting for the concert to begin, I noticed a tall young man leaning back against the wall, to the right of the stage. He was smiling, seemingly embarrassed by something, nervous. When he was not looking down at the floor, he glanced at the chair which stood on the stage, and sometimes at a young woman with long dark hair who sat near him in the front row. Why was there a chair by itself on the stage, I wondered. Then I became convinced who the young man was. It was Nick Drake. I recognized him from his photograph on the front cover of his first album, Five Leaves Left, which a friend of mine had bought, and had played it for me to hear on his record player. I watched him mumble a few words to the young woman, while shaking his head, as if to say, no. Seeming to have come to a decision, he left the concert hall through a side door. Not long later the chair was removed from the stage by a man. Then onto the stage came the members of Fairport Convention. Some members of the audience on the front row stood up and started shouting something up to the stage.
"Where is Sandy Denny?" That is what they wanted to know.
Dave Swarbrick, the violin player of Fairport Convention, explained that Sandy Denny had left the band to start a career as a solo singer songwriter. It had been announced in the music press, he said, and he thought everyone knew. About six people left the concert hall then, looking angry, upset, having expected to see Sandy Denny on stage. She had been the lead singer of Fairport Convention, after all. I was disappointed that she was not on stage, too. I soon settled down and enjoyed the concert, however. Dave Swarbrick did most of the singing, with help from Richard Thompson. It was a great concert, in the end, despite the absence of Sandy Denny. At the time, Fairport Convention consisted of Dave Swarbrick, Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol, Dave Mattacks and Dave Pegg. So at that concert, I did not see Sandy Denny perform with Fairport Convention, to my disappointment, but I did see Nick Drake. I am now convinced, after reading the biography by Richard Morton Jack, that it was Nick Drake I saw that evening in the Philharmonic Hall in Liverpool. Not only did he look like him, but he behaved like him, as described in the biography. People who knew Nick Drake often described in the pages of the biography, how he would stand, staring at the floor, how he mumbled, how he did not like performing his songs in public, how he sometimes did not turn up for gigs, being only interested in recording his songs in the recording studio. I think now that the chair I saw on the stage of the Philharmonic Hall was there for Nick Drake to sit on to sing some of his songs as the opening act before Fairport Convention came on the stage, but his dislike of performing in public had got the better of him, and suffering from stage fright, he had decided not to do what he was supposed to do, that is, entertain the audience, and thereby, promote his album, Five Leaves Left.
Now to return to the biography. Of course, having read other books about Nick Drake, I was not looking forward to reading its final chapters. I knew they would deal with his fall into mental illness and his death in 1974 at the age of twenty six. I remember once, while reading Othello by William Shakespeare, wishing I could read it one time and the end would be different. If only Othello could see through the lies of Iago and have him imprisoned, and then ask Desdemona for his forgiveness for doubting her. But the end of Othello would remain the same, the tragedy could not be changed. In the same way, I wished I could read to the end of the biography of Nick Drake, and he did not become mentally ill, and he did not die. If he had lived on, he would have been seventy five this year of 2023. Cat Stevens, another gifted singer songwriter, was seventy five this year of 2023, having been born in 1948, the same year as Nick Drake. In 2023, Cat Stevens appeared at the Glastonbury Festival, went on tour, and released a fine album, called King of a Land, which I have in my CD collection. Nick Drake could still be here, making albums, giving concerts, like Cat Stevens, if it had not been for his fall into mental illness.
The last chapters of the biography I found upsetting to read. I felt so sad after finishing it I felt like I had been to a funeral. There is much detail of how Nick Drake lived through the last years of his life, back at home with his mother and father, having to take pills for his mental illness, acting in an unpredictable manner, until he died in his bedroom in 1974 at the age of twenty six.
The biography clears away any false ideas about Nick Drake people may have read or heard. In its pages you find him as he was through the eyes of those who knew him. Anyone who loves listening to his albums will find the biography an engrossing, moving, enlightening book to read.
November 25, 2025
In the first US coverage of Nick's music, Brian Cullman writes, "In John Martyn's house in Hampstead, Nick Drake sits over in a corner playing my guitar and smoking a very badly rolled joint. Sometimes he smiles, almost from behind his face, for he is incredibly shy... Nick Drake is a gentle, happy surprise, a smile from a passing stranger. He is a writer of soft, rhythmic songs that are neither self-conscious nor self-pitying: a rarity... His songs are of love, of friendships, of indecision, and of faith - faith in himself and faith in the ways of the world... He loves people and treats them in his songs the same way Truffaut handles all of the characters in his movies: with incredible tenderness."
"He had yet again stopped taking his pills. Gabrielle did her best to get him to resume, and to open up, but it wasn't until the end of the month that he felt ready to express himself. In obvious distress one evening, he told Rodney that he had reached 'the end of the line.' The next morning he elaborated on this to Molly in the drawing room. 'He had always longed to get through to young people, particularly young people who had difficulties in life like he did, and he just thought he hadn't. He just felt that he had totally failed. I remember him striding up and down saying, 'I've failed in every single thing I'ver ever tried to do.' It was the most terrible, heart-rending cry, and I said, 'Oh Nick, you haven't! You know you haven't!' But it wasn't any good - he had the feeling that he was a failure, that he hadn't managed to achieve what he'd set out to do.'"
"The short-term obscurity of Nick's work has yielded long-term benefit: The fact that Nick's music failed to find an audience during his lifetime means it's not identified with a particular time and place, which allows each generation to create its own connection to it."
After Nick was buried, the Drake family had a line from one of his songs, "From the Morning," inscribed on the back of his gravestone: "Now we rise and we are everywhere." In his short life, Nick created a lifetime of music that has endured for generations. I’m happy that Nick's music continues to resonate.
"He had yet again stopped taking his pills. Gabrielle did her best to get him to resume, and to open up, but it wasn't until the end of the month that he felt ready to express himself. In obvious distress one evening, he told Rodney that he had reached 'the end of the line.' The next morning he elaborated on this to Molly in the drawing room. 'He had always longed to get through to young people, particularly young people who had difficulties in life like he did, and he just thought he hadn't. He just felt that he had totally failed. I remember him striding up and down saying, 'I've failed in every single thing I'ver ever tried to do.' It was the most terrible, heart-rending cry, and I said, 'Oh Nick, you haven't! You know you haven't!' But it wasn't any good - he had the feeling that he was a failure, that he hadn't managed to achieve what he'd set out to do.'"
"The short-term obscurity of Nick's work has yielded long-term benefit: The fact that Nick's music failed to find an audience during his lifetime means it's not identified with a particular time and place, which allows each generation to create its own connection to it."
After Nick was buried, the Drake family had a line from one of his songs, "From the Morning," inscribed on the back of his gravestone: "Now we rise and we are everywhere." In his short life, Nick created a lifetime of music that has endured for generations. I’m happy that Nick's music continues to resonate.
February 10, 2024
I'm a big fan of Nick Drake, and I've tried to seek out whatever info I can find about him, so I may be biased here, but this was exceedingly well done.
I've described it to some friends as more of an archeology than a biography, because it feels like this book is trying to reconstruct the life of Nick Drake from all the shards of memories of people who knew him.
There are moments where it really feels like the author made an effort to talk to every single person he could find who had known Nick. Then, along with other documentary sources, he compiled that into his narrative. He's also helped by a lot of personal correspondence between Nick and his family and friends, along with a diary that was kept by Nick's father during Nick's decline.
The story of Nick's decline is a hard one and it's offered here in relatively granular detail compared to anything I've read in the past. Very sad, but also useful to have a clearer picture of just how bad things were for him in terms of his mental health.
Other accounts have tended to have a few paragraphs talking about Nick declining, handing in Pink Moon to Island, struggling a bit, and then passing away. This book fills in a lot more details. Hard reading, but useful.
If you are interested in the life of Nick Drake, I think this is the book for you. It's also is good a rock music biography as you're going to find IMHO.
I've described it to some friends as more of an archeology than a biography, because it feels like this book is trying to reconstruct the life of Nick Drake from all the shards of memories of people who knew him.
There are moments where it really feels like the author made an effort to talk to every single person he could find who had known Nick. Then, along with other documentary sources, he compiled that into his narrative. He's also helped by a lot of personal correspondence between Nick and his family and friends, along with a diary that was kept by Nick's father during Nick's decline.
The story of Nick's decline is a hard one and it's offered here in relatively granular detail compared to anything I've read in the past. Very sad, but also useful to have a clearer picture of just how bad things were for him in terms of his mental health.
Other accounts have tended to have a few paragraphs talking about Nick declining, handing in Pink Moon to Island, struggling a bit, and then passing away. This book fills in a lot more details. Hard reading, but useful.
If you are interested in the life of Nick Drake, I think this is the book for you. It's also is good a rock music biography as you're going to find IMHO.
August 13, 2024
Describing Nick Drake is like deciphering the meaning behind his lyrics: impossible. Even so, Richard has done an impeccable job with this book. For a writer, singer, musician and artist whose life was so shrouded in mystery and false truths the level to which Richard has described his life astounds me. If you’re like me then with each date that is mentioned in this book you realize you’re just getting closer and closer to Nick’s death. Reading about the last few years of Nick’s life saddened me to no end and affected me in a way which only Nick’s music itself has.
Those last chapters are haunting and heartbreaking, seeing how hard both Nick and his parents and friends tried to pull him out of his mental illness only to ultimately fail when he committed suicide was devastating to hear. You can tell that his family and friends loved him so much. I wish Nick was alive now to see that his music has helped many people (myself included) immensely. I found his music for the first time last summer when I was at my family home for an extended period of time completely alone, and it helped me come to terms with many aspects of my life.
Even now, when I’m lying in my empty apartment with thoughts running through my head, I find myself coming for solace and comfort in Nick’s music. His enigmatic lyrics and delicate personality combined with his masterful musical skill makes me feel like I have a contemporary and equal in a man who died 50 years ago, and for the ability to learn so much about him from Richard’s book I am forever grateful.
Those last chapters are haunting and heartbreaking, seeing how hard both Nick and his parents and friends tried to pull him out of his mental illness only to ultimately fail when he committed suicide was devastating to hear. You can tell that his family and friends loved him so much. I wish Nick was alive now to see that his music has helped many people (myself included) immensely. I found his music for the first time last summer when I was at my family home for an extended period of time completely alone, and it helped me come to terms with many aspects of my life.
Even now, when I’m lying in my empty apartment with thoughts running through my head, I find myself coming for solace and comfort in Nick’s music. His enigmatic lyrics and delicate personality combined with his masterful musical skill makes me feel like I have a contemporary and equal in a man who died 50 years ago, and for the ability to learn so much about him from Richard’s book I am forever grateful.
November 18, 2024
Probably one of the most thoroughly researched non fiction books I’ve ever read. It really lives up to its name of ‘the life’. At times it was a bit too thorough, it kind of felt that Morton Jack had crammed in every single last piece of information he could get his hands on, and not all of it felt entirely relevant. I also struggled a lot with the amount of names in this, a lot of people will be mentioned briefly on one page and the won’t appear for another 100 and I found it very hard to keep track and remember every person but this could be more a ‘me’ problem as I have had this with other biographies.
The last section which documents Drake’s illness is brilliantly written. Very simply told and empathetic without being overly so. Morton Jack never romanticises anything and delivers just a really heartbreaking account of what it’s like to love someone with a mental illness.
The last section which documents Drake’s illness is brilliantly written. Very simply told and empathetic without being overly so. Morton Jack never romanticises anything and delivers just a really heartbreaking account of what it’s like to love someone with a mental illness.
October 2, 2024
I tend to read a lot of musical biographies, but this one is by far the most well researched, engrossing, compassionate, moving biography I've ever read. It portrays Nick as this gentle giant with a complicated yet undoubtedly brilliant mind, whose talent lives on way beyond his short life span. At the end of this pleasant reading experience, I felt almost as if I had known Nick, his family and friends, his struggles and dreams, and this is exactly what a reader hopes to feel when reading a biography. Excellent work.
November 14, 2024
Poor disturbed Nick Drake. He functioned well until his 20s and created astonishingly beautiful music. Mind science being what it was in the 1960s (autism was only identified in 1945) the latter half of the book is a quite miserable portrait of how medicine failed him. IMHO, his spectrum characteristics blossomed into a schizophrenia though this is denied by his family. You’ll love learning about Nick’s life if you’ve also got an appreciate for the music of Richard and Linda Thompson, Sandy Denny, John Martyn, et al, or the 60s British Romantic genre.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 7, 2024
What Richard Morton Jack has achieved with this book is something relatively few biographies - in my experience - properly accomplish: Empathy. You feel with Nick in his happy times, then feel the devastation of his downfall in equal measure. By capturing a wide breadth of people who knew Nick - usually more for his character than his music - he paints a picture of a person that exceeds any myth about him. Though often overstating the case and doing little for a proper musical examination of a music subject, the author has successfully captured a fascinating creator who truly does deserve remembrance.
I will entirely admit, part of the reason I can empathize with Nick is that I share many similarities with him - many of which I didn't really know in my cursory research of him beforehand. I also had a younger sister, lived adjacent to countryside, am generally introverted, and disengage when people around me start talking about women in sexual ways while still being fully heterosexual. We do have many differences: Drake was upper middle class, was very attractive, discovered an early aptitude for music, and of course suffered the horrific internal despair that I've thankfully never had to experience.
My discovery of Drake was in college when I was searching out the "underrated" artists of the genres I generally listened to. He's the only one I ever went back to, and I even performed some songs of his live (though admittedly at an amateur level). "The Life" paints a picture - inasmuch as it can - of the person behind those complex instrumentals and alluring words. It spends significantly less time looking at the published music itself. Jack is obviously far more fascinated with Nick as a person and his environment than on what he created, which is a valid focus when the evidence is so scant.
Using a very helpful mass of contemporaneous evidence, his near day-by-day chronicle examines the life of a boy (then a man) who took the leap into the extraordinary world of late 1960s British music. He brushes elbows with the likes of Genesis, Fairport Convention, and more in a menagerie of music and culture that sat beside the big pop artists. This book will give you a plethora of artists to check out to get in the mood, even if it's hard to grasp what the live scene would have been like. Even just listening to Nick's demos with context is super eye-opening, showing that he like many of his contemporaries synthesized a huge range of music that makes it almost sad to lump him purely into the category of "folk."
Throughout the book, Jack takes a pretty impartial style to the narration, generally not interjecting points and simply letting the life play out. This does slightly fall apart when he's tackling what he's discussed in interviews as some of the pervasive myths about Nick's life, like his drug use and his sexuality. He returns to these points a bit too often and it does slow down the book, far more (in my opinion) than the harrowing last section of the book detailing the subject's decline. The smattering of detail about the things which affected Nick's career - Joe Boyd's arc, Fairport Convention's drama, Island Records' output - are all super appreciated and presented in a way where the reader has to make up their own mind about what was the largest factor in Drake being lost between the cracks.
As a research effort, this is a tour de force of hyper-focused scholarship; Gabrielle Drake put her trust in proper hands with Jack. As a read, it's very good, though far from flawless. The energy and life of something like The Beatles: Tune In - which the author admires - doesn't quite come across here as much. Is that simply a result of the narrative being told, which ultimately becomes insular and tragic? Maybe, but I think there were cuts that could have been made and expansions which could have really solidified the book's place as a classic. As it is, it's a wonderful 9/10 and is highly recommended as a piece of very strong truth-seeking as much as a testament to the life of Nick Drake.
We are Everywhere
I will entirely admit, part of the reason I can empathize with Nick is that I share many similarities with him - many of which I didn't really know in my cursory research of him beforehand. I also had a younger sister, lived adjacent to countryside, am generally introverted, and disengage when people around me start talking about women in sexual ways while still being fully heterosexual. We do have many differences: Drake was upper middle class, was very attractive, discovered an early aptitude for music, and of course suffered the horrific internal despair that I've thankfully never had to experience.
My discovery of Drake was in college when I was searching out the "underrated" artists of the genres I generally listened to. He's the only one I ever went back to, and I even performed some songs of his live (though admittedly at an amateur level). "The Life" paints a picture - inasmuch as it can - of the person behind those complex instrumentals and alluring words. It spends significantly less time looking at the published music itself. Jack is obviously far more fascinated with Nick as a person and his environment than on what he created, which is a valid focus when the evidence is so scant.
Using a very helpful mass of contemporaneous evidence, his near day-by-day chronicle examines the life of a boy (then a man) who took the leap into the extraordinary world of late 1960s British music. He brushes elbows with the likes of Genesis, Fairport Convention, and more in a menagerie of music and culture that sat beside the big pop artists. This book will give you a plethora of artists to check out to get in the mood, even if it's hard to grasp what the live scene would have been like. Even just listening to Nick's demos with context is super eye-opening, showing that he like many of his contemporaries synthesized a huge range of music that makes it almost sad to lump him purely into the category of "folk."
Throughout the book, Jack takes a pretty impartial style to the narration, generally not interjecting points and simply letting the life play out. This does slightly fall apart when he's tackling what he's discussed in interviews as some of the pervasive myths about Nick's life, like his drug use and his sexuality. He returns to these points a bit too often and it does slow down the book, far more (in my opinion) than the harrowing last section of the book detailing the subject's decline. The smattering of detail about the things which affected Nick's career - Joe Boyd's arc, Fairport Convention's drama, Island Records' output - are all super appreciated and presented in a way where the reader has to make up their own mind about what was the largest factor in Drake being lost between the cracks.
As a research effort, this is a tour de force of hyper-focused scholarship; Gabrielle Drake put her trust in proper hands with Jack. As a read, it's very good, though far from flawless. The energy and life of something like The Beatles: Tune In - which the author admires - doesn't quite come across here as much. Is that simply a result of the narrative being told, which ultimately becomes insular and tragic? Maybe, but I think there were cuts that could have been made and expansions which could have really solidified the book's place as a classic. As it is, it's a wonderful 9/10 and is highly recommended as a piece of very strong truth-seeking as much as a testament to the life of Nick Drake.
We are Everywhere
October 4, 2023
My thanks to both NetGalley and Hachette Books for an advanced copy of this biography that tells the life, the music and the mental struggles of the artist Nick Drake, and the legacy Drake left behind that is still being found and adored by music fans.
In 1999 I was out of the record stores when a commercial for Volkswagen began to appear. The ad was typical good looking people doing things that good looking people in ads do with a car to take them there. The music though was atypical. Dreamy, sparse, a singer, a guitar, with lyrics about a Pink Moon. I'm not sure how the car sales were, but I do know that sales, even at the height of Napster went through the roof for the artist Nick Drake. Pink Moon was the name of the song, the eponymous title of the Drake's third and final album, his life brought to an end two years later, a loss to music, but much more of a loss to his family who survived him, and friends who watched him fade away. An artist of rare talent, but an artist who shared those demons so many of us do, which destroyed him. Richard Morton Jack in Nick Drake: The Life has written the book on the artist, looking at his life from beginning to end, studying influences, Drake's musical ability, and painting a picture in words of an artist whose talent could stand so tall.
Nicholas Rodney Drake was born in the country of Burma in 1948. Drake's parents were British citizens his father an engineer who worked in the British colony, and his mother whose parents worked in the civil service. Nick was the second child, his sister was eight years older, and upon returning to England moved to Warwickshire in England. Nick was pretty travelled for a child after World War II which gave him a sort of rootlessness in his early days, something that might have explained a lot of his music, and some of the steps he took, right and wrong in life. Nick's family was well-off sending him to boarding school with hopes for Cambridge. Nick while testing well, was a not a very good student, his sudden growth sport giving him a foot up in track, rather than in schooling Music had become important to Nick, busking during school breaks around Europe had feed the need to entertain, along with giving him a musical education. Nick's first album came out while he was in school, to middling reviews and not much in sales, something that followed with his next albums. This lead to problems, both mentally and musically, problems that followed him to his end.
A grand book about an enigmatic singer. Fame came after Nick left the world, with people becoming aware of his music slowly, and the music becoming more appreciated. Fans made pilgrimages to his parents home, and his parents did their best to keep his memory alive. The book is exhaustive interviewing everyone that Drake seemed to cross, tracking down leads, and presenting a lot of new information. Jack has done a fantastic job of bringing all this information to light, and writing a book that never bogs down even while detailing school life, or track events. Jack really makes Drake seem alive, even after fifty plus years. This is no hagiography though, Jack details Drake's many mistakes, but with the understanding that Drake was dealing with a lot of problems, mentally and emotionally. A fascinating book that really captures the subject and tells so much about the music, where it came from, and how for Drake it went away.
Nick Drake was a man who wanted to entertain others, but found the act of entertaining a drain, both to his body and mind. Books like this make one happy and sad. Happy to know the music will outlive the artist, sad to think the artist can never really share what the music meant to them. A wonderful book for Nick Drake fans, music historians, and people who enjoy books on creative people.
In 1999 I was out of the record stores when a commercial for Volkswagen began to appear. The ad was typical good looking people doing things that good looking people in ads do with a car to take them there. The music though was atypical. Dreamy, sparse, a singer, a guitar, with lyrics about a Pink Moon. I'm not sure how the car sales were, but I do know that sales, even at the height of Napster went through the roof for the artist Nick Drake. Pink Moon was the name of the song, the eponymous title of the Drake's third and final album, his life brought to an end two years later, a loss to music, but much more of a loss to his family who survived him, and friends who watched him fade away. An artist of rare talent, but an artist who shared those demons so many of us do, which destroyed him. Richard Morton Jack in Nick Drake: The Life has written the book on the artist, looking at his life from beginning to end, studying influences, Drake's musical ability, and painting a picture in words of an artist whose talent could stand so tall.
Nicholas Rodney Drake was born in the country of Burma in 1948. Drake's parents were British citizens his father an engineer who worked in the British colony, and his mother whose parents worked in the civil service. Nick was the second child, his sister was eight years older, and upon returning to England moved to Warwickshire in England. Nick was pretty travelled for a child after World War II which gave him a sort of rootlessness in his early days, something that might have explained a lot of his music, and some of the steps he took, right and wrong in life. Nick's family was well-off sending him to boarding school with hopes for Cambridge. Nick while testing well, was a not a very good student, his sudden growth sport giving him a foot up in track, rather than in schooling Music had become important to Nick, busking during school breaks around Europe had feed the need to entertain, along with giving him a musical education. Nick's first album came out while he was in school, to middling reviews and not much in sales, something that followed with his next albums. This lead to problems, both mentally and musically, problems that followed him to his end.
A grand book about an enigmatic singer. Fame came after Nick left the world, with people becoming aware of his music slowly, and the music becoming more appreciated. Fans made pilgrimages to his parents home, and his parents did their best to keep his memory alive. The book is exhaustive interviewing everyone that Drake seemed to cross, tracking down leads, and presenting a lot of new information. Jack has done a fantastic job of bringing all this information to light, and writing a book that never bogs down even while detailing school life, or track events. Jack really makes Drake seem alive, even after fifty plus years. This is no hagiography though, Jack details Drake's many mistakes, but with the understanding that Drake was dealing with a lot of problems, mentally and emotionally. A fascinating book that really captures the subject and tells so much about the music, where it came from, and how for Drake it went away.
Nick Drake was a man who wanted to entertain others, but found the act of entertaining a drain, both to his body and mind. Books like this make one happy and sad. Happy to know the music will outlive the artist, sad to think the artist can never really share what the music meant to them. A wonderful book for Nick Drake fans, music historians, and people who enjoy books on creative people.
December 31, 2025
This is an extremely detailed biography of the tragically short life of the gifted folk/rock/pop guitarist/singer/songwriter Nick Drake, who issued 3 glorious albums, Five Leaves Left in 1969, Bryter Later1971 and Pink Moon in 1972, before dying of self-inflicted overdose of the antidepressant Tryptizol in 1974 at the age of 26.
Morton Jack is extremely thorough and detailed. He goes briefly through Nick’s early life and then slows the pace when Nick gets into music and starts his college years at Cambridge. While Morton Jack is extremely detailed, I appreciate that the details are not assumptions but are based on eyewitness accounts.
The high quality of this study is due to the amount of time Morton-Jack took to interview the people who knew Nick when, family, school chums, musicians, music execs and technical staff. The book is riddled with quotes from these individuals applicable to what is being written about, whether it is the physical look of his apartment or room or his physical appearance and disposition during a certain discussion or event.
As a result of Morton Jack’s research, I felt safe in assuming that what I was reading was as accurate a reflection of what happened or what things looked like or what Nick felt like at any given moment in Nick’s life. I appreciated the detailed approach when explaining how each record was made, and all the events in Nick’s musical journey. But I even more appreciated the details on Nick’s life, as the very reticent Nick left little in his own words to describe things. The author includes so much info from so many people. Especially revelatory was Morton-Jack’s portrayal of Nick’s falling into the straits of his developing mental illness from 1971 through 1974. Very poignant, but, as the whole book was, very objective too. Nick is not glorified or denigrated in this.
I had difficulty in figuring how to rate this. Nick Drake is important to me and reading this brought back memories of my deceased older brother who was a big Nick Drake fan from the early 1970s. However, for the average rock fan, I believe this 500 page novel is too detailed and might end up being a slog. In the end, though, I have to rate a book on what it means to me. It was a very meaningful and emotional reading experience. So, for me, this is clearly a 5 star book.
I will rate it as 5 stars.
NOTE: Nick Drake has been important in my life since the early 1970s. My beloved older brother somehow discovered him in the early 1970s in Chicago when he was attending a nearby college. We shared a room when he came home several times a month and in summer and he would play Nick Drake as one of our “sleep albums” to play while we went to sleep. I especially loved “The Chimes of the City Clock” and Pink Moon. He moved out in late 1972 not long after Pink Moon was issued. As the first two albums were not readily available then, my brother must have somehow been able to get Bryter Later or possibly the compilation of the first two albums that I understand was released. I wish he were alive to discuss this and other aspects of this book with.
Morton Jack is extremely thorough and detailed. He goes briefly through Nick’s early life and then slows the pace when Nick gets into music and starts his college years at Cambridge. While Morton Jack is extremely detailed, I appreciate that the details are not assumptions but are based on eyewitness accounts.
The high quality of this study is due to the amount of time Morton-Jack took to interview the people who knew Nick when, family, school chums, musicians, music execs and technical staff. The book is riddled with quotes from these individuals applicable to what is being written about, whether it is the physical look of his apartment or room or his physical appearance and disposition during a certain discussion or event.
As a result of Morton Jack’s research, I felt safe in assuming that what I was reading was as accurate a reflection of what happened or what things looked like or what Nick felt like at any given moment in Nick’s life. I appreciated the detailed approach when explaining how each record was made, and all the events in Nick’s musical journey. But I even more appreciated the details on Nick’s life, as the very reticent Nick left little in his own words to describe things. The author includes so much info from so many people. Especially revelatory was Morton-Jack’s portrayal of Nick’s falling into the straits of his developing mental illness from 1971 through 1974. Very poignant, but, as the whole book was, very objective too. Nick is not glorified or denigrated in this.
I had difficulty in figuring how to rate this. Nick Drake is important to me and reading this brought back memories of my deceased older brother who was a big Nick Drake fan from the early 1970s. However, for the average rock fan, I believe this 500 page novel is too detailed and might end up being a slog. In the end, though, I have to rate a book on what it means to me. It was a very meaningful and emotional reading experience. So, for me, this is clearly a 5 star book.
I will rate it as 5 stars.
NOTE: Nick Drake has been important in my life since the early 1970s. My beloved older brother somehow discovered him in the early 1970s in Chicago when he was attending a nearby college. We shared a room when he came home several times a month and in summer and he would play Nick Drake as one of our “sleep albums” to play while we went to sleep. I especially loved “The Chimes of the City Clock” and Pink Moon. He moved out in late 1972 not long after Pink Moon was issued. As the first two albums were not readily available then, my brother must have somehow been able to get Bryter Later or possibly the compilation of the first two albums that I understand was released. I wish he were alive to discuss this and other aspects of this book with.
October 24, 2023
Nick Drake: The Life, by Richard Morton Jack, is just what the title says, the life of Nick Drake. The music, while the reason so many will be interested, is but a part of the story. A big part, but this book centers the person, the human being, with the music and the music business serving to tell that story.
I start with pointing out the obvious because some will no doubt complain that this biography isn't a music analysis text. Don't get me wrong, I love those kinds of books, ones that don't so much tell the entire life of an artist but the life of the artist's career. I don't hold it against those books for not being a biography since that isn't what they set out to be. And holding it against a biography for being, well, a biography is asinine.
Parts of this book might be hard to read, especially if you have ever experienced, yourself or through someone close to you, similar personalities that can, so easily, become fatal. That said, we want to know what makes those whose work we admire tick. In this thorough volume we see, with the benefit of hindsight, how the person Drake was didn't always coexist easily with the world around him or what was expected from him. There isn't repetition here so much as certain things Drake did that hinted at what could happen later he did often. The accounts given by all of the people Morton Jack interviewed have similarities because, if nothing else, Drake was consistent with what he liked and didn't like to do.
I've seen a couple references that many of his actions suggest the possibility he was on the autism spectrum. This is from those who see themselves in his actions as well as those who have friends or family on the spectrum. I just toss that out there because, if the case, a lot of what he did makes more sense. I have very limited close experience with anyone I was aware of being on the spectrum, so I don't know. If you have such knowledge or experience, keep the possibility in mind as you read and see what you think.
A personal aside, my dad and thus my family was stationed in England around that time and a friend of my older sister played one of his albums for us (Pink Moon) and I remember liking it. It totally left my mind until years later when I saw a reissue of it and the memory came back to me. And like so many others, I "discovered" his music and came to love it. Makes me wish I or my sister had gotten a copy while we were there.
Highly recommended for both those who love Drake's music as well as those who simply want to know about the life of a very talented singer-songwriter. If you enjoy biographies in general, especially those that look closely at a life cut far too short, you will enjoy this.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
I start with pointing out the obvious because some will no doubt complain that this biography isn't a music analysis text. Don't get me wrong, I love those kinds of books, ones that don't so much tell the entire life of an artist but the life of the artist's career. I don't hold it against those books for not being a biography since that isn't what they set out to be. And holding it against a biography for being, well, a biography is asinine.
Parts of this book might be hard to read, especially if you have ever experienced, yourself or through someone close to you, similar personalities that can, so easily, become fatal. That said, we want to know what makes those whose work we admire tick. In this thorough volume we see, with the benefit of hindsight, how the person Drake was didn't always coexist easily with the world around him or what was expected from him. There isn't repetition here so much as certain things Drake did that hinted at what could happen later he did often. The accounts given by all of the people Morton Jack interviewed have similarities because, if nothing else, Drake was consistent with what he liked and didn't like to do.
I've seen a couple references that many of his actions suggest the possibility he was on the autism spectrum. This is from those who see themselves in his actions as well as those who have friends or family on the spectrum. I just toss that out there because, if the case, a lot of what he did makes more sense. I have very limited close experience with anyone I was aware of being on the spectrum, so I don't know. If you have such knowledge or experience, keep the possibility in mind as you read and see what you think.
A personal aside, my dad and thus my family was stationed in England around that time and a friend of my older sister played one of his albums for us (Pink Moon) and I remember liking it. It totally left my mind until years later when I saw a reissue of it and the memory came back to me. And like so many others, I "discovered" his music and came to love it. Makes me wish I or my sister had gotten a copy while we were there.
Highly recommended for both those who love Drake's music as well as those who simply want to know about the life of a very talented singer-songwriter. If you enjoy biographies in general, especially those that look closely at a life cut far too short, you will enjoy this.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
August 9, 2023
I've been a huge fan of Nick's for years now. Ever since I first heard his music I felt an instant connection with him, something that no other artist has ever been able to create with me. As a result of this, I think that I was always going to enjoy this book, but it certainly does require specific praise for what Richard Morton Jack has been able to achieve here.
I've read a number of different biographies now on a great variety of people, but what I think separates this one from all of the others is the truly forensic nature with which we are able to learn about Nick's life. I think one of the first things that people learn about Nick when they first try and look into his life is truly what an enigmatic figure he was, which is something that can also be noticed in the stories shared here. Because of this, it really is quite extraordinary the detail with which the author's writing is able to dive into. This feels like the most authoritative word on Nick's life and it really is quite illuminating. Not only are the readers able to get a better understanding of the person who Nick was, but also they are able to recognise the changes and journeys that he went on throughout his short life. This, in turn, allows ones imagination to flow more vividly when they listen to Nick's music.
The one thing that I do think holds this book back is this forensic nature though. Previously, I've read Trevor Dann's biography of Nick 'Darker Than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake' (multiple times I must add) and I think that I can confidently say that between the two books Dann's is the one I would feel most comfortable revisiting. This isn't because I find that book particularly superior to this one, in fact as a biography there is truly no comparison, but I do find that it is the greater reading experience. The main difference I feel is that with Dann's book, one can truly feel that it is written by someone who adores Nick as much as the reader. Whilst I don't doubt Richard's or the other contributors admiration for Nick, the writing simply feels too accurate and factual to elicit these feelings of shared affection. Adding to this, I think it is testament to my point that my favourite moments came when hearing the words spoken from Molly, Rodney or Gabrielle.
This is an absolutely beautiful tribute to a wonderful soul and it has only served to further arouse my fascination and adoration for Nick. It may be a while before I revisit this book in full, but I will certainly be glad for its existence when that time comes.
I've read a number of different biographies now on a great variety of people, but what I think separates this one from all of the others is the truly forensic nature with which we are able to learn about Nick's life. I think one of the first things that people learn about Nick when they first try and look into his life is truly what an enigmatic figure he was, which is something that can also be noticed in the stories shared here. Because of this, it really is quite extraordinary the detail with which the author's writing is able to dive into. This feels like the most authoritative word on Nick's life and it really is quite illuminating. Not only are the readers able to get a better understanding of the person who Nick was, but also they are able to recognise the changes and journeys that he went on throughout his short life. This, in turn, allows ones imagination to flow more vividly when they listen to Nick's music.
The one thing that I do think holds this book back is this forensic nature though. Previously, I've read Trevor Dann's biography of Nick 'Darker Than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake' (multiple times I must add) and I think that I can confidently say that between the two books Dann's is the one I would feel most comfortable revisiting. This isn't because I find that book particularly superior to this one, in fact as a biography there is truly no comparison, but I do find that it is the greater reading experience. The main difference I feel is that with Dann's book, one can truly feel that it is written by someone who adores Nick as much as the reader. Whilst I don't doubt Richard's or the other contributors admiration for Nick, the writing simply feels too accurate and factual to elicit these feelings of shared affection. Adding to this, I think it is testament to my point that my favourite moments came when hearing the words spoken from Molly, Rodney or Gabrielle.
This is an absolutely beautiful tribute to a wonderful soul and it has only served to further arouse my fascination and adoration for Nick. It may be a while before I revisit this book in full, but I will certainly be glad for its existence when that time comes.
April 20, 2025
The third book I have consumed focusing on Nick Drake's life. This was recommended by the estate of Nick Drake, who I contacted after reading the Patrick Humphries book, which included details for readers to find further information on Nick Drake, either through text or recording releases. This book includes considerable details from the family's records, which is not as weird as it seems. Nick Drake's life and creative works have become mythologised as more people have experienced his music and then found that he is one of those artists like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones and Jim Morrison who died in their 20s. Coping with mental health issues in the late 1960s and early 70s would have been challenging considering so much experimentation was evident in music and youth culture. The concerns raised by Nick Drake's sister that her parents felt judged that they not done enough, or had contributed to their son's illness is laid to rest through the inclusions of Nick's father's diary entries, where he attempted to track the highs and lows to learn more and help his son especially when Nick Drake returned to live with his parents after the release of his third album.
Nick Drake was clearly not a hell-raiser though. One aspect of Richard Morton Jack's writing, repeating Patrick Humphries' links to other musicians of the time, was to highlight Nick Drake's awareness and engagement with the work of contemporaries Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, adding an interesting contextualisation to Nick Drake's work.
I guess the degree of detail I am including shows how dense this 570 plus page work is. The book is beautifully written and easy to read. It is a detailed study of a young person's struggle to succeed independently from their parents. It is clear that the shadow of privilege, that Nick Drake commented on in his work, was such a determining factor in his unravelling. The final sections are sensitively written given the content.
Nick Drake was clearly not a hell-raiser though. One aspect of Richard Morton Jack's writing, repeating Patrick Humphries' links to other musicians of the time, was to highlight Nick Drake's awareness and engagement with the work of contemporaries Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, adding an interesting contextualisation to Nick Drake's work.
I guess the degree of detail I am including shows how dense this 570 plus page work is. The book is beautifully written and easy to read. It is a detailed study of a young person's struggle to succeed independently from their parents. It is clear that the shadow of privilege, that Nick Drake commented on in his work, was such a determining factor in his unravelling. The final sections are sensitively written given the content.
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