Family Tree

On first hearing I found this cd boring and self indulgent, there were some nice bits of guitar plucking but a lot of the stuff was reminiscent of Bob Dylan and Bert Jansch.

If you have Bryter Later, Five Leaves Left and Pink Moon, then you have all the studio albums Nick Drake did. If you have them, then you are probably like me, and crave more. more comes in the form of 'Made to Love Magic' and Family Tree'. Made to Love Magic is an excellent extension of the Drake collection with a few "new" songs and different versions of album tracks. it serves as almost a best of (but should be bought after the studio albums for full effect).

Family Tree is unexpectedly brilliant. It contains several new tracks that would have made very strong tracks on any studio album. "They're Leaving Me Behind" and "Strange Meeting II" are exceptional songs written by Drake himself. His covers of songs (of which i've never heard originals) have all the depth of feeling as all of Nick Drakes work.

I would definitely recommend this album to any fan who enjoys his main works, to sit and read a letter from his sister (included with the CD) whilst listening to new material in acceptable quality, and to hear his comments on the songs is definitely worth the money.

Listening to this album is like being invited to the Drakes' house for Christmas. The sleeve contains photos that your nan wouldn't look out of place in and the only thing it is missing is the slight scent of familiar milldew in the pages. Fortunately it doesn't have that but does have an enorously touching letter from Gabrielle to Nick professing the reasons why this album was released. I honestly believe that he would appreciate its release and I think you will too! Visitors aren't really welcome at Far Leys now but had you gone when Rodney and Molly were alive you would (according to Gabrielle) be invited in and offered tea, perhaps even a bed for the night. Rodney would have then allowed you to take recordings of Nick's tapes. Gabrielle was concerned that these recording may have been reproduced a number of times and in doing so have lost a lot of their sound quality. Therefore this album isn't about generating money and as such doesn't have 'clean' recordings but they are as clean as they ought to be - it's digital vinyl and encourages the ear to listen the organic sounds of each individual and beautiful song. Each time it is listened to, one finds it necessary to ask, "Oh my God, why didn't he release this?" There will never be an answer to that but on listening, there is an invitation to visit Nick's psyche and an esoteric message is delivered; this wasn't released because each individual song is a secret between the listener and Nick, and what is revealed comes through the hiss of songs such as 'Sketch, pt1' and the narration before 'Milk and Honey'. In this narration one can hear Nick's voice clearly (instead of the muffled "instrumental bit" in Mayfair) and Nick seems comfortable with the recording sessions, er go, this was the only way that these songs are meant to be delivered. As such it is perfect and there seems to be an evolution in the songs chosen especially when Molly Drake performs - there is an obvious similarity between her's and Nick's songs; an unerring sense of haunting beauty. To know Nick Drake is to love his music and this album should hopefully satisfy the listener's curiosity as to what this exceptionally talented man was doing and thinking whilst our parents or indeed ourselves were busy getting on with life. It will take a few listens to love this album, but when it is not being listened to, the thought of it nags at you until you put it on. It is only when it is being listened to that you know why you bought it. Don't expect the Joe Boyd productions of Riverman or Fly - expect to hear them as the Drake's did - maybe at their Christmas parties.