Way to Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake [Original recording remastered]

Way to Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake [Original recording remastered]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The options where Nick Drake is concerned are limited, but wholly appealing. The downhearted singer-songwriter released only three albums in his 26 years; the posthumous rarities collection, Time of No Reply, rounds out his abbreviated oeuvre. The whole lot is contained in the exemplary four-disc Fruit Tree box set. Way to Blue is a scaled-back option for those who are enchanted by Drake's intricate yet cozy lamentations, but feel no need to join the ever-growing legion of Drake completists. But while the 16 songs included here provide a fine introduction to the ill-fated Englishman's work (which seems to fit together no matter how it's sequenced), Drake is one of those rare artists whose entire catalog is worth owning due to its excellence and, sadly, its brevity. --Steven Stolder

Tracks:

Cello Song
Hazey Jane I
Way To Blue
Things Behind The Sun
River Man
Poor Boy
Time Of No Reply
From The Morning
One Of These Things First
Northern Sky
Which Will
Hazey Jane II
Time Has Told Me
Pink Moon
Black Eyed Dog
Fruit Tree

Amazon.com

The options where Nick Drake is concerned are limited, but wholly appealing. The downhearted singer-songwriter released only three albums in his 26 years; the posthumous rarities collection, Time of No Reply, rounds out his abbreviated oeuvre. The whole lot is contained in the exemplary four-disc Fruit Tree box set. Way to Blue is a scaled-back option for those who are enchanted by Drake's intricate yet cozy lamentations, but feel no need to join the ever-growing legion of Drake completists. But while the 16 songs included here provide a fine introduction to the ill-fated Englishman's work (which seems to fit together no matter how it's sequenced), Drake is one of those rare artists whose entire catalog is worth owning due to its excellence and, sadly, its brevity. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

Drake's Blue, Blue Way.......2007-03-28

"Way to Blue: An Introduction To Nick Drake" has the power to mollify a full-blown manic attack that a psychiatrist can only dream of with lithium in several weeks. The guitar picking is sublime and sure-handed, the vocals ethereal, the lyrics complex in a simple manner; music that speaks to the soul's suffering. The collection is a best of that culls 16 tracks from the three records ("Five Leaves Left," 1969; "Bryter Layter," 1970; "Pink Moon," 1972) produced during his brief life (1948 - 1974).

Besides an acoustic guitar, instruments such as the cello, bass, drums, piano and congas accompany Drake's reserved singing that infuses the album with a delicate but strong presence. However, Drake was shy about performing live, giving interviews, and suffered from depression; all hurt his chances of getting any proper notice, which he never received during his lifetime. In fact, an interesting tidbit is no moving images of Drake exists, only still photographs. The lyrics of "Fruit Tree" seem prophetic in retrospect: "Fruit tree Fruit tree/ No-one knows you but the rain and the air./ Don't you worry/ They'll stand and stare when you're gone."

To say the tracks are haunting is underestimating the album. Grief oozes while any sense of joy will have to be carefully searched for as it hides in the album's looming shadows. Having studied English literature at Cambridge (left nine months before graduating) provided Drake a way to explore themes of loss and grieving with nature's elements: seasons, stars, moon, sun, river, sky. In "Time Of No Reply" Drake aches, "Summer was gone and the heat died down,/ And Autumn reached for her golden crown,/ I looked behind as I heard a sigh,/ But this was the time of no reply."

These compositions appear to be cut directly from Drake's troubled soul; if sadness and tears could be planted, a thousand fields of melancholy roses with eager thorns would bloom. "The Birth of Tragedy" by Friedrich Nietzsche closes with the philosopher stating, "how much must these people have suffered in order to be able to become so beautiful!" After listening to Drake you could hardly disagree with Nietzsche's conclusion. Fortunately, music fans have found the beauty as Drake predicted from "Time has told me." "Time has told me/ You're a rare rare find/ A troubled cure/ For a troubled mind./ And time has told me/ Not to ask for more/ Someday our ocean/ Will find its shore."

Bohdan Kot

"Legal disclaimer: the first sentence of the review is hyperbole, not to be taken literally, but used to entertain the reader. The album is not recommended for periods of extended listening or for any period of time during the wintertime for those prone to depression."

You owe it to youself to love Nick Drake.......2006-12-11

Haunting and beautiful. Take this CD and listen to it while going for a walk through your neighborhood.

Nick Drake is one of those unfortunate artists who dies before anyone bothers to appreciate his brilliance.

But since he was in fact left to his own devices in near obscurity, he stays rather pure and original and untainted and beautiful.

You owe it to yourself to love Nick Drake.

No other pretty boy singer songwriter of this day and age can touch him.

10 Stars with a tragic ending.......2006-07-30

After hearing this CD from a friend (ironically, thanks Nick), I too needed more from Nick Drake. Get the Fruit Tree boxed set, please. Nick has so much more to offer. It's just a tragedy that artists such as Nick Drake and Tommy Bolin faced such an early demise. A real shame.

Way too blue.......2006-01-23

"And if one day you should see me in the crowd/Lend a hand and lift me/To your place in the cloud," Nick Drake sings dreamily against a backdrop of cello and congas. Talk about prophetic. The tragic singer-songwriter, who was only in his late 20s when he overdosed on sleeping pills, left behind an all-too-small collection of exquisite music.

"Way To Blue: An Introduction" serves both as an intro to his poignant folk music, and also as a sort of "Best of" collection. This album contains selections from his four albums "Pink Moon," "Five Leaves Left," "Bryter Layter," and "Time of No Reply," and these selections are arguably the best of Drake's bittersweet music.

Drake generally stuck to the folk sound -- lots of acoustic guitar and laid-back bass, sometimes dressed up with piano. But he twiddled with that sound in a few songs; the ethereal "Northern Sky" is swathed in organ, piano and celeste, raising it above the average folk song.

What all these songs have in common is a loneliness, a poignancy, and a beauty that is truly heartrending. Drake suffered from depression during his short life, which may explain the tone of songs like the sweet "Time of No Reply," in which he sings sadly, "The time of no reply is calling me to stay/There is no hello and no goodbye/To leave there is no way."

In other songs, Drake describes the fickleness of his fame, the loneliness of his life, and hopes to "forget this cruel world." But also seems to have a kind of optimism about love, which sounds all the more poignant in his smooth vocals. Drake's singing sounds unpolished by computers, making its husky sweetness even more striking.

Long after his death, Nick Drake's bittersweet music lingers on. "Way To Blue: An Introduction" is both an excellent collection of his best songs, and a good introduction to his work.

A Sonic Van Gough.......2002-09-15

How could one possibly put their feelings about Van Gough's Starry Night into words? It can't be done. Nick Drake is rather like a Van Gough for your ears. I just can't put the impact of his music into words. I've been buying records since I was 14 and I'm now 47 years old. This is one of the best purchases I've ever made. My collection includes works by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ralph Towner, The Beatles, King Crimson, Dave Matthews, Van Morrison, Eric Dolphy etc. In other words, I'm a prolific listener with varied tastes and as a musician, I know real art when I hear it. The closest I've heard musically to Drake's style would be John Martyn, Bert Jansch, Fairport Convention, that sort of thing... Only this is better. This music is haunting and, if you have any soul, it will expose things you never even realized were within you.

If you have enough pennies to buy only one CD this year, this is it. Warning: Way to Blue will leaving you hungering for more and there are only 4 CDs available from Mr Drake who flew from this world at the tender (but some how ripe) age of 26 years.

Tracks:

Cello Song
Hazey Jane I
Way To Blue
Things Behind The Sun
River Man
Poor Boy
Time Of No Reply
From The Morning
One Of These Things First
Northern Sky
Which Will
Hazey Jane II
Time Has Told Me
Pink Moon
Black Eyed Dog
Fruit Tree

Album Description

Currently unavailable in the US, this imported edition features the same 16 tracks that graced the 1994 Hannibal/Ryko pressing. 16-page booklet contains the lyrics, photos & credits. Island. 2003.

Customer Reviews:

Superb songcraft.......2005-03-19

This excellent introduction to the work of Nick Drake also provides an entirely new perspective on his genius since the songs are not arranged in chronological order. The individual albums are all classics but they are very much self-contained units that make one associate a particular song with the album. Way To Blue thus lends a new angle in the mix of songs. Although 10 tracks are repeated from the 1985 album Heaven In A Wild Flower, the sound quality is much better.

From the album Bryter Later come Hazey Jane I and II, Poor Boy, One Of These Things First and Northern Sky. Five Leaves Left contributes Cello Sing, Way To Blue, River Man and Time Has Told Me, whilst the stark minimalist album Pink Moon supplies Things Behind The Sun, Which Will and the title track. Black Eyed Dog and Time Of No Reply come from the posthumous Time Of No Reply album.

On her Sweet Old World album, Lucinda Williams beautifully covered Which Will and Swans made a bloodcurdling version of Black Eyed Dog, found on their Various Failures album. The group Drive covered his song Road on their early 90s album Out Freakage. The Dream Academy dedicated the song Life In A Northern Town (1985) to Nick Drake. His song Mayfair had already been covered by Millie (of My Boy Lollipop fame) in 1970.

My only complaint about Way To Blue is the omission of Fly, a song that first appeared on Bryter Later and was then included, in a different version, on Time Of No Reply. In my opinion, it is one of his most moving songs. Besides that, this compilation contains the best of Drake's eerily compelling music but it is still worth it to investigate the original albums.

Way to go, "Blue".......2005-02-22

Way to Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake

Average customer rating:

The album I discovered Nick Drake through
A good Introduction
this is a complicated and demanding form of music
POWERFUL & COMPELLING Music!
Quite possibly the most beautiful record by a singer-songwriter ever

Way to Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Manufacturer: Island
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Baroque Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music

Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music
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Maximum Nick Drake
Darker Than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake
White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s - The Joe Boyd Story
All The Rage

ASIN: B0000931OQ
Release Date: 2003-05-06

Tracks:

Cello Song
Hazey Jane I
Way To Blue
Things Behind The Sun
River Man
Poor Boy
Time Of No Reply
From The Morning
One Of These Things First
Northern Sky
Which Will
Hazey Jane II
Time Has Told Me
Pink Moon
Black Eyed Dog
Fruit Tree

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

The album I discovered Nick Drake through.......2007-07-12

I had read about this CD , was intrigued by it and wasn't prepared for the music - got it and heard it through headphones , which really gives Nick's voice greater potency .

I now own everything by Nick .

Yes , there is a 'mystique' that probably helps to sell his records , but that wouldn't be much use if the music was terrible .

A haunting performer and one of the most influential .
Highly recommended .

A good Introduction.......2006-12-17

There isn't much of the greatest of Nick Drake that isn't on this album, with the exceptions of 'Fly' and 'Rider on the Wheel'.

This is a definitive statement of Nick's thorough grasp of melancholy beauty.

this is a complicated and demanding form of music.......2006-11-17

I love Nick Drake b/c he is fascinating and his music is unusual and enchanting. If you are unfamiliar with his music, it is definetly a bit different and somewhat challenging to fully comprehend.

To understand the music you must understand the artist. This is not commercial b/c the artist had no desire to be commercial. He was a strange, eccentric shy and tortured artist. Drake seemed to have been a pretty bohemian artist simply trying to pursue his muse.

On this introductory sampler, there are a variety of different forms of music most likely b/c of an experimentation on how to actually produce him. There are sparce, purely accoustical numbers, lushly orchestrated numbers and works that fall in between.

Something that is special about his music is the unique manner in which he played guitar and sang. He played in a variety of unusual guitar tunings (therefore the chord and melody structures were unique sounding).

He was a fingerpicker who pulled at the strings with great force which added a lot of texture (not usually heard with other guitar players) tohis playing.

He sang in a strange whisper so you had this muscular accoustic guitar playing which was strangely coupled with wispy vocals.

Nick Drake's love songs have an etheral beauty to them. My favorite song, "Northern Lights" is, without a doubt, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SONG I HAVE EVER HEARD, BAR NONE. The song is gorgeous.

I also like the raw, Robert Johnson like, bluesy quality of "Black Eyed Dog"

This is not music that you can fall for upon just an intial hearing. This stuff has to sink in. Once you get it, you will see that Nick Drake is an unusual, uncompromising artist that offers stunning beauty, depth and drama.

POWERFUL & COMPELLING Music!.......2006-09-21

WOW!!! I am actually 27 years old and never listened to much Nick Drake,
however, I do have lots of other music very similar. BUT...There is no
real comparison to his emotion and thought provoking lyrics, as well as the
ensemble of different instruments(such as his use of orchestral
arrangement).
I was introduced to the "Way to Blue" CD through my wife,
who perhaps has such great excellent music taste(as well as myself...
of course!) Ha-Ha...that was just a little joke...I'm not trying to be
smug or whatever it would be called. In the past year, I have been
recovering from an addiction problem, and she told me that she listened
to the CD "NON-STOP"!!! while I was away at a rehab. I have listened to
it over and over today only to be overwhelmingly discovered by how the
meaning of the lyrics of Track 2(Hazey Jane 1) can relate to her feelings
about me and her love for me. That is a RECOVERY track even if it wasn't
meant to be! Sorry, trying not to be corny...but ULTIMATELY this CD is
FANTASTIC!!BUY IT RITE NOW!!!!!!

Quite possibly the most beautiful record by a singer-songwriter ever.......2005-06-15

I feel Nick Drake deserves his legend as one of the great musical talents of the last century. He is an underdog for the tradition of singer-songwriters. This collection is probably not the cherry picking someone super passionate about Nick Drake might be satisfied with, but for a general introduction to his music, it sounds pretty good to me!

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