ARTS The Michigan Daily Wednesday, September 10, 1986 Page 7 Records Nick Drake--Fruit Tree (Hannibal) It is twelve years after his death, and Nick Drake's musical legacy is now available for all to appreciate in the most complete collection yet, the beautiful four- record Fruit Tree box. The set was originally released as an import on Island records, a re- release of Drake's three records always that refreshing lightness to Drake's touch, his ephemeral, soft singing. Having read the biography, a listen to Drake's records back to back is chilling. And the inclusion of the ten previously unreleased tracks on the separate record, Time of No Reply, only adds more unanswered questions to Drake's story. Nick Drake's first record was Five Leaves Left It was recorded over 1968-69 with Joe Boyd, and sets the stage for several themes which will be picked up again and again throughout Drake's brief career: namely, feelings of being on the outside, loneliness, and unfulfilled desires. "Time Has Told Me" opens the record beautifully, a quest for a listener, Time will tell you/ To stay by my side/ To keep trying/ Till there's no more to hide. On "Riverman" he draws a parallel between himself and another person, apparantly a lost soul's club; "Betty" prays for answers, but Drake asks the riverman: He tells me all he knows, about the way the river flows/ I don't suppose it's meant for me. Strings weave in and out of the album's pieces, in particular adding a touch of pathos to the glorious "Day is Done." The. record also includes the track "Fruit Tree," an ironic foreteller of the path Drake's career was to take. In this song he makes the beautiful analogy, Fame is but a fruit tree/so very unsound/ it can never flourish/ Till it's stalk is in the ground. He goes on to assure his symbol, Don't you worry/ They'll all know that you were here when you're gone. On Bryter Layter, the string arrangements are considerably brought to the forefront and the record takes on a much stronger tone. This album is more varied in texture, with a brass section adding an upbeat, inspirational rhythm to Drake's outreaching "Hazey Jane II." And on "One of These Things First" he considers the other lives he could have led, trying to come to terms with how uncomfortable he is with his own place, I could have been your statue/Could have been your friend he posits to a dreamy piano, his voice as wistful as ever. Pink Moonis probably Drake's most befuddling collection of songs, all sung to acoustic guitar strumming. He is noticeably more cynical, as indicated on the title track, where he states Pink moon gonna get ye all, and on "Things Behind the Sun," where he warns Please beware of them that stare. Instead he urges one to open up the broken cup / let goodly sin and sunshine in. Drake's inner turmoil also comes to full boil on "Place to Be," which finds him confessing Now I'm weaker than the palest blue / Oh so weak in my need for you. The addition of the separate Time of No Reply LP is rewarding in the context of Drake's first three records, for it is then that one can recognized the changes that he went through, artistically and possibly,, personally. Indeed, Drake reaffirms his position as an outsider on the first two tracks. The title song is a tale of loneliness, siting a dispersing crowd I turned to speak as they went by/ but this was the time of no reply. Like the rejection he faced on some of his love songs, the silence which greets heim here is not malicious; it simply serves to quietly prove that Drake is a world apart. "I Was Made to Love Magic" follows, one of the songwriter's earliest comp- ositions. On this song he reveals that he was made to love no one but magic, and to the almost waltzing guitar strumming, he softly sighs I was born to sail away /Into a See RECORDS, Page 8 CLASSES STARTING SEPTEMBER 10 203 E. Hoover 662-3149 CALL DAYS, EVENINGS & WEEKENDS E-UCATIONAL CENTER LTD. TESTPREIPRATION SPECIAUIS1'S SINCE1938 THE OFFICE OF MAJOR EVENTS PRESENTS JIMMY. CL*IFF THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 POWER CENTER, 8 P.M. Tickets at Michigan Union Ticket Office and all Ticket World Outlets. CHARGE-BY-PHONE -763-TKTS .. ::: x including 10 previously unreleased tracks,. 7 completely new-songs, plus the 4 'last session' x rocks. Nick Drake: A sensitive artist who died too soon. plus four unreleased tracks. Now, Hannibal Records has brought the box to the states with the addition of one extra whole album of ten unreleased tracks. No one could ever be as loving in their packaging of this find as Hannibal Records, and Fruit Tree in this domestically available collection is a rare gem. It is to be enjoyed and cherished for years to come. Drake's story is a heartbreaking mystery. The wunderkind \of producer Joe Boyd during the late '60s, he was encouraged to reach for the stars, yet was never able to achieve any commercial success. Why his music was relatively unheard of will always be a secret, despite critical acclaim. His haunting folk songs are probably as beautiful and lasting now as ever. It is as tragedy that Drake died at the age of 26 in 1974, and no one will ever know whether his overdose on anti-depressents was intentional or not. The enclosed biography (which also contains lyric sheets) describes Drake as a chronicly reclusive, depressed young man. Yet, as sad and longing as his songs may be, they are not self pitying or woe-begotten; there is PRE-MNED MEETING INFORMATION & REGISTRATION Course Requirements, Admissions, Preparation For Med School Visit With UM Medical Students THURSDAY, SEPT. 11 7 P.M. AUDITORIUM B ANGELL HALL - I PRE-PROFESSIONAL. 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