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Five Leaves Left

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Untitled

Five Leaves Left is the debut studio album by English folk musician Nick Drake. Recorded between 1968 and 1969, it was released the latter year by record label Island.

Recording

Five Leaves Left was recorded between July 1968 and June 1969 at Sound Techniques in London, England.

Content

Like Bryter Layter but unlike Pink Moon, this album contains no unaccompanied songs. Drake was accompanied by members of the British folk rock groups Fairport Convention and Pentangle.

The title of the album is a reference to the old Rizla cigarette papers packet, which used to contain a printed note near the end saying "Only five leaves left".[4] The album title could also be a reference to an O. Henry short story entitled "The Last Leaf".[citation needed] Drake died five years after recording the album.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
BBC Musicfavourable[6]
Entertainment WeeklyA[7]
Pitchfork9.5/10[8]
Sputnikmusic[9]

Q cited it as "The pinnacle of a melancholy canon of work so distinctive that admirers can only speculate miserably on what might have been."[10] Alternative Press called it "[one] of the most beautiful and melancholy albums ever recorded."[11]

Legacy

Five Leaves Left was ranked 85th in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 280 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. NME ranked it at number 74 in their list.[12] Q magazine included the album in its list "Best Folk Albums of All Time".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Nick Drake

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Time Has Told Me"4:27
2."River Man"4:21
3."Three Hours"6:16
4."Way to Blue"3:11
5."Day Is Done"2:29
Side B
No.TitleLength
6."Cello Song"4:49
7."The Thoughts of Mary Jane"3:22
8."Man in a Shed"3:55
9."Fruit Tree"4:50
10."Saturday Sun"4:03

Personnel

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  • Nick Drake – vocals, acoustic guitar on all songs except "Way to Blue" and "Saturday Sun", piano on "Saturday Sun"
Additional personnel

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Technical

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Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalogue
United Kingdom 3 July 1969 Island LP ILPS 9105
March 1987 CD CID 9195
26 June 2000 IMCD 8

References

  1. ^ Drake, Gabrielle, Nick Drake: Remembered For A While, Little, Brown and Company, 2014.
  2. ^ "20 Best Folk Music Albums of All Time". NME. Time Inc. UK. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  3. ^ Drake, Gabrielle, Nick Drake: Remembered For A While, Little, Brown and Company, 2014.
  4. ^ "Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake". www.nickdrake.com. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  5. ^ Raggett, Ned. "Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake: Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards: AllMusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  6. ^ Jones, Chris. "BBC - Music - Review of Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left". BBC. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  7. ^ Entertainment Weekly: 24. 12 May 2000. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ Greene, Jayson (22 January 2014). "Nick Drake: Tuck Box: Album Reviews: Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  9. ^ Schroer, Brendan (7 November 2013). "Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left (album review): Sputnikmusic". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  10. ^ Q: 162. November 1999. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ^ Alternative Press: 88. March 2001. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ^ NME: 29. 2 October 1993. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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