admin
22 December 2023
The music of Nick Drake is beautiful and inspired. Reintroduced to new generations through a Volkswagen commercial featuring the song \"Pink Moon\", Nick Drake’s folksy melancholia proved to be timeless. Possibly the best of the folk singers, it’s wonderful that Drake is finally getting the respect he deserves.
Unfortunately, that also means that someone will release a tribute album. As most people know, tribute albums are usually not very good, suffering from problems of uneven quality in both performance and interpretation.
I would like to be able to say that Poor Boy: Songs Of Nick Drake avoids all these pitfalls, but sadly, it does not. The main problem with this collection of Drake songs is that, while almost everyone captured the sweet tones and beautiful chord progressions of his guitar work, many performers destroy the songs by ignoring Drake’s equally important vocal style and delivery.
The album starts out with some of the worst of the offenders, including \"Cello Song\", \"One Of These Things First\", and \"Hanging On A Star\". These abortions will keep many from continuing on, and I can’t say I could really blame anyone from stopping the CD after hearing them.
If they made it a little further, they would be rewarded by the jazzy improv of \"For Nick/Horn/Know\" by Francois Houle 6 and Danielle Herbert. But anyone but a sadist would give up all hope upon hearing \"Parasite\" by Friendly Science Orchestra, which is pure, unadulterated rape. The track sequence is unfortunate, too, because the best tracks are 11–14, especially the stunning \"Black Eyed Dog\" by Ian Moore and Eyvind Kang.
So, while I cannot recommend this disc because it is so uneven, talk a friend into buying it and just copy the good stuff.
Unfortunately, that also means that someone will release a tribute album. As most people know, tribute albums are usually not very good, suffering from problems of uneven quality in both performance and interpretation.
I would like to be able to say that Poor Boy: Songs Of Nick Drake avoids all these pitfalls, but sadly, it does not. The main problem with this collection of Drake songs is that, while almost everyone captured the sweet tones and beautiful chord progressions of his guitar work, many performers destroy the songs by ignoring Drake’s equally important vocal style and delivery.
The album starts out with some of the worst of the offenders, including \"Cello Song\", \"One Of These Things First\", and \"Hanging On A Star\". These abortions will keep many from continuing on, and I can’t say I could really blame anyone from stopping the CD after hearing them.
If they made it a little further, they would be rewarded by the jazzy improv of \"For Nick/Horn/Know\" by Francois Houle 6 and Danielle Herbert. But anyone but a sadist would give up all hope upon hearing \"Parasite\" by Friendly Science Orchestra, which is pure, unadulterated rape. The track sequence is unfortunate, too, because the best tracks are 11–14, especially the stunning \"Black Eyed Dog\" by Ian Moore and Eyvind Kang.
So, while I cannot recommend this disc because it is so uneven, talk a friend into buying it and just copy the good stuff.
artid
2534
Old Image
6_11_poorboy.jpg
issue
vol 6 - issue 11 (jul 2004)
section
entertainmental