Five Leaves Left
Five Leaves Left is Nick Drake’s 1968 debut, recorded live at Sound Techniques in London between May 1968 and April 1969. Drake sang and played acoustic guitar simultaneously with a string section—no overdubbing. Producer Joe Boyd pursued an intimate vocal sound with no shiny pop reverb, inspired by John Simon’s work on Leonard Cohen’s Songs of Leonard Cohen. String arrangements were by Robert Kirby (most tracks) and Harry Robinson ('River Man'). Backing musicians included Richard Thompson and Danny Thompson. Sessions were irregular and rushed, occurring during downtime from Fairport Convention’s Unhalfbricking production. Tension emerged between Boyd’s studio-centric methodology and Drake’s preference for organic sound. Bootleg recordings reveal Drake’s anxiety and Boyd’s unsuccessful instrumentation attempts.
