release date: Sep. 1, 1969
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Joe Boyd
label: Island Records - nationality: England, UK
Studio debut album by Nick Drake. On the album, Drake is accompanied by guitarist Richard Thompson (of Fairport Convention) and Danny Thompson (of Pentangle) and fine string arrangements arranged by Richard Hewson but aside from that it's just Drake's melancholic voice and acoustic guitar that are at the center of all compositions. The album is featured on a long list of renowned "all-time best albums" including Rolling Stone Magazine's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" and "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Alas, Drake didn't experience much success in his lifetime but has become world famous long after his premature death from an overdose in 1974. Stylistically, the album is close to Leonard Cohen's debut album Songs of Leonard Cohen (1967) more than any other folk album of the time. This is so great that one only wonders how the release could pass so unnoticed. The title of the album apparently 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" (from wikipedia).
[ allmusic.com, SputnikMusic 5 / 5 stars ]
