Darker Than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake

by Trevor Dann

Book Overview

When Nick Drake (1948-1974) died of a drug overdose at twenty-six, he left behind three modest-selling albums, including the stark Pink Moon and the lush Bryter Layter. Three decades later, he is recognized as one of the true geniuses of English acoustic music. Yet Nick Drake--whose music was as gentle and melancholy as the man himself-- has always maintained a spectral presence in popular music. This groundbreaking biography reconstructs...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306815206
• ISBN13: 9780306815201
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Who is Nick Drake?

I must admit, I never heard of Nick Drake until Heath Ledger's passing. Heath mentioned he was a huge fan of Nick Drake. Out of curiosity, I ordered the book. Excellent. Very sad life of a talented individual. It shows you, all the fame in the world is just not enough..

I am almost done with it and I LOVE IT!

I will forget half the book if I don't write down my review first. I love Nick Drake and his music is a hard pill to swallow for some, but the poor thing had so much going for him and the company he kept was unreal!! You really get a view into the man's music and how the people about him got frustrated by his shyness and reclusive nature. He played for The Stones (at a dinner table) he hung with Winwood's brother, had Richard Thompson on his records, he traveled Europe-UGH! But as you read it the realization of how he brought up (English style), how he was perceived is exactly how he re acted to those around him. Painfully shy and aloof...If he had been properly diagnosed with his depression early on, I think he would been a lot more popular. But like most artists, a dead one is a good one...I loved it...it was a good read.

the 2nd book of nick

While it has been compared to Patrick Humphries scholarly biography, for not having revealed new insight, it does act as a worthy companion. Especially for Drake'o'philes. Much like his posthumous recordings, they are not definitive, but every new little artifact helps piece a bit more of this man's remarkable (and very short) career together.

Easy to read, but tinged w/some speculation

Dann's writing style makes this book perhaps more user friendly than Humphries. I enjoyed the book, with the exception of some speculative aspects, especially concerning possible childhood abuse and his characterization of Nick as a much heavier drug user than the majority of the sources suggest. All evidence available points to a loving family, with a sister still dedicated to preserving her brother's legacy to this day. It could be easy to see how a Father hoping his son would become a doctor or engineer like himself might be disappointed with a musical career choice, but there is nothing to indicate anything untoward. Had there been, perhaps Nick would have gone to live with good friend Billy Squier, rather than go home to Far Leys towards the end. The book is easy to read and with a more streamlined approach than Humphries, with all it's information on the music scene in London in the late 60's. But then, Humphries didn't go to Cambridge as a student and request Nick's old room number, as Dann evidently did. Both books together dovetail nicely, but in Joe Boyd's brief chapters on Nick in White Bicyles, the man came alive more than in either of these two books.

Definitive, well written and authoratative

This book is a real achievement. Trevor Dann has done what no one has done before for Nick Drake. Based upon extensive research and careful reconstruction of known data Dann has put together a coherent description of Nick's childhood, school years, recording years and final decline. Important new facts were uncovered, many of which were crucial to the assembly of a coherent understanding of Nick's life, music and death. I never understood how someone with such talent, from a background of such privilege and from a much touted loving home found so little solace, in the love and support that family provided when he was depressed because his records didn't sell. Now I believe I understand. Questions about his sexual orientation are answered from new interviews, in the words of many people who knew him. In short, after reading this book, all of the remaining questions that I had regarding Nick have been answered, and what is more, the answers "feel right". The book is also a wonderful read. It is very well written, and each sentence is packed with information. There is no sense of things having been added as filler. All such supporting materials are put in appendices at the back of the book. This is an extraordinary first book for Dann, tackling a difficult subject, three decades after Drake's death; it surely is an excellent example of careful, respectful, forensic research, that comes off both literate and authoritative.