Found this on Jam!:
LONDON (AP) -- Brad Pitt will narrate a British Broadcasting Corp. radio series about one of his musical idols, Nick Drake.
The BBC said Tuesday that the actor had recorded a two-part documentary about Drake, which will air on music station Radio 2 next month.
The plaintive singer-songwriter recorded three albums before his death from a drug overdose in 1974 at 26. Although he was a commercial failure during his lifetime, many bands have said he was a major influence, from R.E.M. to The Cure.
"I was introduced to Nick Drake's music about five years ago, and am a huge admirer of his records," Pitt said. "When Radio 2 approached me to get involved in this project, I was delighted to be asked and pleased that I was able to fit it into my schedule."
Pitt, due to start filming soon on "Ocean's Twelve," the sequel to "Ocean's Eleven," recorded his voiceover in Los Angeles last week, the BBC said.
"Lost Boy -- In Search of Nick Drake" is scheduled to air May 22.
Upcoming BBC Radio programme on Nick Drake
Upcoming BBC Radio programme on Nick Drake
This morning you've got time for a hot, home-cooked breakfast! Delicious and piping hot in only 3 microwave minutes.
I discovered Nick Drake through Elvis .When Elvis worked with Robert Kirby for a live orchestral show in 1981 he made a comment about having always liked Kirby`s work with Nick . That - then as now - was enough reason for me to check him out. Back then , of course , it was impossible to get Nick`s discs in Dublin. I remember giving a friend who was visiting London money with the basic request to get anything by him. He arrived back with Five Leaves Left and I`ve been listening to Nick since.
I remember visiting Tanworth-of-Arden , his home village , in the late 1980`s. The bus from Birmingham had gone through it before I realised so ; the driver seemed astonished that anyone would want to
get of there. Now , I gather , you can nearly get guided tours. Hopefully Brad`s involvement will introduce more to this amazing but tragic talent.
I remember visiting Tanworth-of-Arden , his home village , in the late 1980`s. The bus from Birmingham had gone through it before I realised so ; the driver seemed astonished that anyone would want to
get of there. Now , I gather , you can nearly get guided tours. Hopefully Brad`s involvement will introduce more to this amazing but tragic talent.
Nick's three albums are definitely essential parts of my personal collection. I bought Bryter Layter when I was in Liverpool in 2000. Totally on a whim, having never heard any Nick Drake before.
The perfect mingling of folk and jazz.
The perfect mingling of folk and jazz.
This morning you've got time for a hot, home-cooked breakfast! Delicious and piping hot in only 3 microwave minutes.
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Jackson Monk
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Otis Westinghouse
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Jackson Doofster
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There is no other artiste that relaxes me like Nick Drake. I put on Bryter Layter and I just chill out and think of summer...a great loss to the world of music was Nick 
Last edited by Jackson Doofster on Fri Apr 09, 2004 9:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
"But they can't hold a candle to the reciprical war crimes which have plagued our policy of foriegn affairs."
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Jackson Doofster
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Please note that Jackson Doofster is one and the same person as Jackson Monk....I use 3 computers (two at work and one at home and can never remember my passwords....
I have no intention of trying to defraud, insult or mislead anyone and I am fully dressed whilst posting this message..
Peace and Love
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"But they can't hold a candle to the reciprical war crimes which have plagued our policy of foriegn affairs."
Great Drake article here
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/stor ... 26,00.html
-extract
Among the archives unearthed were a version of 'Three Days' featuring the late Kwaku Baah on congas - and a tape of Drake performing 'River Man' in Kirby's room at Cambridge. Kirby also informed Gabrielle that he still had his original never-recorded arrangements for 'I Was Made to Love Magic' and 'Time of No Reply'. A string octet was duly summoned to the studio, in the process astrally chauffeuring Kirby 36 years back to Cambridge, where these arrangements were last performed: 'You know sometimes, when you catch a smell from long ago, and it knocks you for six? Having the musicians there, and Nick's voice coming out of the speakers once again ... I momentarily lost it. Quite amazing.'
For his part, Wood listened to every reel in the archive. Alighting upon the final four songs recorded by Drake, he pressed play and began to make notes before setting about mixing them for this putative release. After 'Black-Eyed Dog' ran its course, Wood let the tape run on. Gabrielle picks up the story: 'That day I was dashing off to rehearsals somewhere else and I just nipped into the studio. I walked down the passageway and John said, "We've got another song!" He had forgotten. They had a fifth song, but he had forgotten all about it. The funny thing was that afterwards I came across a piece of paper with five titles written on it - one of which was "Tow the Line". They had ticks beside them. In Nick's writing.'
So ... a 'new' Nick Drake song. If the notion sounds odd, the reality is only slightly less unnerving than having a black-eyed dog call at your door. Regardless of what it sounded like, 'Tow the Line' would have been the most significant Drake discovery since his death. But the song itself is extraordinary; propelled chiefly by an insistent repeated note on the bass string, the haunting lyric takes on the form of a direct address to its subject: 'This day is the day that we rise or we fall/ This night is the night that we win or lose all ... If you call we will follow/ If you show us we can tow the line.'
John Wood says: 'It seems to me that if "Hanging on a Star" is about Joe Boyd, then "Tow the Line" probably is as well.' Boyd himself reserves judgment 'pending more listens'. He only heard the song for the first time when being interviewed for this piece. Robert Kirby feels that Drake's final song is a direct address to the muse which had all but deserted him in the latter two years of his life, a final attempt to shed his Cambridge persona - an admission that finally 'he is prepared to play the game. He'll go on the road. He'll be commercial'.
With almost comical understatement, Gabrielle describes it as 'a song of some resignation'. As well she might - its sentiments seem to tally closely with Gabrielle's long-held explanation of what may have been going through her brother's mind in the moments before his death: 'My feeling is that what happened was that he had all these pills, it certainly wasn't premeditated, that he just tipped them out into his hand, and threw them into his mouth and swallowed them - and thought, "What the hell, either I die or I live and things will be changed. Something different will happen."'
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/stor ... 26,00.html
-extract
Among the archives unearthed were a version of 'Three Days' featuring the late Kwaku Baah on congas - and a tape of Drake performing 'River Man' in Kirby's room at Cambridge. Kirby also informed Gabrielle that he still had his original never-recorded arrangements for 'I Was Made to Love Magic' and 'Time of No Reply'. A string octet was duly summoned to the studio, in the process astrally chauffeuring Kirby 36 years back to Cambridge, where these arrangements were last performed: 'You know sometimes, when you catch a smell from long ago, and it knocks you for six? Having the musicians there, and Nick's voice coming out of the speakers once again ... I momentarily lost it. Quite amazing.'
For his part, Wood listened to every reel in the archive. Alighting upon the final four songs recorded by Drake, he pressed play and began to make notes before setting about mixing them for this putative release. After 'Black-Eyed Dog' ran its course, Wood let the tape run on. Gabrielle picks up the story: 'That day I was dashing off to rehearsals somewhere else and I just nipped into the studio. I walked down the passageway and John said, "We've got another song!" He had forgotten. They had a fifth song, but he had forgotten all about it. The funny thing was that afterwards I came across a piece of paper with five titles written on it - one of which was "Tow the Line". They had ticks beside them. In Nick's writing.'
So ... a 'new' Nick Drake song. If the notion sounds odd, the reality is only slightly less unnerving than having a black-eyed dog call at your door. Regardless of what it sounded like, 'Tow the Line' would have been the most significant Drake discovery since his death. But the song itself is extraordinary; propelled chiefly by an insistent repeated note on the bass string, the haunting lyric takes on the form of a direct address to its subject: 'This day is the day that we rise or we fall/ This night is the night that we win or lose all ... If you call we will follow/ If you show us we can tow the line.'
John Wood says: 'It seems to me that if "Hanging on a Star" is about Joe Boyd, then "Tow the Line" probably is as well.' Boyd himself reserves judgment 'pending more listens'. He only heard the song for the first time when being interviewed for this piece. Robert Kirby feels that Drake's final song is a direct address to the muse which had all but deserted him in the latter two years of his life, a final attempt to shed his Cambridge persona - an admission that finally 'he is prepared to play the game. He'll go on the road. He'll be commercial'.
With almost comical understatement, Gabrielle describes it as 'a song of some resignation'. As well she might - its sentiments seem to tally closely with Gabrielle's long-held explanation of what may have been going through her brother's mind in the moments before his death: 'My feeling is that what happened was that he had all these pills, it certainly wasn't premeditated, that he just tipped them out into his hand, and threw them into his mouth and swallowed them - and thought, "What the hell, either I die or I live and things will be changed. Something different will happen."'
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Otis Westinghouse
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Maybe I should try and shed my Cambridge persona. Actually, I didn't know ND was anything to do with this ole town. So someone other than the Floyd/Syd Barrett putting Cambridge on the musical map. That and the fact that someone in Quiver was from here or lived here.
There's more to life than books, you know, but not much more
I`ve just got hold of a copy of this Nick Drake single. That is a NICK DRAKE 7" VINYL SINGLE . Lovely hard cardboard sleeve , a reproduction of a tear `n fold above the centre , clear plastic lining on the inside to protect the grooves....it's gorgeous.
I had orders in for it in a few Dublin disc stores. I would have preferred to get it from an indie store but they never seemed to get copies. Surprisingly enough big bad old Tower finally produced the goods .
Right now I'm just going to run my fingers over this for a while - I might be emotionally ready to play the disc - actually drop needle into groove! -........a...little...later......
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see
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 20-6161218
to order this .
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Otis Westinghouse
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It`s a trailer for this -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 20-6161218
Made to Love Magic
Nick Drake
Audio CD (May 24, 2004)
Extract from amazon review -
Magic is, nevertheless, essential. Consisting of rare and unheard tracks (many of which have even avoided the mucky paws of the keenest bootlegger) and compiled by those closest to him (sister Gabrielle, engineer John Wood and fellow Cambridge Uni student and string-arranger Robert Kirby) the album is a labour of love. Lost amateur recordings of Nick Drake at University in Cambridge, outtakes from the Five Leaves Left album, Robert Kirby's unused string arrangements for Magic and Time of No Reply finally restored, an early rendition of "Three Hours" featuring Rebop Kwaku Baah (Traffic, Can) on percussion and remixed versions of those despairing final songs from July 1974, including the newly discovered "Tow the Line".
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 20-6161218
Made to Love Magic
Nick Drake
Audio CD (May 24, 2004)
Extract from amazon review -
Magic is, nevertheless, essential. Consisting of rare and unheard tracks (many of which have even avoided the mucky paws of the keenest bootlegger) and compiled by those closest to him (sister Gabrielle, engineer John Wood and fellow Cambridge Uni student and string-arranger Robert Kirby) the album is a labour of love. Lost amateur recordings of Nick Drake at University in Cambridge, outtakes from the Five Leaves Left album, Robert Kirby's unused string arrangements for Magic and Time of No Reply finally restored, an early rendition of "Three Hours" featuring Rebop Kwaku Baah (Traffic, Can) on percussion and remixed versions of those despairing final songs from July 1974, including the newly discovered "Tow the Line".