"River Man" | ||||
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Single by Nick Drake | ||||
from the album Five Leaves Left | ||||
B-side | "Day is Done" | |||
Released | 13 September 2004 | |||
Recorded | 1969 | |||
Genre | Folk baroque, baroque pop | |||
Length | 4:21 | |||
Label | Island (UK), Elektra (US) | |||
Songwriter(s) | Nick Drake | |||
Producer(s) | Robert Kirby and Joe Boyd | |||
Nick Drake singles chronology | ||||
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Music audio | ||||
"River Man" on YouTube from Peel Sessions |
"River Man" is the second listed song from Nick Drake's 1969 album Five Leaves Left . According to Drake's manager, Joe Boyd, Drake thought of the song as the centrepiece of the album. In 2004, the song was remastered and released as a 7" vinyl and as enhanced CD single, including a music video by Tim Pope.
On 5 August 1969 Drake recorded the song for BBC's Peel Sessions , in his only session for the show. [1]
The song is in a 5/4 time signature and is one of the few songs Drake wrote to be played in standard tuning. The string arrangement was composed by Harry Robertson (aka Harry Robinson) after Drake's friend Robert Kirby felt he couldn't compose it alone, although he did most of the arrangements on Five Leaves Left. [2]
Drake did not reveal the identity of the 'Betty' character in the lyrics, although Trevor Dann speculated that she may have been drawn from Betty Foy, a character in Wordsworth's "The Idiot Boy", a poem Drake had studied while attending Cambridge. [3] However, the only similarity to the poem is the existence of a Betty. [4]
Nicholas Rodney Drake was an English musician. An accomplished acoustic guitarist, Drake signed to Island Records at the age of twenty while still a student at the University of Cambridge. His debut album, Five Leaves Left, was released in 1969, and was followed by two more albums, Bryter Layter (1971) and Pink Moon (1972). While Drake did not reach a wide audience during his brief lifetime, his music found critical acclaim and he gradually received wider recognition following his death.
Bridget St John is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for the three albums she recorded between 1969 and 1972 for John Peel's Dandelion record label. Peel produced her debut album, Ask Me No Questions. She also recorded a large number of BBC Radio and Peel sessions and toured regularly on the British college and festival circuit.
Five Leaves Left is the debut studio album by English folk musician Nick Drake. Recorded between 1968 and 1969, it was released in 1969 by Island Records.
Robert Bruce Kirby was an English arranger of string sections for rock and folk music. He worked on the Nick Drake albums, Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, and with Vashti Bunyan, Elton John, Ralph McTell, Strawbs, Paul Weller and Elvis Costello.
Daniel Henry Edward Thompson is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist. He has had a long musical career playing with a large variety of other musicians, particularly Richard Thompson and John Martyn.
Trevor John Dann is an English writer and broadcaster best known for his radio and print journalism with BBC Radio, Q magazine, Mojo, and The Guardian, and his critically praised 2006 "Darker Than the Deepest Sea" biography of Nick Drake.
Henry MacLeod Robertson, often credited as Harry Robinson, was a Scottish musician, bandleader, music director and composer. He worked as a musical director on British television shows in the 1950s and 1960s, and also arranged for theatre shows and films, notably those of the Hammer production company.
Made to Love Magic is a 2004 compilation album of outtakes and remixes by English singer/songwriter Nick Drake. It features a previously unreleased solo acoustic version of "River Man", dating from early 1968, and the song "Tow the Line", a previously unheard song from Drake's final session in July 1974. The compilation reached #27 on the UK Albums Chart.
The discography of Nick Drake, an English folk musician and singer-songwriter, consists of three studio albums, five singles, seven compilation albums, two box sets, one video album and various soundtrack and compilation appearances.
Way to Blue: An Introduction to Nick Drake is a 1994 compilation album featuring tracks by English singer/songwriter Nick Drake, taken from his original three albums plus Time of No Reply. The album reached gold certificate in the U.K. on 30 September 1999 after selling 100,000 copies. In United States in the year 2000 sales have jumped to 67,916 units.
Time of No Reply is a 1987 compilation album featuring outtakes and alternative versions of songs by English folk singer Nick Drake. It was also included as the fourth disc of the 1987 version of the Nick Drake box set Fruit Tree.
"Northern Sky" is a song from the English singer-songwriter Nick Drake's 1971 album Bryter Layter, produced by Joe Boyd. During the recording sessions for the album, the chronically shy and withdrawn songwriter formed a friendship and a mentorship of sorts with producer Joe Boyd, an early supporter of Drake. Boyd saw commercial potential in the acoustic and unaccompanied demo version of the song, and recruited former Velvet Underground member John Cale as producer. Cale added piano, organ and celesta arrangements, initially against Drake's wishes.
The Seaside is the third demo album from English rock group Cardiacs. The album originally featured the second recording of what would become the band's only hit single, "Is This the Life?". It is the last of the band's releases to feature keyboard player/drummer/singer Mark Cawthra and the first to feature keyboard player William D. Drake.
The North Star Grassman and the Ravens is a 1971 album by English folk rock singer-songwriter Sandy Denny. Built mostly around her own compositions, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens is distinguished by its elusive lyrics and unexpected harmonies.
Heaven in a Wild Flower is a 1985 compilation album featuring tracks by English singer/songwriter Nick Drake, taken from Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter and Pink Moon. The title of the compilation is taken from the lines of William Blake poem Auguries of Innocence. The album does not feature any of Drake's posthumously released material and because of the availability of more comprehensive compilations, such as Way to Blue and Fruit Tree, this collection is largely out of print.
"Magic" is the second listed song from Nick Drake's 2004 compilation album Made to Love Magic and was remastered and released as a single in 2004. The single was released on both CD and vinyl record formats, with Bryter Layter track "Northern Sky" as a B-side.
Nick Drake is an American-only LP compilation release by English folk musician Nick Drake. It was released in August 1971 as SMAS-9307, shortly after Island Records had started selling their own records in the U.S. At the time, they were distributed by Capitol Records.
A Treasury is a Nick Drake compilation aimed at the audiophile audience. Released in the UK on 27 September 2004 and in the US on 26 October 2004, it was available as both a hybrid multichannel SACD and a 180 gram vinyl LP. To promote the compilation, a single was issued for the song "River Man", released on CD and 7" vinyl in the UK on 13 September 2004.
William Derek Drake is an English musician, keyboardist, pianist, composer and singer-songwriter. He is best known as a former member of the cult English rock band Cardiacs, whom he played with for nine years between 1983 and 1992. He has also been a member of the Sea Nymphs, North Sea Radio Orchestra, Nervous, Wood, Lake of Puppies and The Grown-Ups, as well as pursuing a career as a solo artist.