Darker Than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake
by Trevor Dann
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Book Summary Information
Author: Trevor DannEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-09-12
ISBN: 0306815206
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Book Reviews of Darker Than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake
Book Review: An informative look at Drake, somewhat coined by too much speculation
Summary: 3 Stars
Let us settle here and now that to cover the life of Nick Drake convincingly, without leaning on the endless myth-making which has affected his image for years and which I believe to be largely inaccurate, is not an easy task. Although his life turned out to be all too brief, what makes it difficult to do him justice in the context of a biography is that this brief life became so increasingly painful towards the end, with the young man becoming all the more depressed for reasons of which we cannot be sure. At the same time, Drake's sad and tragic end should not be the thing for which he is remembered in retrospect; what makes this person relevant to so many to this day, nearly four decades after his death, is the fact that he was one of the most brilliant singer-songwriters in history to emerge, resulting in three classic folk-rock albums.
With DARKER THAN THE DEEPEST SEA: THE SEARCH FOR NICK DRAKE, Trevor Dann has written the second full-length biography on Drake to date (the first one having been authored a decade before by Patrick Humphries), and having read the book from cover to cover two times by now, I'll first and foremost thank him for unveiling much information about Drake of which I wasn't aware previously. Dann's book is an improvement on Humphries' biography in the sense that Dann was able to talk with several more people who knew Nick, most notably his sister Gabrielle. The memories of Nick's sister are of great value not only due to the factual information that they provide, but also because they largely contrast the mythological image of Nick's as an all-tortured soul. By pointing out several happy and fun memories of her brother and their family, Gabrielle helps to humanize Nick in the public eye. Dann has also managed to arrange extensive interviews with people who worked with Nick, such as Joe Boyd, as well as high school friends and one of his girlfriends. As Dann lived the era he writes about himself, he succeeds quite well in placing Nick into an historical context, discussing how the artist was probably some years ahead of his time.
Unfortunately, Dann succeeds not nearly as well when he begins to speculate on Nick's increasingly uncertain mental state towards the end of his life. Granted, Drake's strong depressions is a subject difficult to cover without some degree of speculation, as not even people who knew Nick well has been able to nail down an explanation for his condition (he probably wouldn't have been able to do so himself). However, just for that reason, I think Dann should be more careful when he brings a theory to the table; for a subject so uncertain as Drake's depressions, he speculates way too much. I have never seen the possibility of child abuse brought up elsewhere, and while Nick smoking marijuhana quite definitely didn't improve his condition, possibly the contrary, Dann has no evidence, as far as I can see, to back up his theory that it caused schizophrenic tendencies in him. Furthermore, I am somewhat bothered by some of Dann's notes on Drake's songs towards the end of the book; why does he find it puzzling that the song "Northern Sky" is placed so far into the album BRYTER LAYTER as track no. 09? I agree the song is a masterpiece, but does that mean it must be placed as an earlier track? I think Nick and his producer knew what they were doing when they decided to let the song play as the near-finale on the album.
Despite my reservations, DARKER THAN THE DEEPEST SEA: THE SEARCH FOR NICK DRAKE is by all means worth to read to any fan of Drake. Dann is a good writer, who should be congratulated for making much unknown information about Nick accessible. It is evident that Dann is a fan of Drake, but this doesn't lead to sugarcoating. The book should, however, at times be read with a skeptical eye, for some speculation which, to me, seems rather far-fetched.
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