| | Nick Drake Bryter Layter CD Nick Drake Discography of CDs
 (4 Customer Reviews)
"At the Chime of a City Clock" finds Drake facing existential despair at every turn, despite an almost-lugubrious string arrangement. Perhaps the crucial moment of BRYTER LAYTER occurs on "Poor Boy," where female backing vocalists literally mock the singer's anguished laments. Clearly, for as much as Drake's heart and soul were bared in every note of his music, he was self-aware enough to know that his disillusioned-romantic view of the world was one that put him on the fringes of society. Of course, some 25 years later, his early-1970s work would find a much wider audience, even though the initial era of the sensitive singer/songwriter had long since passed.
Reissue of the late British folk icon's 1970 sophomore album. Ten tracks. Island.
After crafting a debut album full of beauteous, somber chamber-folk, Nick Drake pulled something of an about-face with the follow-up, BRYTER LAYTER. With a bright, sparkling production and orchestrations that occasionally border on Easy Listening, the framework is light and airy where FIVE LEAVES LEFT was dark and foreboding. The key, however, is that Drake's artfully expressed inner turmoil peeks through at every turn in the lyrics and in his understated-but-heartfelt vocal delivery.
Personnel: Nick Drake (vocals, guitar); Richard Thompson (guitar); John Cale (viola, piano, celesta, harpsichord, organ); Lyn Dobson (flute); Ray Warleigh (alto saxophone); Paul Harris , Chris McGregor (piano); Dave Pegg (bass instrument); Dave Mattacks, Mike Kowalski (drums); Doris Troy, Pat Arnold (background vocals).
Entertainment Weekly (5/12/00, p.24) - "The exquisiteness of the first album is expanded upon in 'Hazey Jane I', 'Fly' and a genuinely optimistic love song, 'Northern Sky'..." - Rating: B+
Q (1/01, p.95) - Included in Q's "5 Best Re-Issues of 2000".
Q (6/00, p.76) - Ranked #23 in Q's "100 Greatest British Albums" - "...Few songwriters have given such perfect voice to the England of dreaming spires, tea cups and quiet desperation..."
Alternative Press (3/01, p.88) - "...With a voice paradoxically feather-light and grave, [one] of the most beautiful and melancholy albums ever recorded..."
Mojo (Publisher) (7/00, p.99) - "...Certainly the most polished of his catalog....[It[ begins to suggest a whole other tableau of unexplored possibilities....God, how damn confident it all sounds. He knew how good he was..."
NME (Magazine) (9/18/93, p.19) - Ranked #14 in NME's list of The Greatest Albums Of The '70s. Bryter Layter Music | List Price | $9.98 (You save $1.89) | | Category | Rock/Pop Albums, Pop CDs, Folk, Singer/Songwriter, British Folk Rock, Rock | | Label | Island | | Orig Year | 1970 | | All Time Sales Rank |  1954  | | CD Universe Part number | 2578197 | | Catalog number | 846005 | | Discs | 1 | | Release Date | May 06, 2003 | | Studio/Live | Studio | | Mono/Stereo | Stereo | | Producer | Joe Boyd | | Engineer | John Wood | | Recording Time | 39 minutes | | Personnel | Dave Mattacks
Paul Harris
Dave Pegg - bass instrument
Nick Drake - vocals, guitar
Pat Arnold - background vocals
Mike Kowalski - drums
Ray Warleigh - alto saxophone
Lyn Dobson - flute
Chris McGregor - piano
Also: Doris Troy, Richard Thompson, Richard Thompson, John Cale | | Additional Info | Remastered |
Nick Drake Bryter Layter Songs Bryter Layter Music Review Average Rating: (4.8 out of 5 stars)  Nick Drake's Jazziest Outing
'Five Leaves Left' was sad, but beautiful baroque British folk. 'Pink Moon' was brooding, melancholy, and, excepting piano on a few tracks, was Drake playing guitar by himself.
'Bryter Layter' is Nick Drake's second outing (out of the three albums he released in his all-too-short lifetime), and with the addition of string, horn, and flute arrangements, also makes it jazzy if anything else. This makes 'Bryter Layter' Nick Drake's least melancholy album - though make no mistake, his trademark sadness was simply brightened up a bit by the string, horn, and flute arrangements. However, even if Drake recorded the most joyous music ever put to wax in his short lifetime, you still couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness when listening at the realization that he could have accomplished so much more.
Submitted by Matt (Palos Park, IL)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No 1 of 1 found this helpful.  beautiful
the sencibility and creativity of a beautiful mind.
Submitted by carlomanuel (Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
Thank you Nick!
Outside classical, I have never heard any more beautiful music than Drake's! AMAZING!
Submitted by Rockin in (Atlanta, GA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Amazing album and artist
This album is my personal favorite of three made during Nick Drake's life, great tracks include Fly, Northern Sky and of course the Hazey Janes among others. I love to listen to this album in full because it is set up so wonderfully, it seems to have an opening and a closing. Great album a MUST have.
Submitted by a reviewer (Wayne, PA, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No shining bryte
the first track hooks you and from there on it just gets better he manages to evoke strong feelings with his haunting melodies and his deep lyrics his voice is almost hypnotic absolutely brilliant
Submitted by philmce (Liverpool England)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
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Mail-order reissue label Collectors' Choice Music combines two relatively obscure Four Seasons titles on this CD: Half & Half (originally released in May 1970), an LP that, as its name suggests, consists of half Four Seasons numbers (tracks two, four, six, eight, and ten) and half solo performances by the group's lead singer, Frankie Valli (tracks one, three, five, seven, and nine); and Helicon (April 1977). The Four Seasons ranked among the ten most successful pop singles acts of the 1960s, but by 1970 their star had dimmed. Valli, who had launched a concurrent solo career in a slightly more middle-of-the-road style, had also fallen from grace after scoring a few hits. Philips Records, which had both acts on its roster, allowed them to throw together the combined album Half & Half, which featured minor chart singles each had enjoyed in the previous year, "The Girl I'll Never Know (Angels Never Fly This Low)" for Valli and "And That Reminds Me" for the Four Seasons. The new recordings found the group backing away from the psychedelic ambitions of their previous album, 1969's The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette, and returning to a more mainstream pop sound. The standout songs were "To Make My Father Proud," a personal statement co-written by producer Bob Crewe and emotionally sung by Valli with the group, and Valli's solo cover of Laura Nyro's "Emily." The closing medley of Burt Bacharach and Bob Hilliard's "Any Day Now" and the gospel hit "Oh Happy Day" was also effective. Philips, however, released "Patch of Blue" as the album's single, probably because of its anthemic quality and its Brill Building sound (there was a hint of "Spanish Harlem" in there somewhere), but its failure (it only reached number 94) doomed the LP, and after a couple more singles Valli and the Four Seasons parted ways with the company.
Helicon picks up the story quite a ways down the road. After the group's unsuccessful stint at Motown in the early '70s, Valli made a comeback with "My Eyes Adored You," a number one hit in 1975, and then brought the Four Seasons back with the successive hits "Who Loves You" and "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" in 1975-1976. Particularly on the latter song, Valli himself took a back seat role in favor of drummer/singer Gerry Polci, although he chimed in often enough to be recognizable. It was his plan, however, to bow out of the group in favor of his solo career, but leave it as an ongoing entity. Thus, Helicon, which, like its predecessor, the Who Loves You LP, was produced by the Four Seasons' major creative force, Bob Gaudio (who again composed all the music and co-wrote the lyrics with his wife, Judy Parker), was intended ...
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