I suppose it's for two reasons that I often think of Nick Drake as music's equivalent to John Keats: 1. They both produced a very high percentage of masterpieces in a short career. 2. They both died in their mid-twenties. Drake recorded three albums during his lifetime - Five Leaves Left (1969), Bryter Layter (1970), and Pink Moon (1972). Each one is brilliant and completely distinctive from the others, but not one of them sold more than five thousand copies upon its initial release. With time, and numerous cover versions (the great jazz pianist Brad Mehldau has covered at least three of his songs) - it's become clear that he was a musician of the very highest rank. (Aside to the critics who gave bad reviews to these records: You will be forgiven, and feel much better, if and when you stop writing about music.) I'm going to write at least one post on each of them, and I'm going to start tomorrow with Bryter Layter, which I've been listening to daily for about the past three weeks. Here's a sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Va1xJUjC0