Nick Drake’s estate has announced a massive box set, The Making of Five Leaves Left, set for release on July 25th.

The collection commemorates Drake’s 1969 debut album, Five Leaves Left, and includes more than 30 previously-unheard outtakes and demos from the album’s writing and recording sessions. The package arrives in a 4LP or 4CD box set featuring 42 total recordings (including the original 10-track album), along with a 60-page illustrated book including recording details, charts and recording history.

The whole set of recordings were mastered by John Wood and Simon Heywood; the unreleased outtakes and demos were carefully curated from Drake’s sessions from May 1968 and April 1969 at Sound Techniques in London. They’ve also shared an early recording of “Strange Face” as the first offering from Five Leaves Left.

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A project over nine years in the making, the box set has been released outside the typical anniversary milestone mark as Drake’s estate wished “that the listener concentrate on the beauty within the original released studio recordings.” After the discovery of new tapes and a re-organization of the Universal tape library, Drake’s sister Gabrielle felt the time was right to finish compiling and share The Making of Five Leaves Left. Regarding track choice and order, a press release notes that they were selected and arranged “to tell the story as faithfully as possible, and not simply to release all the takes on all of the tapes.”

About the recordings, the Island Book of Records editor Neil Storey says, “In any studio, what happens behind the closed door of a session is always the same. Some takes go down perfectly, some don’t. It’s the nature of the process. On these reels, no one was surprised to find Nick occasionally miscuing a vocal or guitar part, Danny Thompson blundering over a bass line or a string section coming in half a bar behind. All that happened. Not often, but it did. Even so, those few-and-far-between gaffes were part of the story because the chosen music would detail the evolutionary process of Five Leaves Left.”

Though Drake passed away in 1974 at the age of 26, his legacy as a singer-songwriter has continued to blossom over the last 50 years. Back in 2023, a myriad of artists came together for The Endless Coloured Ways – The Songs of Nick Drake, an anthology tribute album featuring Drake renditions from Fontaines D.C., Philip Selway, Feist, Bombay Bicycle Club, Liz Phair, and more.

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The Making of Five Leaves Left Album Artwork:

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Nick Drake the making of five leaves left box set

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The Making of Five Leaves Left Tracklist:

LP1 – 1st Sound Techniques Session — A.K.A. The Beverley Martyn demo & Alt Takes from February 1968 to April 1969
Side A
01. Mayfair – 1st Sound Techniques Session – March 1968
02. Time Has Told Me – 1st Sound Techniques Session – March 1968
03. Man In A Shed- 1st Sound Techniques Session – March 1968
04. Fruit Tree – 1st Sound Techniques Session – March 1968
05. Saturday Sun – 1st Sound Techniques Session – March 1968
06. Strange Face – 1st Sound Techniques Session – March 1968

Side B
01. Strange Face – Rough Mix with Guide Vocal – September 1968
02. Day Is Done – Take 5 – April 1968
03. Day Is Done – Take 2 – November 1968
04. Day Is Done – Take 7 – April 1969
05. Man In A Shed – Take 1 – May 1968
06. My Love Left With The Rain – Cambridge, Lent Term 1968

LP2 – Paul de Rivaz Reel – October 1968 / Out-Takes November 1968
Side A
01. Blossom – Cambridge, Lent Term 1968
02. Instrumental – Cambridge, Lent Term 1968
03. Made To Love Magic – Cambridge, Lent Term 1968
04. Mickey’s Tune – Cambridge, Lent Term 1968
05. The Thoughts of Mary Jane – Cambridge, Lent Term 1968
06. Day Is Done – Cambridge, Lent Term 1968
07. Time Has Told Me – Cambridge, Lent Term 1968

Side B
01. Three Hours – Take 2 – November 1968
02. Time Has Told Me – Take 4 – November 1968
03. Strange Face – Take 1 – November 1968
04. Saturday Sun – Take 1 – November 1968
05. Fruit Tree – Take 4 – November 1968

LP3 – Out-Takes from December 1968 to April 1969
Side A
01. Time of No Reply – Take 3 into Take 4 – December 1968
02. ‘Cello Song – Take 4 – January 1969
03. Mayfair – Take 5 – January 1969
04. River Man – Take 1 – January 1969

Side B
01. Way To Blue – Cambridge – Winter 1968
02. The Thoughts of Mary Jane – Take 2 – April 1969
03. Saturday Sun – Take 1 into Take 2 – April 1969
04. River Man – Take 2 – April 1969

LP4 – The Original Album – Released 3rd July 1969
Side A
01. Time Has Told Me
02. River Man
03. Three Hours
04. Way To Blue
05. Day Is Done

Side B
01. ‘Cello Song
02. The Thoughts of Mary Jane
03. Man In A Shed
04. Fruit Tree
05. Saturday Sun

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Nick Drake the making of five leaves left box set

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