“The Making Of Five Leaves Left”, , is an expansive four-disc box set that revisits Nick Drake’s iconic 1969 debut album “Five Leaves Left”. This landmark edition will be available in both 4CD and 4LP vinyl formats, each featuring the same carefully curated track-listing, and provides an in-depth journey into one of folk music’s most enduring works.
Originally issued by Island Records in 1969, “Five Leaves Left” was produced by the acclaimed Joe Boyd and helped lay the foundation for Nick Drake’s timeless, delicate approach to songwriting. While the album initially found only modest recognition, Drake’s singular artistry steadily gained momentum in the decades following his untimely passing, influencing generations of musicians and garnering an ever-growing fanbase.
Nick Drake’s catalogue is more popular than ever—streams of his music number in the hundreds of millions, an indication of how deeply his introspective style and poetic lyricism resonate with modern audiences.
“The Making Of Five Leaves” Left offers a deeper look into that singular vision, featuring: Over 30 Previously Unheard Outtakes: These studio outtakes, alternate versions, and unaccompanied demos grant fans a unique window into Drake’s creative process.
Never-Before-Heard Songs: Previously unknown recordings that bring fresh perspective to the artist’s body of work. The set includes Nick’s first ever session at Sound Techniques – found on a mono listening-reel which Beverley Martyn had squirrelled away over fifty years ago. It also contains the full reel recorded at Caius College by Cambridge acquaintance Paul de Rivaz which had lay in the bottom of a drawer for decades, accompanying him and his family around the world.
DISC ONE: The opening six songs contain Nick’s first ever session at Sound Techniques that were found on the mono listening-reel which Beverley Martyn had squirrelled away in a drawer over fifty years ago. It is safe to assume it’s in exactly the same order as Joe Boyd and John Wood recorded it. Certainly ‘Mayfair’ and ‘Time Has Told Me’, which segue into one another, are the first two tracks they recorded – otherwise why would Joe say what he says right at the very start?
The following six songs open with a radically different take of ‘Strange Face’. Never finished but showing how it could have ended up if Nick had chosen to continue down that particular musical path. While the Richard Hewson session was aborted an element has to play a part, otherwise we’d not be telling the story properly. How best to illustrate this? To demonstrate how one of Nick’s songs developed, we married Richard’s original orchestration of ‘Day Is Done’ which features Nick singing but not playing via his and Danny Thompson’s second stab at it in November before Robert Kirby’s strings accompany Nick’s guitar as sessions for the album were coming to a close almost a year later. This led us to the undated Paul de Rivaz reel – the likely purpose of which was to help Nick and Robert better prepare for a concert planned for February 23rd, 1968.
Sonically, there is a major difference from recordings made at Sound Techniques and those in a fellow undergraduate’s room captured on rudimentary equipment. To ease that transition we have Nick explaining how he sees ‘My Love Left With The Rain’ evolving, suggesting he’d like ‘to get as expansive a sound as possible’.
DISC TWO: The first seven songs are all from the de Rivaz reel and the following five are the best never before heard takes from the first two days of Nick’s collaboration with Danny Thompson.
DISC THREE: For the next eight songs, we’ve more or less stayed in sequence of recording dates. There is no way of being certain, but since ‘River Man’ had not been previously recorded possibly indicates Nick had only recently completed writing it.
Strictly speaking, the final four titles are out of sequence. ‘Way To Blue’ can be narrowed down to an unspecified date during the winter of 1968. As the recording dates show, ‘Saturday Sun’ was the final track on the album to be recorded yet, it didn’t feel right to conclude the story of “The Making Of Five Leaves Left” with anything other than the first full take of Harry Robinson’s orchestration of ‘River Man’.
DISC FOUR: The final disc completes the cycle. It is “Five Leaves Left” just as Joe and John sequenced it, as Nick first heard it in completed form, and the same as he handed his sister in her London flat in mid-June 1969. Gabrielle Drake: “I suspect I got the very first copy. Nick must’ve had that moment of seeing himself on the cover, his music inside, and, it is so typical of Nick because all he said was, ‘Well… there you are.’ As I’ve said many times, he really was a man of few words.”
The re-master dates from 2000 when all of Nick’s albums were re-mastered for CD by John Wood and Simon Heyworth. When John went to Abbey Road in 2013 to re-remaster the tapes for vinyl reissues, he discovered the original analogue masters had, fractionally, deteriorated. Tapes degrade over time, both the oxide layer and the tape base can be affected by age. Therefore, the 24bit files captured from 2000 remain the superior version – “Five Leaves Left” sounding as good as it can be.
Mastering by John Wood: The entire set has been mastered by the original engineer, ensuring the sonic integrity of Nick Drake’s music is preserved and enhanced for today’s listeners. Included is a comprehensive 60-Page Book: Penned by Hidden Masters’ Neil Storey in collaboration with Richard Morton-Jack, this richly illustrated volume—printed on textured paper stock—delves into the album’s recording history, featuring full track recording details and an insider’s look at Drake’s enduring legacy.
By shining a spotlight on the evocative songs that shaped “Five Leaves Left”, this definitive box set pays tribute to Nick Drake’s far-reaching influence on folk, singer-songwriter, and indie music circles alike. The musician’s gentle, introspective style—once underappreciated—has become a touchstone for countless artists, proving that a true visionary’s work can find new audiences and deeper acclaim as time goes on.
“The Making Of Five Leaves Left” will be available on July 25th, 2025
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