Pink Moon
Encyclopedia
Pink Moon is the third and final album
by English
musician
Nick Drake
. It was recorded at midnight
in two separate two-hour sessions, over two days in October 1971, featuring only Nick Drake's vocals and guitar, as well as some piano later overdubbed by Drake on the title track.
attention, but decades after Drake's death it received widespread public and critical acclaim. The music on Pink Moon is sparse and unadorned (especially in comparison to Drake's previous recordings), leading some to consider it to be the least accessible of his three albums, though it nevertheless continues to be thought of by many of his fans as his greatest work.
In 1999, the title track was used in "Milky Way", a Volkswagen Cabriolet
commercial directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
and lensed
by Lance Acord
, leading to a large increase in record sales, and a number-five placing for Pink Moon in Amazon.com
's sales chart. In mid-2010, the "From The Morning" track was used in an AT&T
"Rethinking Possible" commercial.
The cover of the album features an illustration by the partner of Drake's sister Gabrielle
, Michael Trevithick.
placed Pink Moon at 48th in their list of 'All Time Top 100 Albums'.
In 2000, NME
ranked it #8 in The NME "Top 30 Heartbreak Albums."
In 2003, the album was ranked number 320 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
.
In 2004 was named the 13th on Top 100 Albums of the 1970s by Pitchfork Media
.
Entertainment Weekly
(12 May 2000, p. 24) - "One voice, one guitar, one set of beautifully dolorous songs...the equivalent of an amble down a darkened country road. Model after-hours listening." - Rating: A
Q
magazine (August 2000, pp. 112–3) - 5 stars out of 5 - "Nick Drake's best album....[Its] excellence shines through....Few records have ever sounded so intimate, or embodied Melancholy with such grace and assurance."
Alternative Press (March 2001, p. 88) - "With a voice paradoxically feather-light and grave, [one] of the most beautiful and melancholy albums ever recorded."
Mojo
(July 2000, p. 99) - "His masterpiece and the Robert Johnson comparisons are fully deserved."
Spin
(p. 101) - "[H]is Keatsian
mark on music is indelible."
Side one
Side two
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by English
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
. It was recorded at midnight
Midnight
Midnight is the transition time period from one day to the next: the moment when the date changes. In the Roman time system, midnight was halfway between sunset and sunrise, varying according to the seasons....
in two separate two-hour sessions, over two days in October 1971, featuring only Nick Drake's vocals and guitar, as well as some piano later overdubbed by Drake on the title track.
Album information
Initially, Pink Moon garnered a small amount of criticalMusic criticism
See also Music journalism for reporting on classical and popular music in the media.The Oxford Companion to Music defines music criticism as 'the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres'. In this...
attention, but decades after Drake's death it received widespread public and critical acclaim. The music on Pink Moon is sparse and unadorned (especially in comparison to Drake's previous recordings), leading some to consider it to be the least accessible of his three albums, though it nevertheless continues to be thought of by many of his fans as his greatest work.
In 1999, the title track was used in "Milky Way", a Volkswagen Cabriolet
Volkswagen Golf
The Volkswagen Golf is a small family car manufactured by Volkswagen since 1974 and marketed worldwide across six generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates – as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada , and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico .The...
commercial directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris are a team of American music video directors, also husband and wife, that received critical acclaim for their feature film directorial debut, Little Miss Sunshine....
and lensed
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
by Lance Acord
Lance Acord
Lance Acord, A.S.C. is an American cinematographer.Acord was born in Marin County, California. He attended Sir Francis Drake High School's School Within A School program and went on to study photography and filmmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute. He began his professional career with...
, leading to a large increase in record sales, and a number-five placing for Pink Moon in Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
's sales chart. In mid-2010, the "From The Morning" track was used in an AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
"Rethinking Possible" commercial.
The cover of the album features an illustration by the partner of Drake's sister Gabrielle
Gabrielle Drake
Gabrielle Drake is a British actress who was born in Lahore, British India and lived in several Far Eastern countries .-Career:...
, Michael Trevithick.
Reception and influence
In 2000, Melody MakerMelody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
placed Pink Moon at 48th in their list of 'All Time Top 100 Albums'.
In 2000, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
ranked it #8 in The NME "Top 30 Heartbreak Albums."
In 2003, the album was ranked number 320 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
.
In 2004 was named the 13th on Top 100 Albums of the 1970s by Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
.
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
(12 May 2000, p. 24) - "One voice, one guitar, one set of beautifully dolorous songs...the equivalent of an amble down a darkened country road. Model after-hours listening." - Rating: A
Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine (August 2000, pp. 112–3) - 5 stars out of 5 - "Nick Drake's best album....[Its] excellence shines through....Few records have ever sounded so intimate, or embodied Melancholy with such grace and assurance."
Alternative Press (March 2001, p. 88) - "With a voice paradoxically feather-light and grave, [one] of the most beautiful and melancholy albums ever recorded."
Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
(July 2000, p. 99) - "His masterpiece and the Robert Johnson comparisons are fully deserved."
Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
(p. 101) - "[H]is Keatsian
John Keats
John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death.Although his poems were not...
mark on music is indelible."
Track listing
All songs written and played by Nick Drake.Side one
- "Pink MoonPink Moon (song)"Pink Moon" is the opening track from Nick Drake's 1972 album of the same name.The song is unlike the other songs on Pink Moon because it has a short piano piece during the interlude, while other songs on the album only feature vocals and guitar played by Nick Drake.The song was used in a...
" – 2:06 - "Place to Be" – 2:43
- "Road" – 2:02
- "Which Will" – 2:58
- "Horn" – 1:23
- "Things Behind the Sun" – 3:57
Side two
- "Know" – 2:26
- "Parasite" – 3:36
- "Free Ride" – 3:06
- "Harvest Breed" – 1:37
- "From the Morning" – 2:30
Personnel
- Nick DrakeNick DrakeNicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
- vocals, acoustic guitar on all songs; pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
on "Pink Moon" - John Wood - productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
Releases
- 1972 - LP: Island ILPS 9184 / UK, original release on the first "palm tree" label
- 1972 - LP: Island SMAS 9318 / US, first US release
- 1980s - LP: Island ILPS 9184 / UK, re-release on the orange-blue "palm tree" label; Discogs
- 1990 - CD: Island IMCD 94 / Polygram 842 923-2; CD release within the Island MastersIsland MastersThis article is part of the Island Records discography.----In 1989 Island Records was sold to Polygram. Immediately Polygram started to re-release parts of the Island catalogue, mainly classics from the 1970s and good selling records from the 1980s within a midprice CD series called 'Island...
series; Discogs
- 1992 - CD: Hannibal HNCD 4436 / US; Discogs
- 2000 - CD: Island IMCD 94/ Universal 842 923, international re-release within the Island MastersIsland MastersThis article is part of the Island Records discography.----In 1989 Island Records was sold to Polygram. Immediately Polygram started to re-release parts of the Island catalogue, mainly classics from the 1970s and good selling records from the 1980s within a midprice CD series called 'Island...
series now labeled "Island Re-Masters" with additional slip cover, and original label reprint on the CD. - 2003 - CD: Island 422 842 923-2 / US; Discogs