Editing Nick Drake (section)

===''Bryter Layter'' (1971)===
[[File:Nick drake running man.jpg|thumb|Image of Drake by Keith Morris in 1969]]
Drake ended his studies at Cambridge nine months before graduation and in late 1969 moved to London. His father remembered "writing him long letters, pointing out the disadvantages of going away from Cambridge&nbsp;... a degree was a safety net, if you manage to get a degree, at least you have something to fall back on; his reply to that was that a safety net was the one thing he did not want."<ref name=ASTF/> Drake spent his first few months in London drifting from place to place, occasionally staying at his sister's [[Kensington]] flat but usually sleeping on friends' sofas and floors.<ref>Humphries (1997), pp. 107–08.</ref> Eventually, in an attempt to bring some stability and a telephone into Drake's life, Boyd organised and paid for a ground floor [[bedsit]] in [[Belsize Park]], [[London Borough of Camden|Camden]].<ref>Dann (2006), p. 141.</ref>

On 5 August 1969, Drake pre-recorded four songs for the [[BBC]]'s [[Night Ride (BBC Radio 2)|Night Ride]] show presented by [[John Peel]] ("Cello Song", "Three Hours", "River Man" and "Time of No Reply" ), which were broadcast after midnight on 6 August. Nick subsequently recorded "Bryter Layter" for another BBC radio broadcast, in April 1970. A month after the initial BBC recordings, on 24 September, he opened for Fairport Convention at the [[Royal Festival Hall]] in London, followed by appearances at folk clubs in Birmingham and Hull. According to the folk singer [[Michael Chapman (singer)|Michael Chapman]], the audiences did not appreciate Drake and wanted "songs with choruses". Chapman said: "They completely missed the point. He didn't say a word the entire evening. It was actually quite painful to watch. I don't know what the audience expected, I mean, they must have known they weren't going to get sea-shanties and sing-alongs at a Nick Drake gig!"<ref name="Chronology" />{{listen
| filename     =
| title        = "Northern Sky"
| description  = "[[Northern Sky]]" features piano, organ, and [[celesta]] performed by [[John Cale]].
}}

The experience reinforced Drake's decision to retreat from live appearances; the few concerts he did play were usually brief, awkward, and poorly attended. Drake seemed reluctant to perform and rarely addressed his audience. As many of his songs were played in different tunings, he frequently paused to retune between numbers.<ref name="Sandall">{{Cite news |last=Sandall |first=Robert |date=20 May 2004 |title=Brighter very much later |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3617296/Brighter-very-much-later.html |access-date=11 June 2023}}</ref> Although ''Five Leaves Left'' attracted little publicity, Boyd was keen to build on what momentum there was. Drake's second album, ''[[Bryter Layter]]'' (1971),<ref name="autogenerated1">Drake, Gabrielle, ''Nick Drake: Remembered For A While'', Little, Brown and Co., 2014.</ref> again produced by Boyd and engineered by [[John Wood (record producer)|John Wood]], introduced a more upbeat, jazzier sound.<ref name="Unterberger">{{AllMusic|id=nick-drake-mn0000336783|title=Nick Drake Biography|tab=biography|last=Unterberger|first=Richie|access-date=11 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Holden |first=Stephen |date=6 February 1987 |title=Pop and Jazz Guide |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/06/arts/pop-and-jazz-guide-860187.html |access-date=11 June 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Disappointed by his debut's poor sales, Drake sought to move away from his [[pastoral]] sound and agreed to Boyd's suggestions to include bass and drum tracks. "It was more of a pop sound, I suppose," Boyd later said. "I imagined it as more commercial."<ref>Dann (2006), p. 142.</ref> Like its predecessor, the album featured musicians from Fairport Convention, as well as contributions from [[John Cale]] on two songs: "[[Northern Sky]]" and "Fly". Trevor Dann noted that while sections of "Northern Sky" sound more characteristic of Cale, the song was the closest Drake came to a release with chart potential.<ref>Dann (2006), p. 242.</ref>

''Bryter Layter'' was a commercial failure, and reviews were again mixed; ''[[Record Mirror]]'' praised Drake as a "beautiful guitarist—clean and with perfect timing, [and] accompanied by soft, beautiful arrangements", but ''[[Melody Maker]]'' described the album as "an awkward mix of folk and cocktail jazz".<ref name="Sandall"/> Soon after its release, Boyd sold Witchseason to Island Records and moved to Los Angeles to work with [[Warner Brothers]] to develop film soundtracks. The loss of his mentor, coupled with the album's poor sales, led Drake into further [[major depressive disorder|depression]]. His attitude to London had changed: he was unhappy living alone, and visibly nervous and uncomfortable performing at a series of concerts in early 1970. In June, Drake gave one of his final live appearances at [[North East Surrey College Of Technology|Ewell Technical College]], Surrey. [[Ralph McTell]], who also performed that night, remembered: "Nick was monosyllabic. At that particular gig he was very shy. He did the first set and something awful must have happened. He was doing his song 'Fruit Tree' and walked off halfway through it."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Macaulay |first=Stephen |date=2 October 2006 |title=Nick Drake: Bartleby the Musician |url=https://gloriousnoise.com/2006/nick_drake_bartleby_the_musici |access-date=11 June 2023 |website=Glorious Noise |language=en-US}}</ref>

Island Records urged Drake to promote ''Bryter Layter'' through interviews, radio sessions, and live appearances. Drake refused. Disappointed by the reaction to ''Bryter Layter'', he turned inwards and withdrew from family and friends.<ref name=":2"/>