Pink Moon

Nick Drake arrived at Sound Techniques studio in London unannounced on the night of October 30, 1971. The studio was booked during the day, so he and engineer John Wood started around 11pm. In two late-night sessions over two consecutive evenings, Drake recorded the entire album. Voice and acoustic guitar, nothing else. The only exception is a single, luminous piano melody he played on the title track on the second night. By 2am both nights, it was done. The whole album took less than four hours of actual recording time.

Nobody at Island Records knew it was coming. Drake had been largely off the radar, having spent time recovering at a villa in Spain at the personal request of Island's founder Chris Blackwell, who was worried about him. When he returned to London, he told Wood he had songs he wanted to record. After the sessions, he reportedly walked into Island's reception, left the master tapes on the desk labeled "Nick Drake Pink Moon," and left without saying much to anyone. The press officer only found out there was a new album when the receptionist called upstairs to say a package had been left behind.

Pink Moon was Drake's third and final album. He died in 1974 at the age of 26. For decades the album sold almost nothing, known only to a small group of devoted listeners who passed it between themselves like something sacred. Then in 2000 a Volkswagen commercial used the title track and introduced Drake to millions of people who had never heard his name. The album has never gone away since. At 28 minutes, it is one of the most intimate and quietly devastating records ever made. Wood later said that no microphone or studio technique was responsible for the sound. It all came from Drake.