August 25, 2000
New York, NY -- After Volkswagen's "Pink Moon" commercials gave Nick Drake new life -- and new fans -- after death, Dutch filmmaker Jeroen Berkvens has decided to do his part to make sure that Drake's legacy continues with a new documentary about the musician.
Even though the reclusive singer-songwriter only released thirty-one songs before his death from a drug overdose in 1974, he has achieved cult status, with fans making daily pilgrimages to his gravesite on the grounds of Church of Mary Magdalene in Tanworth-in-Arden (near Brighton, England), where a simple headstone reads: "Nick Drake, 1948-1974. Remembered with love."
If Berkvens has his way, even more fans will remember Drake. In his forty-eight-minute film, he has captured interviews with Drake's older sister Gabrielle, his producer Joe Boyd, a former college chum and string arranger Robert Kirby. The film also features exclusive footage from Drake's early years in Burma, and for creepy completists, a movie of his christening.
The film, A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, got its title from a comment Gabrielle made about her sibling's first performance at London's Festival Hall where he opened up for Fairport Convention in 1970. "If you're going to be a performing artist of any sort, you have to have an inside like a jelly and an outside that's as tough as nails. I think Nick's trouble was that he never had that tough outside. He was born with a skin too few." Gabrielle Drake will attend the premiere of the documentary at Amsterdam's Paradiso Club on the twenty-sixth anniversary of Drake's death, Sept. 11, 2000. Kirby and Drake's engineer John Wood will also make an appearance, and uber-Drake fan Beth Orton will perform.
For information about tickets and times visit www.nickdrakefilm.com.
Written by JAAN UHELSZKI for RollingStone.com News
