Bryter Layter

Bryter Layter, recorded in 1970 and released in March 1971,[1] is the second of three albums by British singer/songwriter Nick Drake.

Bryter Layter
Studio album by Nick Drake
Released	6 March 1971[1]
Recorded	1970
Studio	Sound Techniques, London
Genre	Folk folk-pop[2][3]
Length	39:09
Label	Island
Producer	Joe Boyd
Nick Drake chronology
Five Leaves Left (1969) Bryter Layter (1971) Pink Moon (1972)

Content and production

Like Five Leaves Left, the album contains no unaccompanied songs: Drake was accompanied by part of the British folk rock group Fairport Convention and John Cale from The Velvet Underground, as well as Beach Boys musicians Mike Kowalski and Ed Carter.[4] Arranger Robert Kirby claims that Drake intended the instrumentals to evoke Pet Sounds.[5] Initially scheduled for release in November 1970, with UK promotional copies being sent out at the time, dissatisfaction with the artwork meant that the album was held over into the New Year.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[7]
Pitchfork	9.7/10[8]
Q	[9]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[10]

Contemporary reviews were mostly positive. In Sounds Jerry Gilbert called the album "superb" and said, "On their own merits, the songs of Nick Drake are not particularly strong, but Nick has always been a consistent if introverted performer, and placed in the cauldron that Joe Boyd has prepared for him, then things start to effervesce." Gilbert praised the "splendid arrangements" of Robert Kirby, and said that the songs "take time to work through to the listener, with help from the beautiful backing which every track receives".[11] Lon Goddard of Record Mirror was also impressed by Drake's guitar technique and Kirby's arrangements, and "Nick isn't the world's top singer, but he's written fantastic numbers that suit strings marvellously. Definitely one of the prettiest (and that counts!) and most impressive albums I've heard ... Happy, sad, very moving."[12] "The Disc Panel" in Disc and Music Echo stated that Drake "sings his own very personal songs in a strange, deep vaseline voice, probably more suited to crooning, accompanied at times by really funky backing" and called the record "an extraordinarily good hefty folk album".[13] However, Andrew Means of Melody Maker described the album as "late-night coffee'n'chat music" and said, "This is a difficult album to come to any firm conclusion on", stating that the reaction depended on the listener's mood and that "the 10 tracks are all very similar – quiet, gentle and relaxing."[14]

Mojo called the album "Certainly the most polished of his catalogue".[15] Alternative Press called it "[one] of the most beautiful and melancholy albums ever recorded".[16]

In his book Never a Dull Moment: 1971 – The Year That Rock Exploded, David Hepworth described the song "At the Chime of a City Clock" as "the perfect soundtrack for the dispensing of a cup of tea in a polysytrene cup, marrying sound and image in a way that made me unsure whether I was watching a commercial or actually in a commercial".[17]

Legacy

In 2000, Q placed Bryter Layter at number 23 in its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever". It ranked at number 14 in NME's list of "The Greatest Albums of the '70s".[18]

It was voted number 306 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[19]

In 2003, the album was ranked number 245 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Nick Drake.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Introduction"	1:33
2.	"Hazey Jane II"	3:46
3.	"At the Chime of a City Clock"	4:47
4.	"One of These Things First"	4:52
5.	"Hazey Jane I"	4:31

Side two

No.	Title	Length
6.	"Bryter Layter"	3:24
7.	"Fly"	3:00
8.	"Poor Boy"	6:09
9.	"Northern Sky"	3:47
10.	"Sunday"	3:42

Personnel

Nick Drake performs vocals and guitar, except where indicated otherwise.

• "Introduction"

  Nick Drake – guitar

  Dave Pegg – bass

  Dave Mattacks – drums

  Strings arranged by Robert Kirby

• "Hazey Jane II"

  Dave Pegg – bass

  Dave Mattacks – drums

  Richard Thompson – lead guitar

  Brass arrangement by Robert Kirby

• "At the Chime of a City Clock"

  Ray Warleigh – alto sax

  Dave Pegg – bass

  Mike Kowalski – drums

  Strings arranged by Robert Kirby

• "One of These Things First"

  Paul Harris – piano

  Ed Carter – bass

  Mike Kowalski – drums

• "Hazey Jane I"

  Dave Pegg – bass

  Dave Mattacks – drums

  Strings arranged by Robert Kirby

• "Bryter Layter"

  Nick Drake – guitar

  Lyn Dobson – flute

  Dave Pegg – bass

  Dave Mattacks – drums

• "Fly"

  John Cale – viola and harpsichord

  Dave Pegg – bass

• "Poor Boy"

  Ray Warleigh – alto sax

  Chris McGregor – piano

  Dave Pegg – bass

  Mike Kowalski – drums

  Pat Arnold and Doris Troy – backing vocals

• "Northern Sky"

  John Cale – celeste, piano and organ

  Dave Pegg – bass

  Mike Kowalski – drums

• "Sunday"

  Nick Drake – guitar

  Ray Warleigh – flute

  Dave Pegg – bass

  Dave Mattacks – drums

  Strings arranged by Robert Kirby

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalogue
United Kingdom	6 March 1971	Island	LP	ILPS 9134
	May 1987		CD	CID 9134
	26 June 2000			IMCD 71

References

• The cover of the North American version of the 2003 album Akuma no Uta by Japanese metal band Boris pays tribute to Bryter Layter.
• The lyrics to "Fly" were heavily referenced in the 2005 film Zathura: A Space Adventure and the song was featured in Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums.
• The song "One of These Things First" was featured on the Grammy award-winning Garden State soundtrack, compiled by Zach Braff. The song was also used in the 2008 film Seven Pounds starring Will Smith.
• The song "Northern Sky" was featured in the 2001 film Serendipity, is frequently featured in the NBC This Is Us, and was chosen as a track by Sue Perkins whilst on BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs.[20]

Notes

1. Drake, Gabrielle, Nick Drake: Remembered for a While, Little, Brown and Company, 2014.
2. Barker, Emily (25 October 2013). "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: 200-101". NME. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
3. Raggett, Ned. "Pink Moon - Nick Drake | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
4. Music Blogger. Bryter layter: Nick Drake's Gabrielle Drake sheds a little light on her late sibling. SF Bay Guardian Online. 27 September 2007.
5. "An interview with Robert Kirby". Retrieved 22 March 2014.
6. Raggett, Ned. "Bryter Layter - Nick Drake : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
7. Entertainment Weekly: 24. 12 May 2000. Missing or empty |title= (help)
8. Greene, Jayson (22 January 2014). "Nick Drake: Tuck Box : Album Reviews : Pitchfork". Pitchfork. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
9. Q, May 2007, Issue 250.
10. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
11. Gilbert, Jerry (13 March 1971). "Albums". Sounds.
12. Goddard, Lon (20 March 1971). "Reviews". Record Mirror.
13. "Albums". Disc and Music Echo. 13 March 1971. p. 19.
14. Means, Andrew (13 March 1971). "Nick Drake myter Layter I" (PDF). Melody Maker. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
15. Mojo: 99. July 2000. Missing or empty |title= (help)
16. Alternative Press: 88. March 2001. Missing or empty |title= (help)
17. Hepworth, David (2016). Never a Dull Moment: 1971 – The Year That Rock Exploded. New York: Henry Holt and Company. p. 47. ISBN 9781627793995.
18. NME: 19. 18 September 1993. Missing or empty |title= (help)
19. Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 127. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
20. "Desert Island Discs, interview in July 2017". Retrieved 16 September 2018.

External links

• Album online on Radio3Net a radio channel of Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company
• Bryter Layter at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
• Lyrics