Nick Drake's Fruit Tree Boxset

[Cinesimilitude]

I know this isn't dvd related, but we've got no music section, and this is important stuff.

Drake's entire body of work has been OOP for some time, and is set to be re-released on November 13.

the pre-order at amazon.com is 90$, but Amazon.ca has it for a fantastic 56.99 CAD right now. I just thought some of you might want to know.

[Ovader]

This boxset has been delayed from the Drake estate to include the DVD doc called A Skin Too Few.

[Cinesimilitude]

delayed till when? does amazon have it wrong?

[Ovader]

delayed till when? does amazon have it wrong?

Here is the link to the Nick Drake forum discussing the details of the boxset. Sometime in 2007...

[Cinesimilitude]

=P~ All the more worth it. I guess it is DVD news now, and I cant wait.

I hope amazon honors their pre-order price, but if it isnt early 2007, I doubt they will.

It's a little creepy that the admin on that board is also named Matt, but then again, I would imagine there are lots.

[godardslave]

so is this going to be locked?

or can we all just post threads about whatever subject we feel like now?

[Cinesimilitude]

so is this going to be locked?

or can we all just post threads about whatever subject we feel like now?

It's dvd news now that the documentary is being included.

[The Invunche]

Who appointed godardslave forum police?

[jon]

so, are the first three discs of the box set just the same discs that were out before (quality etc.)? ive got all three albums. i wish they would release the 4th disc alone, but i dont see it happening. Good news for Drake fans, great news for those looking to get into Drake.

[ltfontaine]

The albums will not be 5.1 remixes

Thank God.

[Matt]

so, are the first three discs of the box set just the same discs that were out before (quality etc.)? ive got all three albums. i wish they would release the 4th disc alone, but i dont see it happening. Good news for Drake fans, great news for those looking to get into Drake.

The three original albums were remastered a few years ago. The original fourth disc of the box was just Time of No Reply. I'm sure the DVD will be released separately in good time.

[Cinesimilitude]

The three original albums were remastered a few years ago. The original fourth disc of the box was just Time of No Reply. I'm sure the DVD will be released separately in good time.

Yeah, I happened to pick up the "way to blue: an introduction to nick drake" a few months ago for 5 bucks, cause I recognized the song from Garden State, "One of these things first." so I've only heard the 16 songs on that compilation. This boxset will be perfect for me.

[jon]

yah, ive bought the 3 albums within the past year, so i guess those are the same remastered versions that will be in the box set. Ill pick up Time of No Reply seperately, thanks for the info

[denti alligator]

so, are the first three discs of the box set just the same discs that were out before (quality etc.)? ive got all three albums. i wish they would release the 4th disc alone, but i dont see it happening. Good news for Drake fans, great news for those looking to get into Drake.

The three original albums were remastered a few years ago. The original fourth disc of the box was just Time of No Reply. I'm sure the DVD will be released separately in good time.

Are the remasters significantly better? I have the box set from around 1995, pre-remastered albums. Can someone report on the difference in sound quality? We need a Beaver for CD remasters!

[Anthony]

Yes, the remastered CDs are better... especially if you listen to them on headphones.

[Cinesimilitude]

Yes, the remastered CDs are better... especially if you listen to them on headphones.

Yeah, the iTunes tracks I've gotten have a way better vocal mix. It's still whispery and powerful, but you dont have to read the lyrics to hear what hes saying unlike the "way to blue" compilation I have.

[zedz]

Just so we can go completely off-topic and get this well and truly locked:

I got my Fruit Tree boxset back when it was vinyl only, so I haven't been keeping up with Nick's releases, but I was surprised to hear that the albums were out of print. Wasn't one of the cast-iron conditions of Joe Boyd's original sale of the Witchseason recordings that Nick's three albums were never allowed to go out of print? I've always admired Boyd's balls for writing that into the agreement and would be disappointed if this were a) apocryphal, or b) ignored by Island.

And hasn't Nick had a major revival in the past five or so years, anyway? There seem to have been a plethora of compilations and archival releases (from a very slender archive).

[Cinesimilitude]

the compilation I bought was made in 1994, so It's not form the recent revival period, and It's not that Nick's albums are OOP. They are readily available through etailers and retailers everywhere, it's the fruit tree box that hasn't been available.

[indiannamednobody]

I remember that all three records were OOP from when I heard of him in 2000 up to May of 2003, which was when Island re-released them on CD. As far as I know, they've been in print ever since.

[ltfontaine]

There seem to have been a plethora of compilations and archival releases (from a very slender archive).

An archive so slender it consists in only two albums of previously unreleased material, Time of No Reply and Made to Love Magic. The latter disc mostly duplicates material previously released on the former.

[Gregory]

The most complete release of the extra, non-album material I've been able to find is Time Has Told Me (2 cd or 3 lp set). It has "44 exclusive equalised & remastered recordings (using noise reduction and speed correction techniques), including material recorded at The Music Room, Far Leys, Tamworth In Arden plus Island Demos and 'Work Tape' all recorded between 1967 & 1969 (with the exception of 3 out-takes from the final sessions)."
It's already pretty scarce but I was lucky to be able to get one on vinyl earlier this year.

[zedz]

The most complete release of the extra, non-album material I've been able to find is Time Has Told Me (2 cd or 3 lp set). It has "44 exclusive equalised & remastered recordings (using noise reduction and speed correction techniques), including material recorded at The Music Room, Far Leys, Tamworth In Arden plus Island Demos and 'Work Tape' all recorded between 1967 & 1969 (with the exception of 3 out-takes from the final sessions)."
It's already pretty scarce but I was lucky to be able to get one on vinyl earlier this year.

Yes, that's probably the most essential archival release. There's also a "Live in Tamworth" (or something) single CD of bedroom demos. I assume that this and Time Has Told Me are of shadowy legality, but I bought both in legit record stores that didn't carry other bootlegs.

Given that the first issue of the box set could only scare up four unreleased tracks (plonked awkwardly on the end of Pink Moon), it's amazing that we've now got nearly six albums of material unreleased in his lifetime.

[Ovader]

Here is the latest news of the Skin Too Few DVD and the Fruit Tree boxset for later this year. It states the booklet and DVD will also be released in late 2008 in separate and expanded form. The CDs are not remastered which is a foolish decision regarding the revamped boxset.

[Matt]

The CDs are not remastered which is a foolish decision regarding the revamped boxset.

But as I mentioned several months ago, the CDs (of the studio albums, at least) have already been remastered (in 2003). They would not need to be remastered a second time just for inclusion in this box set.

[Ovader]

I am going from what Cally mentioned in his response about the CDs:

The CDs aren't remastered and Time of No Reply won't be included.