The reverse of Nick Drake's headstone, wedged deep into the earth of an English parish church graveyard, reads: "Now we rise and we are everywhere." The words were penned by Drake in 1974: Thirty years later, they are jarringly prophetic. Like nearly all prematurely buried cult figures, Nick Drake is reinvented each time he is rediscovered. In 2000, the sheepish, astral musings of Pink Moon became synonymous with backing a Volkswagen Cabrio convertible away from a raucous house party, as VW boldly sold American drivers on the notion of eschewing red plastic cups and bro-hugs for moonbeams and tree trunks (and a cute German car - sort of).The Cabrio ad inadvertently sparked an unlikely boost in record sales, propelling the album towards platinum status nearly 28 years after its release. But with each well-intentioned revival of interest, Nick Drake slips further and further out of reach, martyred and codified, superceded and consumed by his own tragic context. Since his controversial death in 1974, Nick Drake has been heralded as a 26-year-old prophet, the diffident enigma, the tortured precursor to Kurt Cobain, the fallen hero, the folksinger-as-folksymbol, the self-sacrificing patron saint of lonely, disaffected teenagers - the One who died for our sins.This book explores how a tiny acoustic record has puttered and purred its way into a new millennium. Amanda Petrusich interviews producer Joe Boyd, string arranger Robert Kirby, and even the marketing team behind the VW commercial."Thirty-Three and a Third" is a series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the past 40 years. By turns obsessive, passionate, creative and informed, the books in this series demonstrate many different ways of writing about music.

This book explores how a tiny acoustic record (Pink Moon) has puttered and purred its way into a new millennium. Amanda Petrusich interviews producer Joe Boyd, string arranger Robert Kirby, and even the marketing team behind the VW commercial.

About the Author
Amanda Petrusich is a Contributing Editor for Paste magazine and also writes regularly for Spin and the Village Voice. Her first book, It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost Highways, and the Search for the Next American Music, will be published by Faber/FSG. She lives in Brooklyn, USA.

Reviews
The latest addition to the evergrowing 33 1/3 series (now up to volume 51) is an in-depth look at Nick Drake's final album "Pink Moon". Tackling a 28 minute album of sparse folk by an artist whose life went largely undocumented (there are no known video clips or interviews with Drake) is a daunting task, but Petrusich handles the job nicely by telling the story through interviews with the people who knew Drake and worked with him musically, as well as testimonials from current artists who have felt his influence. She also does a great service to the readers by not painting Drake as some romantically doomed poetic soul, like so many other writers have done in the past. In fact, she does an excellent job of dispelling many Drake myths (ex: he didn't anonymously leave the tapes for Pink Moon at Island's reception desk without saying a word), and even points out flaws in the album (many of the vocals are garbled). The most interesting part of the book is the final third which focuses on Pink Moon's 21st Century revival thanks to a 2000 Volkswagon commercial featuring the title track. While many make the argument that using a song to push a product cheapens the artistry of the song, "Pink Moon" was used to such great effect that it has simultaneously become synonymous with Volkswagon. More importantly, thanks to commercial exposure, annual sales of the album jumped from 6,000 to 74,000 in the year that it hit the airwaves - exposing Drake's work to a new generation. Perhaps the best praise I can give the book is that after I finished reading it I put it down and listened to Pink Moon. * Losing Today.com *
One of my favourites in Continuum's 33 1/3 series of books on seminal albums. * Largehearted Boy, August 2008 *
Is an ambitious project...Petrusich is up to the task, and her travels weave an essential sense of place into her exploration of the evolution of Americana music. -- Julian Koster * Largehearted Boy, August 2008 *
[A] fascinating read and a worthy inclusion in the pantheon of great books about great records. -- Matthew van DeWitt * Skyscraper magazine *



Book Information
ISBN 9780826427908
Author Amanda Petrusich
Format Paperback
Page Count 136
Imprint Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 122g