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STRATEGY FOR THE DAY: Let the games begin!

I received an interesting question from a Nick Drake fan about "Been Smoking Too Long"...

"I'm curious as to what time signature Nick Drake played it in...I'm listening to his home recording (tanworth in arden) of the song, and it seems as though it's either a 6/8, or a 3/4...I learned the chords, hand work, and tried playing along..but when I tried to sing it by myself, I found the words bunched together, whereas they flow smoothly, and almost slowly when listening to Drake's version. What time signature do you do it in? Also, did Mr. Drake typically use a plectrum and fingers, or was it thumb and fingers?

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. It means a lot, as Nick is a hero of mine. - Zach"

My answer...

The time signature Nick played it in is 4/4 with an underlying triple feel (count 'one and uh two and uh three and uh four and uh') This is probably the reason it sounds to you like it might be in 6/8. The triple feel has a smoother, more flowing feel than 6/8. Nick also adds a bar of 2/4 between the verses. This could be what's causing you to have some trouble with the phrasing. All of this is characteristic of the way Nick related to musical time - he was always playing around with it, creating ways to make it sound as if the vocal was floating, disconnected from the guitar part. There's another interesting example of this on the "Tanworth in Arden" bootleg in a song called "Get Together" written by Chet Powers (who had a hit with it under the name of Dino Valenti). I knew the song well and performed it often at that time so I think Nick most likely learned it from me. In Nick's version, he adds a bar of 5/4 between the verses! He does it consistently so it was intentional. A very strange choice but absolutely characteristic of him even at this early stage of his career (late 1967 when the bootleg songs were probably recorded).

In answer to your second question: As far as I know, Nick used his thumb and fingers for strumming and fingerpicking. He didn't use a pick during the time I knew him and I've never heard anyone else mention that he used a pick.

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Read A Brief History Of Love Songs by Robin Frederick at the Sound Experience Music web site.

Copyright 2005 Robin Frederick. All rights reserved.