The Making of Five Leaves Left

The Making of Five Leaves Left is a boxed set, scheduled for release on 25 July 2025 via Island Records, which features studio outtakes and alternative versions of songs by the English singer-songwriter and musician Nick Drake recorded during his sessions for his debut 1969 LP, Five Leaves Left.^[1] It will be released in both 4LP and 4CD configurations.^[2]

Discs 1-3 features a collection of demos, alternate studio takes, and Cambridge home reels covering sessions from early 1968 to April 1969 – including the earliest Sound Techniques session and a newly found Paul de Rivaz Cambridge reel. This reel was found by Richard Morton-Jack, when he was conducting research for his book, Nick Drake: The Life. Disc 4/LP4 of the boxed set is the original album, fully remastered, sequenced as Joe Boyd prepared it in mid‑June 1969. The version included is the remaster, which was originally released in 2000, contains the most superior sound quality, compared to later remasters.^[3][4]

A 60-page book authored by Neil Storey & Richard Morton-Jack will also be included with the set. The book includes a detailed session history of all the tracks and recording notes.^[5][6]

The project took nine years from conception, in 2016, to release. The Nick Drake Estate originally avoided anniversary deluxe editions to maintain focus on the original album’s purity. The rediscovery of master reels and previously unknown tapes (including recordings held by Beverley Martyn^[7] in 2014, and at Caius College) prompted the Estate to undertake the comprehensive release.^[8]

All songs written by Nick Drake.^[9]

1. "Mayfair" (1st Sound Techniques Session – March 1968)
2. "Time Has Told Me" (1st Sound Techniques Session – March 1968)
3. "Man In A Shed" (1st Sound Techniques Session – March 1968)
4. "Fruit Tree" (1st Sound Techniques Session – March 1968)
5. "Saturday Sun" (1st Sound Techniques Session – March 1968)
6. "Strange Face" (1st Sound Techniques Session, March 1968) – 3:45^[10]
7. "Strange Face" (Rough Mix with Guide Vocal, September 1968)
8. "Day Is Done (Take 5, April 1968)
9. "Day Is Done" (Take 2, November 1968)
10. "Day Is Done" (Take 7 – April 1969)
11. "Man In A Shed" (Take 1, May 1968)
12. "My Love Left With The Rain" (Cambridge, Lent Term, February 1968)

1. "Blossom" (Cambridge, Lent Term, October 1968)
2. "Instrumental" (Cambridge, Lent Term, October 1968)
3. "Made To Love Magic" (Cambridge, Lent Term, October 1968)
4. "Mickey’s Tune" (Cambridge, Lent Term, October 1968)
5. "The Thoughts of Mary Jane" (Cambridge, Lent Term, October 1968)
6. "Day Is Done" (Cambridge, Lent Term, October 1968)
7. "Time Has Told Me" (Cambridge, Lent Term, October 1968)
8. "Three Hours" (Take 2, November 1968)
9. "Time Has Told Me" (Take 4, November 11, 1968) – 4:34^[11]
10. "Strange Face" (Take 1, November 1968)
11. "Saturday Sun" (Take 1, November 1968)
12. "Fruit Tree" (Take 4, November 12, 1968) – 4:58^[12]

1. "Time of No Reply" (Take 3 into Take 4, December 1968)
2. "‘Cello Song" (Take 4, January 1969)
3. "Mayfair" (Take 5, January 1969)
4. "River Man" (Take 1, January 4, 1969) – 5:14^[13]
5. "Way To Blue" (Cambridge, Winter 1968)
6. "The Thoughts of Mary Jane" (Take 2, April 1969)
7. "Saturday Sun" (Take 1 into Take 2, April 1969)
8. "River Man" (Take 2, April 1969)

1. "Time Has Told Me"
2. "River Man"
3. "Three Hours"
4. "Way To Blue"
5. "Day Is Done"
6. "‘Cello Song"
7. "The Thoughts of Mary Jane"
8. "Man In A Shed"
9. "Fruit Tree"
10. "Saturday Sun"