Not perfect, but comes damn close.
Early on in the DVD documentary, "A Skin Too Few", Nick Drake's mother says that all Nick wanted was to be heard by his generation and offer some kind of comfort to just one of them. With this in mind, it makes his untimely death at 26 seem all the more futile. It was Brian Wilson who said that he "wasn't made for these times", but surely, this is more of an apt statement for Nick Drake.
These days of course, we all know and love the music that Nick Drake created and crafted back in the late 60s and early 70s. This very English of songwriters is not even limited to a domestic fan-base. In Hollywood of all places, thousands of miles from the Warwickshire village in which Drake lived and died, Nick's songs can be heard being played and appreciated. Zack Braff is a fan. Wes Anderson is too. Brad Pitt is so much an admirer that he took time out of his busy schedule of cherry picking babies from third world nations to present a show on BBC Radio 2 about Drake's life. How this posthumous worldwide success came about is somewhat unclear, but it goes without saying that Drake's dream of having his music heard has come to fruition hundredfold.
Drake, who only released three albums in his lifetime, has the added aura of mystique. There are no interviews with him. There is no video footage of him aside from some shaky homemade footage of him as an infant. The only times that his spoken voice was recorded was in the studio, before and after takes of his songs. In this day and age of youtube, we are not all that accustomed to someone that we know so little about. And it is this that makes the documentary part of this boxset so compelling.
It is by no means perfect. There are times where you wish that the musical interludes would go on for less time, that the documentary itself was shorted or that it contained more interviews, perspectives or people. But then you find, after watching it, that it doesn't need to be perfect. It is directed with tenderness but is never overly sentimental or sickly. The key people that knew Drake are here, in particular his parents and sister. The fact is that Drake was a man of few words, and not even his own family knew him that well. Rather than make up for this by having scores of talking heads saying how Drake's music has changed their lives for the better the documentary takes a more considered approach. Yes, the music clips are rather long, but when you consider that all that we know about how Nick felt about the world is contained in these few songs, you realise that this is probably the only fitting and respectful way that it could be portrayed. In fact, its rather hard to watch without getting moist eyes.
Drake's three studio albums are here in complete form as well, and this is really where the meat and bones of "Fruit Tree" is. Starting with "Fives Leaves Left", with its rural beauty and stellar songwriting through "Bryter Layter", where life in London and subsequent return to Tanworth-in-Arden creates his masterpiece and ending with "Pink Moon", recorded in the grip of serious depression and despondency that saw the luscious arrangements of his previous two albums stripped away to just guitar and the occasional piano to accompany his voice, there is nothing that can be criticised. They are perfect, timeless and need to be heard by everyone.
If there is one fault with this stunning boxset its that there is nothing of the "Time Of No Reply" album of studio demos and offcuts that was available in the late 80s. References are made to songs such as "Black Eyed Dog" and "Hanging On A Star" and it is somewhat of a disappointment to find them not on here. But, as far as the quality on offer here, this is a very small complaint. If you are new to Nick Drake and need a place to start then this really is it. Owners of the three studio albums will not want to fork out the money just for the DVD, but for those who want to update their vinyls or simply see what all the fuss is about then "Fruit Tree" is absolutely, unapologetically indispensable.