Six unheard Nick Drake recordings up for auction

Six previously unheard Nick Drake recordings are to go up for auction.

The tapes have been described as being in “pristine” condition and were recorded in 1968, before the 1969 release of the folk singer’s debut album Five Leaves Left. The recordings are currently owned by his friend, the singer Beverley Martyn, who was married to the late John Martyn. Speaking about the tapes to The Independent, she said the recordings are “full of fun”.

She commented: “He was young, he sounds full of fun, he sounds light and his guitar playing is absolutely excellent. It really shows that he didn’t need to have this whole layer cake of strings.”

Martyn has said that she is selling the tapes because of failing health. “Someone else should be able to enjoy it,” she said. The recordings are being sold by London based auction house Ted Owen and Company on July 31, and are expected to make at least £250,000. The tapes feature versions of his songs “Fruit Tree”, “Saturday Sun” and “Cello Song”.

Earlier this year an unheard Nick Drake song was posted online, almost 40 years after the cult songwriter’s death. “Restless Jane” is a collaboration with Beverley Martyn. The track was written and recorded in Martyn’s home in Hastings in early 1974, making it one of the final songs Drake wrote before dying of an overdose of antidepressants in November that year, aged 26. The track featured on Martyn’s album The Turtle And The Phoenix, which was released in April.