The singer-songwriter Nick Drake, who died 50 years ago today, was immortalised not only by his music.
Keith Morris (1938-2005) took many of the images inextricably linked with Nick and helped create his public persona.
Long ago, I was fortunate to meet and interview Keith.
Published tomorrow, material from that encounter features in volume 2 of The Island Book of Records 1969-70 (Manchester University Press, £85).
As the title suggests, this ongoing LP-sized series chronicles every release, both albums and singles, by the seminal Island label.
Volume 1 published last year covered the years 1959 to 1968.
In 432 beautifully illustrated pages, Volume 2 looks at the next two years.
Famous names like Traffic, Free, Fairport Convention, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, John and Beverley Martyn and Cat Stevens amongst many other acts were all on the Island roster.
Nick Drake’s debut album Five Leaves Left (1969), released while he was still a student at Cambridge University, features one of Keith Morris’s best-known photographs on the rear sleeve.
From The Island Book of Records 1969-70 (Manchester University Press).
Described by its creator as “the famous wall shot,” it is now part of the National Portrait Gallery collection in London.
That and a number of Keith’s other celebrated portrait photographs can be viewed online.
https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp70024/keith-morris?role=art
My interview with Keith took place nearly three decades ago on London’s Hampstead Heath.
It was intended for a project that never saw the light of day.
As fans will know, the location has a strong association with Nick’s third and final album Pink Moon (1972).
For that album’s artwork, the musician was pictured by Keith sitting on a bench, staring into the distance.
It captured Nick’s deteriorating state of mind as his once promising career failed to connect with a mainstream audience.
For our interview, Keith gamely agreed to be photographed on a newer bench positioned in roughly the same spot.
© Author’s collection.
One fact about Keith’s photography revealed by Neil Storey with Jayne Gould, the team behind the Island Book of Records project, was that during the shoot for Five Leaves Left, he was working with an unfamiliar camera.
Instead of his usual Nikon, he used a borrowed Pentax.
By way of tribute to both Keith and Nick, here’s a longform piece about their successful working relationship.
Tempus Fugit.
Pressphotoman 
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