Discord & Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Discord and Rhyme is a podcast where we discuss the albums we love, song by song.

A music podcast where we discuss our favorite albums, song by song. New episodes every other Tuesday.

160: Nick Drake - Bryter Layter (1971)

“He was great to work with. All you needed to worry about was the other people, because Nick’s guitar would always be right, Nick’s voice would always be right.”

–Joe Boyd

Nick Drake was an outstanding artist: a gifted songwriter, a wonderful singer, and one of the greatest guitarists you’ll ever hear. But his personality was entirely unsuited to the world of popular music, and his art didn’t gain the popularity it deserves until decades after his death. Ever since he unwittingly helped Volkswagen sell cars in 1999, more and more music lovers have discovered his beautiful sincerity, and he’s more popular now than ever. Amanda, Mike, and Rich are among Nick Drake’s many fans and we’re here today to talk about what makes his music so special.

Miscellany

  • Amanda has since listened to both Dear Catastrophe Waitress and Paper Mache Dream Balloon and they are both great comparisons to Bryter Layter, although one of them is pretentious and twee and the other one is interesting and fun. (These are Amanda’s opinions only, your mileage may vary.)

  • “Northern Sky” inspired the Dream Academy song “Life in a Northern Town,” which was in turn recently covered by Justin Hayward. All roads lead back to the Moody Blues.

  • In addition to the nonfiction books linked below, Amanda highly recommends Elizabeth Hand’s 2015 novel Wylding Hall. It’s about a fictional progressive folk band in the early 1970s who rent a house in the English countryside to record an album in, and things go terribly wrong!!! The band has elements of Fairport Convention, Renaissance, and the Incredible String Band, among others, and one of the characters is partially based on Nick Drake. It’s a fantastic book.

  • Amanda forgot to recommend Family Tree, a collection of home demos that was released in 2007. It’s mostly Nick, but there are appearances from his mother, sister, and some other relatives, and it’s a really interesting listen. 

  • Speaking of Nick’s family, Molly Drake’s home recordings have been officially released but they’re hard to find. Fortunately, you can listen to them on YouTube! 

Other links 

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

  • Amanda Rodgers (host)

  • Mike DeFabio (moderator)

  • Rich Bunnell 

Bryter Layter tracklist 

  1. Introduction

  2. Hazey Jane II

  3. At the Chime of a City Clock

  4. One of These Things First

  5. Hazey Jane I

  6. Bryter Layter

  7. Fly

  8. Poor Boy

  9. Northern Sky

  10. Sunday 

Other clips used 

Nick Drake:

  • Pink Moon

  • Day Is Done

  • Way to Blue

  • Hazey Jane I (demo)

  • Fly (demo)

  • Things Behind the Sun

  • River Man 

Others:

  • Molly Drake - How Wild the Wind Blows

  • Boris - Introduction

  • Bowery Electric - Freedom Fighter

  • Felix Laband - Down the Garden Path

  • Joni Mitchell - Coyote

  • Belle and Sebastian - Asleep on a Sunbeam

  • They Might Be Giants - Nightgown of the Sullen Moon

  • The Moody Blues - Visions of Paradise

  • Paul Mauriat - Love Is Blue

  • Sugar Ray - Fly

  • Leonard Cohen - So Long, Marianne

  • King Crimson - Cat Food

  • Tony Orlando & Dawn - Knock Three Times

  • King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Paper Mâché

  • The Moody Blues - Dear Diary

  • King Crimson - I Talk to the Wind

  • John Martyn - Solid Air

  • Vashti Bunyan - Diamond Day

  • Iron & Wine - Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car

  • Boris - Ibitsu

Band/album personnel 

  • Nick Drake – vocals; acoustic guitar; electric guitar (8)

  • Dave Pegg – bass (1–3, 5–10)

  • Dave Mattacks – drums (1, 2, 5, 6, 10)

  • Robert Kirby – string arrangement (1, 3, 5, 10); brass arrangement (2)

  • Richard Thompson – electric guitar (2)

  • Ray Warleigh – alto saxophone (3, 8); flute (10)

  • Paul Harris – piano (4)

  • Ed Carter – bass (4)

  • Mike Kowalski – drums (3, 4, 8, 9)

  • Lyn Dobson – flute (5, 6)

  • John Cale – viola, harpsichord (7); celeste, piano, organ (9)

  • Chris McGregor – piano (8)

  • Pat Arnold – backing vocals (8)

  • Doris Troy – backing vocals (8)

  • Joe Boyd – producer

  • John Wood – engineer

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

  • Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

  • Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

  • The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

  • Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

  • Herbie Hancock - Hornets

  • Kraftwerk - Autobahn

  • Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

  • Nick Drake - At the Chime of a City Clock (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream Bryter Layter and other albums by Nick Drake at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.

This website and all episodes' discussion/commentary © 2018—2025 Discord & Rhyme. Excerpts from recordings appearing in episodes are included for purposes of review only, and all rights to such material remain property of their copyright holders. Please note that we make a good-faith effort to ensure all information included in these episodes is accurate, but if we get something wrong, let us know at discordpod@gmail.com and we will print a correction in the show notes. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Website design by Amanda Rodgers. Thank you for visiting, and keep as cool as you can.

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