Nick Drake River Man

[therealKINDLE]

Jesus Chris that was Haunting. And the strange way he plays the guitar just adds to the macabre setting. Nick would have been very surprised by this. Well done.

[sparklebright69]

Thanks.

[App1eM4c]

OMG.... Nike Drake lives! V V Good

[VonKutlery]

Didn't even acknowledge the cat's attempt to interrupt. True professional!

[jweightmanmusic]

Love how the cat just comes and sits on your lap while you're trying to concentrate.

[dwarfbeardy]

this is great man. if you did a cover of all his songs, i would watch each one of them. your voice and guitar are great.

[peakhouse]

This is splendid. Thank you.....xx



[NightProfound]

brilliant cover!

[TheFreemanuk]

really nice mate indeed the cat just puts icing on cake x

[dhannyboy86]

I started listening to this vid and opened up a new tab. Came back a couple seconds later, there's a cat on his lap and he's looking even more pissed off. WHERE DID THAT CAT COME FROM?!?!...........good cover by the way.

[nevrens]

Puss gets to listen to some great music

[montezband]

brilliant, If your playing the backing as well woud be cool to show that in the vid :)

[svenlittlecross]

awesome!

[StoryWB]

never thought i would see (hear) someone do a proper Nick Drake cover. nice 

[orguidocomun]

What isthe tuning you are using? Amazing

[MrJoeGGriffiths]

@orguidocomun As far as I know, this is one of the few Nick Drake songs that's actually in standard tuning... assuming I don't play it wrong.

[Albert18264]

Beautiful , the cat was really Nick chilling out to one of his songs , excellent cover best I've heard , well done and thanks for posting .

[brecknichols]

Outstanding! My compliments to the Chef! Blown away.

[ADugas661]

Did you transcribe all the accompaniment arrangements to the songs yourself?

[olhungers]

What a great cover, simply nailed it. Superb!

[TomPhilip92]

Why do you look so sirley!

[TheNovemberRomance]

Dude! What's the guitar? Can you personal message me what it is please? And your opinion of the sound

Also

Wow. I LOVE the cover. You really capture that emotional ambiance that his songs give out. I'm stunned. Nice nice work

[schmutzgreiffer]

Thank you. This is so beautifu and you do it justice.

[MelbaToast454]

Goosebumps

[RJFolkersma]

very nice :-) what i dont like is the sound of those midistrings. But hey, who can afford a complete stringensemble? ;-) checkout my vid

[StudioOctavia]

Hey I have a question - what kind of guitar strings are you using? Thanks!

[deckz87]

I have no idea how you stayed completely straight faced with that cat crawling on you, needless to say that was impressive.

[mandrich]

Thanx for posting this. The most precise and beautiful cover of this song to be found on youtube. I admired your concentration during this recording. Playing this tune too, I´m still searching for Kirbys string arrangement as score or midi file, maybe you have a hint for me.

[nihilihihi]

Interesting music, it's something different, a little mystic perhaps...Very good.

[bizzyble]

your stern face threw me off, then you sang, and it was angelic. awesome cover.

[voladordeluces]

AWSOME!

The cat is nice

[justintoast]

I agree you're the best Drake cover artist I've heard, and I'm one, too!

[AirHendrix91]

Never realized how jazzy his playing is in this song yet these minor chords are so dark hehe.

[TheStratman51]

well done plectrum very, very nice

[catman08012]

Oh my God you channel Nick drake as well? Thank you for making me feel completely useless.

[UnholyMan122]

did anyone else see a black cat on this dudes lap, or am I just really stoned?

[BigRaindrop]

Your cat is enthralled with your excellent playing, as am I.

[plan8]

good job Pic, tell me, is this the fingering that nd used

[bvdon]

Easily the best overall Drake cover artist on YouTube. 

[rigomrtz]

check out robert kirby( rip you lovely human) taping this song as nick played it on roberts battered old spanish guitar, ,,,really nice version plecky

[vinitomusic]

Great Cover!

[fatdogtavern]

You Sir are a God!

[LostBlossom]

What a lovely cat. =) And a great cover, too.

[Lucalig]

Which tuning are you using? On the website you suggested they say is in standard tuning, Impossible!

[Tonavid]

Plec - Great job, you hammered it. Solid cover of a unique tune.

[HugoCrammit]

Nick lives.

And I needed some beauty this morning,

just to survive it.

Somehow I was led to this.

God is good.

[gatoguts]

who performed the other instruments?

[ChocolateAndCheese1]

you are frighteningly serious and quite the perfectionist. great great covers though, i'm sure you know that.

[fatdogtavern]

Tell me your truth

I've heard that the greatest aspiration of woman is to inspire love

I wonder what I've done

I'm sure she'll tell me tomorrow

A night alone

When I never wanted it

[RomanZajats]

one by one, man ! great job !!!

[bradshawvincent]

the enigmatic black cat is the spirit shadow of nick showing his approval.

[tc030564]

hay well done very good, your accent to nicks is differant sounds northern to me me but well done and 5 stars vewry good cover love the deep base.

[Buska1001]

Damn Fine version of one of my favorite songs.Very focused on the mood

[jstubbings]

Very impressed. I live two miles from Nicks grave and ofton go down there. It's a nice place and when you go there these songs make you feel him more, there is a celbration of his work on BBBC 4 but not sure it's on you tube... Well done anyhow keep his memory alive.

[bennet65]

scary guy

[IknowUdont]

mr serious

[ergoguitar]

Beautiful version. I would hope that people would leave Nick's work alone unless they can do it justice. Very nice piece of work.

[sysphus13]

i love that you kept the take with your cat jumping on your lap. that was an amazing you tube moment! You had NO REACTION!

[Dilaltastic]

Great playing and I laughed at your face in the beginning.

[temporarydive]

Even the cat liked it...:) <3

[TheEpicWeezl]

i feel like your reading the lyrics somewhere, that why you're so focused, its a beautiful cover tho. i would really like to know the tuning on it.

[GSarovich]

It's like watching Nick Drake in his 30's with less hair...spot on!

[kelhard]

Dude...you SOOOOO totally gotta put out a tribute CD on this stuff. I'd love to help if I could.

I'm serious, you are THAT good.

Total respect!

[nyuguy2k]

Amazing cover, really. Nice murder-face too.

[mycomgame007]

@nyuguy2k hahaha yea muder face

[Har4321]

Beautifully done & recorded...very nice sir

[carthagepropaganda]

What tuning did you use on this?

Truly remarkable version

[moviesandmusicBE]

Respect.

[barstoolbird]

amazing! great voice. but jesus, you look like you're gonna kill someone!

[Zonk23y]

What a superb cover! Undistracted by the cat - beautiful. Thank you

[bastiannu]

Every once in a while, sometimes only once every few years I will hear a song that makes me think "This is why you are living". This cover is one of them, it's got an incredibly intense vibe, it's fantastic.

[jamibennett]

This is one of my all time favorite songs ever. I'm going to cover it and play a jazzier version so I got on YouTube to find other covers and this is hands down the most beautiful one I've found yet.

[djfullofarrogance]

slightly haunting me that you are this like him, but yet not haha, bit freeked

[skeletor69]

Again . . . Amazing cover!

You totally captured the vibe, amazing video

[gavenmx]

very nice version ! =)

[justanotheruniverse]

Yes its beatiful. Is it only we girls that like it?

[Homerjay66666]

Nope, I love it! Looks like his cat enjoyed it too.

[locustvalleystring]

Well done!!! Beautiful!

[chefcraik]

awesome ....!!!

[sagenev]

Simply beautiful.

[pfft1993]

Lol. The black kitty is like, "oh shit, he doing good. Better make him mess up" :p pffft he failed to do it though.

[reports12002]

Excellent. Best version on youtube....the only one I've heard thats nailed the timing of the guitar part, and hasn't had the vocals 'dragged along' with the guitar part....great independance. Well done.

[5722402]

meraviglioso! complimenti! hai realizzato un capolavoro!

[gimmeyourglasses]

amazing man

[musicman3527]

NICE MAN

[whatani]

Completely beautiful. Your recording is crisper than the original but with no less emotional power. Its nice to hear the parts more clearly, the descending strings in the instrumental break are almost unbearable - especially if you imagine Nick sat by a river somewhere unable to cope with life's realities.

[TimothyLeary]

Stunning cover, man

[sarahs999]

Fantastic. And particularly well done in the face of a hungry cat....

[gandlbass]

I dont know for sure but I think Nick Drake was singing about a visit to a dieing friend. Just my interpretation. Lots of sadness in this song. Makes you wanna cry. Great job!

[AirHendrix91]

Wow, you truly captured the spirit of this song.

And no, guys. He doesn't need to smile. Nick Drake had severe depression as far as I'm aware of. You can pretty much tell in the tone and atmosphere of the song that this isn't a typical happy-go-lucky song.

But where is happiness, there is also sadness.

Tis' life. Good job :D.

[SeyeauPhotography]

Or just search Weegee Coney drown in google images - it'll be the first image

[pussycatlove25]

I like this it's very impressive the guitar is wonderful and although your voice isn't quite the same as Nick's (naturally) you have created a very nice and pretty accurate atmosphere all round in this cover and that is a credit to you.

[buska100]

A Wonderful version of Nick Drake's wonderfully beautiful bittersweet song. Well done!

[deteugma]

Love the cat. Great silent accompaniment. :)

[jimmynitcher]

as performed by the Mekon in his control centre - quite removed from the pastoral Nick.

[MrPACKYWACKY]

Hey JimmySnipersnitcher......this is a great version. The bass and strings are necessary cos its blinkin boring with guitar only. 'Alittle more emotion'?? This is more emotional than the original. Nick was hardly a bunch of laughs after all!!

Good job Plec...

[josepmorera]

Eres muy grande!! un saludo desde Barcelona

[brazilianbee]

Please SMILE!!!! :)

[bradshawvincent]

its not a smiley song! its deep like the river.the guys not a moron.

[SeyeauPhotography]

Our instincts to smile at a camera have been so engrained we find it abnormal when we find the opposite, despite its appropriateness. A famous example would be that of a photograph taken in the 40s (by Weegee), which depicts a crowd of horror-struck beach-goers surrounding a drown victim. A lady close to the body is eyeing the camera with a smile. You can find it here:

[SeyeauPhotography]

jmcolberg com / weblog / archives / weegee_coney_isl jpg

[fertuiee]

mate this is really good, nice recovery with that ####ing cat by the way!! ;).........youre not reading the lyrics by any chance? cos thats a better stare than Mark Lanegan!! hahaha

[Joni0001984]

A little stiff, but accurate. Impressive.

[maharishi3]

very lovely. beautiful rendition

[med0student0bruce]

brilliant, spot on

[pyramidos]

nick drake lives again!!!! thanks so much!

[style1959]

Absolutely wonderful,have been a fan of Nick for longer than I can remember and have never heard anyone cover 'Riverman' so beautifully.You sir,are a true star !

[cmylo67]

Awesome cover.

You have a striking resemblance to a young Anthony Perkins!

[ANTIONE888]

dude u rock ! whats the tuning

[RaRaLandTV]

well that's quite a compliment in disguise. If you really overdubbed the other strings that well, that backdoorman29 actually is convinced it's karaoke. I've gone through many of these youtube covers....you are by far the best cover of riverman I've seen so far.(sound,chord--even if differently tuned,picking,cat:) But imitating Drake's voice is the hardest thing.... such semi-whispered saturation in his voice...especially through the regular speech .. amazing...

[plectrum34]

Thanks for your positive comments,glad you enjoyed it.

[backdoorman29]

u must be joking..

thats karaoke..

u cheat..

lol..

awesome man ....

do born to love magic..

[deapestsea]

your guitar is always right .. and your voice always right!

You are just amazing. It is a wonder that Islands haven´t found you..... they are missing something

[aacotter]

1:27... helluva leap there. you didn't flinch either. nice.

[matsutakneatche]

my god, you are nick drake.

[fr33atesickz]

excellent. and it wouldnt have been complete without the cat. perfect.

[plectrum34]

Thanks for all of your positive comments and for subscribing and thanks from my cat as well.

[benjaminclay]

on one hand can i count the number of songs that have been so arresting for me. had trouble driving the night i first heard it, playing it over and over, never tiring of its beauty, my eyes red with tears, the road wet with rain. confounds me still.

your version is astonishing. you make it look as easy as i'm sure nick drake did. i checked the ND tabs you pointed to, but i have trouble understanding tabs. are there chords you could possibly post? thanks for your time, and for this post.

[plectrum34]

Thanks for your positive comments...the 4 chord pattern that repeats throughout most of the song is more or less:Cmin(add2),Eb9,Abmaj,Cmaj­(add2)...hope that helps.

[greendr81]

Hi question, is this standard tunning with the capo on the third. Thanks :)

[plectrum34]

Hi...that's correct,standard tuning,capo 3rd.

[heikoknoll1971]

Hello my friend again from over the ocean,

again I must say that I have never heard anyone who could cover ND´s bette than you. I have a question: did you learn to play guitar by yourself? I myself also play guitar, but I have problems when it comes to picking with these metal picks you slip over the fingers.  Are you using such picks or is it your fingernails? do you have any suggestion for books that teach you how to use them properly? Hope to "hear" more from you, happy new year

[plectrum34]

Thanks again for your positive comments...I don't use fingerpicks(although I sometimes use a plastic thumbpick),I use a combination of the flesh of my fingers and my nails...if you have trouble keeping your nails longer you might look into Alaska fingerpicks,they fit around your finger a bit more like your nail would...no specific books to recommend,just steady patient practice time.

[char1iebmth]

Man - this just sent a shiver up my spine listening to you. If you need some lyrics to work with for some original stuff just let me know. Keep on it.

[plectrum34]

Hey,thanks for your positive comments.

[bustamove444]

awesome buddy, that is soo cool, your voice is great too. real emotion in there.

I like the earlier comment about, 'did you crawl into Nicks soul' class!

[plectrum34]

Thanks for all of your positive comments and for subscribing.

[lennonpeng]

Is that you or Drake?

[mickfromthemain]

Before I get publicly castigated...you are no doubt spectacular. Please accept this point as constructive criticism. Nothing but. Would you agree you are wasting a talent here by doing covers. Nick Drake would never have been Nick Drake if he just covered. You have an option here to really blow people away. If most unknowns put half as much energy into writing their own stuff as you do in covers...well. Tell me you do do you're own stuff and we will be seeing it shortly?? Keep rockin' on though.

[plectrum34]

Thanks for your positive comments...I have been asked quite a few times now to post something original,I hope to at some point.I've written stuff in the past but always in collaboration as I'm not a lyricist.I also want to point out that it took less effort than it might appear to do most of these covers(in fact I wish I had put more effort into this particular one,I don't think it turned out as well as some of the later ones I've done),I really just do them for fun in my spare moments.

[fatdogtavern]

I'm curious. I've always heard that to play the blues, you have to live the blues. I would assume that to play ND as perfect as you do, you literally have to live ND. Don't get me wrong, from all your videos I've seen I have no doubt to your brilliance. But of all your videos, I never see you smile and the studio is dark. Do you have to try to crawl into Nick's soul to play him so well and is there an inherent darkness thats unavoidable when you do? Peace Dude.

[plectrum34]

Thanks again for all of your positive comments...I'm actually just trying to make things sound as good as I can,whether it's Nick or the other artists I've covered.

[NordicIreland]

Great cover, though the cat is what really makes it, class!

[jcphockey7]

for true! everytime I play guitar my cat nearly has an aneurysm and runs for cover!

[lsdmadman]

purty spot on, that picking thang looks challenging

[smurfshuffler]

I just keep replaying this over and over and over. This is the most beautiful piece. I have tried to replicate this on guitar but your masterful replication is just phenomenal.Your continued responses to comments on here is beyond dutiful. I offer my heartfelt appreciation of your amazing ability and profound interpretation. Cheers, Spudz

[plectrum34]

Hey,thanks very much for your positive comments.

[hollies65]

Nice.

[fatdogtavern]

Pretty Freakin' Perfect Dude! Keep 'Em Coming!

[gabrielangello]

'The Most perfect cover I've seen and heard. Really great work Man! I've heard other great covers as well by people who have done it in their 'own way', but yours is almost 'Spooky'

in that it's so close to Nicks original version - and with that Cat appearing out of Nowhere to take part, it's almost Surreal!

Do you perform 'Three Hours'? '

Thanks for keeping Nicks Music and Memory alive so that a 'New Generation' can hear how

great a composer and guitarist he was.'

[plectrum34]

Thanks very much for your positive comments...Three Hours is probably the most challenging of his songs to attempt,not just for the guitar work but for the odd way the bass and percussion play against it but I'll likely attempt it eventually.

[AndrewBoyle2]

Really like this version. You have captured the mood completely. Do you forsee a tour to England?

[plectrum34]

Thanks very much for your positive comments...no touring plans at the moment,perhaps at some point.

[bobwaht]

Very very good. Got some goosebumps halfway through. Very nice.

[plectrum34]

Thanks for your positive comments and for subscribing.

[bobwaht]

Actually, thank you for doing these. I like Drake his music a lot and these covers you do are very very good. :)

Looks like your cat is enjoying it too! I didn't even notice him the first time I watched the video. That's so cool! :D

[ourjuliet]

The cat is magnificent and obviously mesmerized by you and that song. Your vocals are flawless -- phrasing and time, pitch -- flawless.

[plectrum34]

Thanks for your positive comments...yes,as I've said before my cat is the real star here.

[ourjuliet]

Damn.

[Acadmb]

Nice!!! Are you playing a Guild M20?  It sounds so close to the Nick Drake version.

[plectrum34]

Thanks for your positive comments...yes,it is an M20.

[AcidDookie]

An absolutely perfect cover! Cute cat, too. It's weird that you didn't even smile when he/she joined the cover.

[spdskte]

beautiful job!.....bravo

[DouglasDebonair]

Congratulations on your Drake covers. The best i have heard so far. Subscribing in the hope you get around to doing 3 hours. :)

[plectrum34]

Thanks for your positive comments and for subscribing...3 Hours is probably the most challenging one to do but I hope to get to it eventually.

[LeppardBikini]

Abolutely beautiful!! Please let me know when you do a gig, I'd love to see you play. I'm on Long Island.

[plectrum34]

Thanks very much for your positive comments and for subscribing...I mostly play at private events when I work but I'm also currently playing a steady Wednesday gig at an Irish pub called Playwrights on 35th st. in NY...it's a very different kind of thing from this,mostly crowd pleasing pop and classic rock tunes but I can usually slip in a ND song at some point...

[globularmagnitude]

very very well done, the best cover i have heard of this tune. This is an amazing song by nick drake, and you nailed it with this vid. Very nice.

[plectrum34]

Thanks for your positive comments.

[rwm89]

you have a great amount of talent, do you ever play gigs? i would love to hear this live

[plectrum34]

Thanks for your positive comments and for subscribing...I do gigs mainly around where I live in NYC.

[tommy2x4]

brother, you have talent!...or do you have a secret weapon there?!...camo-kitty!!! lol...

do you write your own music? best wishes from indiana!

[plectrum34]

Thanks for your positive comments...yeah,my cat is really the star of this one...no originals posted at the moment but I hope to at some point in the future...

[dmcfuge]

I think you should definitely consider doing a full time cover act of Nick Drake, you are that good. How about calling yourself "Nick Fake"?

[ItinerateWolfMop]

Pfft.

[Carloignacio]

Hey man! Such a good work. I love that song and I've been long time looking forward to play it correctly. Did you get it from a book or just got it by ear? I've been searching all through the web but all sheet music or tabs I've found for this song are completely disappointing!

Thanks!

Nacho

[plectrum34]

Hey,thanks for your positive comments...the tabs and tunings for this and most other ND songs can be found at nickdraketabs d o t c o m

[Krackerjac]

WWO WOW Wow dude you are very talented awesome job!! 5* Please check out my covers and let me know what ya think? It would be very much appreciated coming from someone as talented as yourself. Thanks for sharing and I'm subscribing for sure!!

Cheers

Krackerjac

[imjkallday]

Great. Thanks. I was working in the garage the other day and heard this song on the jazz station (a version by Andy Bey). I actually stopped what I was doing, went upstairs and went to the stations website to find out the name of the song. Very moving.

[plectrum34]

Thanks for your positive comments...this was actually the first Nick Drake song that I fell in love with so I totally agree.

[radi0head8]

all your covers are incredible ive never heard someone sing so similar to nick drake

[plectrum34]

Thanks so much for your positive comments and for subscribing.

[Revolutionoffunk]

Great version of a song that's actually new to me. I heard Till Bonner's version first, then I went digging and have since discovered this tragic genius in Nick Drake. Your version pays the greatest homage to him. You'd sell a million if you covered it. Thanks for sharing.

[plectrum34]

Hey,thanks very much for your positive comments and for subscibing...I too have heard Bohner's version among others,I think my favorite cover of this one is by the Irish singer Katell Keineg.

[MelodicMinor]

very nice version of the beautiful song