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Five Leaves Left
Studio album by Nick Drake
Released	1 September 1969
Recorded	Sound Techniques Studio, London
Genre	Folk
Length	41:43
Label	Island Records
Producer(s)	Joe Boyd
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Entertainment Weekly (A)
Nick Drake chronology
	Five Leaves Left (1969)	Bryter Layter (1970)

Five Leaves Left, recorded in 1969, was the first of three albums by British folk musician Nick Drake. Like Bryter Layter and unlike Pink Moon, this album contains no completely solo songs. Nick was accompanied by members of the British folk-rock group Fairport Convention.

Five Leaves Left was ranked 85th in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 283 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The title of the album is said to be derived from a contemporary message contained within packets of Rizla cigarette papers, which warned people that only five papers were left in the packet. It is sometimes suggested that this was aimed at people rolling marijuana joints, since many joints required five individual papers in order to be assembled.

There has been some speculation into the name being acquired from O. Henry's short novel The Last Leaf, in which a woman states that she can happily die when all the leaves have fallen from her tree, she states that it will not be long as there are only five leaves left [1]. Also, Samuel Beckett's existentialist play Waiting For Godot, which takes place entirely under a lone tree on a coutry road, has the line, "The tree has four or five leaves."

All songs by Nick Drake

1. "Time Has Told Me" – 4:27
2. "River Man" – 4:21
3. "Three Hours" – 6:16
4. "Way To Blue" – 3:11
5. "Day Is Done" – 2:29
6. "'Cello Song" – 4:49
7. "The Thoughts Of Mary Jane" – 3:22
8. "Man In A Shed" – 3:55
9. "Fruit Tree" – 4:50
10. "Saturday Sun" – 4:03

Nick Drake performs vocals and acoustic guitar on all songs, except where indicated otherwise.

• "Time Has Told Me"

Paul Harris - piano
Richard Thompson - electric guitar
Danny Thompson - bass guitar

• "River Man"

Harry Robinson - string arrangement

• "Three Hours"

Danny Thompson - bass
Rocki Dzidzornu - congas

• "Way To Blue"

Robert Kirby - string arrangement

• "Day Is Done"

Robert Kirby - string arrangement

• "'Cello Song"

Clare Lowther - 'cello
Danny Thompson - bass
Rocki Dzidzornu - congas

• "The Thoughts Of Mary Jane"

Robert Kirby - arrangement

• "Man In A Shed"

Paul Harris - piano
Danny Thompson - bass

• "Fruit Tree"

Robert Kirby - arrangement

• "Saturday Sun"

Nick Drake - piano
Danny Thompson - bass
Tristram Fry - drums & vibraphone

• Five Leaves Left at MusicBrainz

Nick Drake

Albums: Five Leaves Left | Bryter Layter | Pink Moon

Related: Joe Boyd | Gabrielle Drake | Robert Kirby | John Wood