NickDrake.com

[whiskey_blues]

was Bob Dylan's "Tomorrow Is A Long Time" not first released in 1970 in Greatest Hits II? Does that not mean Nick must have recorded his version then, at earliest? Or maybe it was available somewhere else?

[wayne]

Good point, I don't think it was available before 1971, I could be wrong though.

[wayne]

A quick google later... maybe Nick heard it live, on the radio or maybe a bootleg...

"Dylan recorded a demo of the song for his publisher, probably in early 1963, and first performed it publicly on a New York radio show around the same time. On April 12, 1963, he played it at his concert at Town Hall in New York, his first major theater performance. This concert was recorded, and tracks from it were considered for a proposed live album, which got as far as the acetate stage but was never released. "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" was not among the songs under consideration for that album, but, in 1971, when Columbia Records assembled Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, the Town Hall tape was resurrected and the previously unreleased song was put on the LP, so that a Dylan version of "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" finally saw release on November 17, 1971, more than eight and a half years after it was recorded."

[bernie49]

Thanks for your information, wayne

I'm a big fan of Bob too & I must admit I had never thought of that question before, just took it for granted that Nick performed that beautiful song in his own style.

So all we can say for sure is that Nick must have heard the song before 1966/67.

Or did Bob send it to him?
_________________
"Look through time and find your rhyme / Tell us what you find
We will wait / At your gate / Hoping like the blind"

[Richie]

Maybe Nick actually wrote the song and Bob snatched his home recording tapes on one of his trips to the UK

[bernie49]

Yes, that sounds plausible!
_________________
"Look through time and find your rhyme / Tell us what you find
We will wait / At your gate / Hoping like the blind"

[Peter Rice]

There were versions of "Tomorrow is a long time" knocking around in the late 60s that Nick would have been familiar with. I can't recall the Dylan original from that era, but I do remember the Elvis Presley cover, taken, I think, from a terrible film called Spinout.

[moonrider]

[quote="wayne"]Good point, I don't think it was available before 1971, I could be wrong though.[/quote]

"Tomorrow Is a Long Time" was recorded by Canadian duo Ian and Sylvia on an album called Four Strong Winds released in 1963-64. This was a well known album with a mix of contemporary and traditional folk songs. Don't know whether this was the source or not. The song was circulated pretty widely among performers around that time, Nick could have heard it a lot of different places.

[bernie49]

That was very interesting indeed, moonrider! Just had a look at Wikipedia here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_and_Sylvia
Here's a short extract from Wiki:
"By 1962 they (Ian & Sylvia Tyson) were living in New York City, where they caught the attention of Albert Grossman, who was managing Bob Dylan. He secured them a contract with Vanguard Records, and they released their first album late in the year...
Their second album was similar to the first, with the exception of the inclusion of an early Dylan composition, "Tomorrow is a Long Time", and the title song "Four Strong Winds", which was written by Ian. "Four Strong Winds" was a major hit in Canada and ensured their stardom..."

By the way, I also like Neil Young's version of "Four Strong Winds"
_________________
"Look through time and find your rhyme / Tell us what you find
We will wait / At your gate / Hoping like the blind"