How Nick Drake’s encounter with The Rolling Stones defies his perceived shyness
The tragedy of Nick Drake is one that is regularly discussed in the world of folk, and the fact that he was never able to see himself achieve greatness during his own lifetime is perhaps one of the saddest facts about his short-lived career.
Possessing a talent unlike anyone else, releasing music around the same time, there was always a haunting and maudlin quality to his folk balladry, but the songs were always rich with complex structures, innovative chord sequences that others wouldn’t dream of coming up with, and an attitude to arrangement that meant only what was necessary was put in.
The beauty of Drake’s work always stemmed from its perceived complexity and depth, but once you chose to dive in further, all he was ever doing was writing simple yet poignant tracks about the human experience.
The main issue with Drake’s career was that there was little interest being paid in his work at the time he was active, and despite the spectacular nature of records like his debut, Five Leaves Left, he remained an obscure outcast who was destined to never be noticed. His second album, Bryter Later is arguably a more upbeat offering, but took more inspiration from jazz than it did folk music, and by the time he came to putting out his final record, Pink Moon, he’d stripped his music of all of the whistles and bells that once accompanied it, leaving himself in a room with just his guitar and a piano to craft his magic with.
After three studio albums and the adoption of an increasingly reclusive and hermetic lifestyle, Drake took his own life at the age of 26, struggling to comprehend why nobody would work with him or pay attention to his spellbinding songs. Of course, in today’s world, we’ve all become aware of Drake and his music, both as an example of unsung genius and as a cautionary tale of the evils of the music industry, which never quite knew what to do with this singular talent who would much rather stay in the shadows.
However, despite having these reservations about the nature of the industry, one thing that allegedly always brought him out of his shell was the promise of establishing a musical bond with others, and allegedly, there were plenty of occasions where he almost found himself brushing shoulders with some of the biggest names.
Allegedly, he once performed impromptu for The Rolling Stones in Morocco in the hope that they’d take notice of him, and there were plenty of other instances where he would appear without notice in locations in the hope that he could establish a connection with another artist. While history likes to speak about Drake as though he was a loner who hated being around others, this imposition on the Stones suggests otherwise, and had he been more fortunate in impressing them, who knows what could have come of a collaboration between the two.
Songwriter Robin Frederick, who knew Drake from his time living in France, claimed that despite his shyness surrounding performing for larger audiences, he was more than aware of how much talent he possessed. “He didn’t have any problem busking,” Frederick claimed. “He could dazzle on guitar. He knew he was good – he spent a long time getting good. It was positive feedback for him – and a way to get a few francs to go over to Les Deux Garçons and have something to eat. That for him was a fun part of life.”
Drake was evidently a troubled character who was never quite sure how to cope with his own abilities, but as much as we may think of him as a shy and retiring figure who spoke to nobody and allegedly dropped his recordings at Island Records’ reception desk without word, he was clearly still hoping to impress those around him with his marvellous abilities, whether that’s the Rolling Stones or otherwise.
