Nicolas Rodney Drake, known to most simply as Nick Drake, faded out of human existence exactly 41 years ago. The life and death of Nick Drake has been dissected ever since his rise to popularity well after his death, when artists started giving Drake the credit he deserved.
The Cure’s Robert Smith, whom Drake was a major influence, told Rolling Stone Australia in 1993, “Nick Drake’s on the other side of the coin to Jimi Hendrix. He was very quiet and withdrawn … I think also that because he had an untimely death like Jimi Hendrix, he was never able to compromise his early work. He was never able to put a foot wrong. It’s a morbid romanticism, but there is something attractive about that.”
Robert Smith isn’t the only artist to confess his appreciation for Drake’s song-craft. In an article written by Patrick Kampert for the Chicago Tribune, he reveals that legends such as Kate Bush, John Cale (The Velvet Underground), Tom Verlaine (Television), and David Sylvian (New York Dolls) are all fans.
It’s undoubtedly clear that his music has been appreciated, but his influence is sometimes very overlooked. His classic albums Pink Moon and Bryter Layter, among others, have carved out a platform for artists to derive their influence, even if they may not know it.
Elliott Smith, Beck, Belle and Sebastian, Iron & Wine, Justin Vernon and Jeff Buckley, to name a few, have certain elements in their music that can be traced back to Drake. Of course, this is a assertion that can be made about anything, but with a body of work as strong as that left behind by Drake, it feels like a fair proclamation.
As with any artist who passes an untimely death akin to that of Drake’s depression fueled disintegration, it’s mind-numbing to try and think of all that could’ve been created if Drake survived.
He would have been 67 years old today, if he could have beat his depression and crippling anxieties, to live and see the day where his work was appreciated.
Midnight Publication 