Another example: contrary to what you might see online, there were many reviews of Nick Drake’s records when he was around, and Richard found one of Pink Moon in Penthouse magazine. I also think it’s easy to look on Nick’s non-musical life with hindsight and say, ‘Well, people didn’t understand him, people didn’t realise this or should have done that’. Firstly, he had been led to believe by all of those on the inside of his career, and with all the right motives, that he was going to be very successful.

But if you’re going to walk around Tanworth with the idea in mind that you’re following in Nick’s latter-day footsteps, I would probably say ‘maybe’ but not ‘definitely’. Now, that’s not a large number, that’s not enough to get you into the charts – but it’s not nothing.I’m a big fan of his, but until relatively recently he has often been put down by ‘serious’ rock critics. That made sure that awareness could continue to build (unlike with some artists, like Skip Spence, where you couldn’t get the record for many years). Before I bought the book, after reading that it had a foreword by Gabrielle Drake, the sister of Nick Drake, who became known as an actress on stage and screen, and that she had given it her blessing and was involved in its development, and that Joe Boyd, who produced Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, the first two albums by Nick Drake, had praised it as "a biography to be treasured", I thought I would be in safe hands when I finally started reading it, and I was, to my pleasure and comfort.

I mean, proper English trad folk, or indeed traditional American folk (not blues, but Appalachian or whatever). But speaking about Nick, I think it’s interesting to speculate, as a fantasy: had he been willing to play a concert in September, October 1974 and a promoter had said, ‘Yeah, sure’, what would the take-up have been?I think he was better known than he realised, and perhaps better known than posterity has acknowledged. He sent Nick Drake’s songs to Roberta Flack for consideration, although she didn’t record any, but Millie Small, the pioneering ska / reggae singer most known for My Boy Lollipop, did record one of his songs. Nick poured so much interest and energy and passion into the creation of his records, not only in writing the songs but also, as Richie was saying, being assertive in the studio – not in a dogmatic, unpleasant way, but he dug his heels in, he knew what he wanted and he got what he wanted – that I find it perplexing that he was so casual about their artwork.

JAMES ORTON (Blackwell’s): Thank you for joining us this afternoon, and a huge thank you to our musicians. Of course, what I wanted to know most from the biography was what is most important about Nick Drake, and that is his songs and his acoustic guitar playing. Reading this immensely detailed and thoroughly engaging biography is something of a mixed joy for a fan like me . It was indeed a blunt statement, but Nick knew it was written out of love, recognised the truth in it and did not take it amiss.He founded Sunbeam Records, which has reissued over 100 rock, jazz and folk albums, and edits the rock history magazine Flashback . Despite his disappointment at not having worked on it, he supported Nick’s prerogative in eschewing arrangements and later stated: “I think it’s his greatest work, by far. Instead of imposing his own judgements and theories on Nick Drake, his personality, life and songs, he has gathered together the words of his mother and father, his sister, friends he had at school, at Cambridge University, where he studied English literature, and the people he encountered when he started recording his songs in London. I found it quite sad that his parents – latterly, after his death – repeatedly said (and perhaps came to believe) that towards the end of his life Nick had been happier than they’d ever seen him and so on. It’s striking that Nick was willing to perform alone and at close quarters in front of such an intimidating audience.

And the sense that his reputation will continue to build was really the main motor for getting my book done. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously. But I fear his outcome was inevitable, based on his illness: it was eating away at him to the point where he couldn’t see any plausible future. I thought it was self-destructive, a capitulation, as if he were saying: ‘Fuck it, I don’t care whether people listen to it or not. Young musicians all over the world would have envied Nick, yet by Julian’s account, “He was so congenitally mellow that it seemed normal for him.I also feel that my book almost turns into something else, because Nick stopped making music in 1971, meaning that the last three full years of his life were not spent doing the thing that has fundamentally made people interested in his life. He knew that that the way forward was to find a publisher, sell the songs, find a record company, find a producer, and perform. Did you find it funny – which is the wrong word – that towards the end of his life he seemed to be on a bit of an up? It wasn’t as bad for him, because he got so much recognition with Fairport Convention, the Incredible String Band, later REM, there are many examples. I mean, even the Velvet Underground got a lot more positive response when they were active than has generally been acknowledged.