The Strange Face Project brings a forgotten version of Nick Drake‘s Cello Song to life through Michael Burdett’s artistic vision.
In the 1970′s Michael Burdett was a post boy for Island Records when he came across a tape of Nick Drake’s music destined for the bin. He’d been charged with the task of throwing some tapes into a skip, but one tape in particular caught his eye. “I picked it up because it had Nick Drake, Cello Song and with love written on the box. The words ‘with love’ made me think that it had to be Nick’s handwriting and on that basis I couldn’t let it go to the dump.”
By the time Burdett got home he had forgotten about the tape, and it laid un-listened to for 20 years. When Burdett finally listed to the tape he was astonished by his discovery of an unknown version of Cello Song, a piece from Drake’s debut album Five Leaves Left.
Released version of Cello Song by Nick Drake
But rather than sharing his discovery, Burdett devised the Strange Face Project: We are living in a world where recorded music is distributed so casually and freely it’s almost lost its value. However, here was an opportunity to use a recording to create a very personal moment for a number of people and maybe give them an incredibly special memory.
Burdett travelled up and down the country with the recording and a set of headphones and offered 200 people the opportunity to listen to the piece. Of the 200 people Michael approached 167 said yes; city workers, farmers, scientists, hairdressers, musicians, tattooists, journalists, celebrities & he asked them all. Randomly stopping them in the street, at their places of work and in their homes, whether they knew of Drake’s material or not. The lucky few to hear the unknown Cello song were photographed as part of the project.
Michal Burdett’s photography of the Strange Faces Project is on display at The Idea Generation Gallery from the 27th of January till the 12 February.
Find more of Michael Burdett’s photography and iconic portraits of Nick Drake by Keith Morris on CultureLabel.com here.
