John Cale, Casual Collaborator

By 1970, with reputable producing, songwriting, and playing credits under his belt, John Cale was in a favorable position to work with whomever he pleased. Given his excellent taste, it was no surprise that he would choose to work with one of the most venerated names in music: Nick Drake. Of course, Drake was by no means a popular figure at the time - his records never sold well during his lifetime, and he had only released Five Leaves Left (1969) at the time of his collaboration with Cale.

The story goes that Cale heard Drake's work through producer Joe Boyd, with whom he was working on Nico's album Desertshore (1970). The subsequent events are detailed by Trevor Dann:

When John Cale heard Nick Drake's music he was enchanted. "He was a very quiet guy. It was very difficult to figure out what was going on in his mind. He made music with a real sensuality - very different from English folk music." So he persuaded Joe Boyd to let him play on the album. For a couple of days in the spring of 1970, Cale moved into Nick's Belsize Park flat and worked on two of his best songs, "Fly" and "Northern Sky." Joe Boyd remembers Nick being overawed by John Cale's fame and phenomenal musicality: "He was kinda trailing in his wake. I said, 'Are you happy with this, Nick', 'Yeh, yeh, I guess so yeh, yeh.'"

- Trevor Dann, Darker Than the Deepest Sea: The Search for Nick Drake (p. 144)

And so it was. Both "Fly" and "Northern Sky," classics from Bryter Layter (1970), would be arranged by the Drake/Cale tandem with Cale fleshing out the arrangements himself in the studio. As per usual, Cale's arrangements of both tracks were impeccable - he imbued the tracks with a suitable melancholy that perfectly complemented Drake's songwriting.

Today's post is "Fly." I found it difficult to choose between it and "Northern Sky," but ultimately chose the former due to its employment of Cale's trademark viola. Our hero is also playing harpsichord on the track.

Fly