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"Strange face with your eyes so pale and sincere," the opening lyric from Nick Drake's Cello Song.

Michael Burdett found an unreleased version of the song in a skip more than 20 years ago. Despite being a big fan of Drake he didn't listen to the tape and put it in a drawer.

In spite of Drake's early death and three albums at 26, he remains legendary, as the packed audience proved.

Ten minutes in and Burdett told them they would not be hearing the recording: "Hopefully you will like me by the end."

He then told his story of narrow- as opposed to broad-casting. The Nick Drake estate will not sanction the release of the recording and so Burdett spent a year travelling the UK, playing the song to people in the street and photographing them as they listened. He emphasised the haunted expression in the eyes of those listeners.

Burdett told his tale with invention, humour and a good deal of melodrama. It was entertaining and his digressions on Wayfinder shoes and Werner Herzog were colourful.

However, the real story is how Burdett has managed to squeeze a book and a show out of his slice of good fortune. Despite his support for the Norduff Robbins music therapy charity, self-professed love for Drake's music and life-affirming platitude to end, the response suggested that Burdett had not managed to win over the hearts of the audience "with his eyes so pale and sincere".