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John Philip "Jake" Thackray (27 February 1938 – 24 December 2002) was an English singer-songwriter, poet, humourist and journalist. Best known in the late 1960s and early 1970s for his topical comedy songs performed on British television, his work ranged from satirical to bawdy to sentimental to pastoral, with a strong emphasis on storytelling, making him difficult to categorise. Thackray sang in a lugubrious
baritone A baritone is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the bass (voice type), bass and the tenor voice type, voice-types. It is the most common male voice. The term originates from the ...
voice, accompanying himself on a nylon-strung guitar in a style that was part classical, part jazz. His witty lyrics and clipped delivery, combined with his strong
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
accent and the northern setting of many of his songs, led to his being described as the "North Country
Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...
", a comparison Thackray resisted, although he acknowledged his lyrics were in the English tradition of Coward and
Flanders and Swann Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo and musicians. Michael Flanders (1922–1975) was a lyricist, actor, and singer. He collaborated with Donald Swann (1923–1994), a composer and pianist, in writing and performing comedy music, comic ...
, "who are wordy, funny writers". However, his tunes derived from the French ''
chansonnier A chansonnier (, , Galician and , or ''canzoniéro'', ) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally " song-books"; however, some manuscripts are call ...
'' tradition: he claimed
Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; ; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and ...
as his greatest inspiration and he was also influenced by
Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed theatrical songs. He generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, but later throughout the world ...
and
Charles Trenet Louis Charles Augustin Georges Trenet (; 18 May 1913 – 19 February 2001) was a renowned French singer-songwriter who composed both the music and the lyrics for nearly 1,000 songs over a career that lasted more than 60 years. These songs inclu ...
. He also admired
Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his non-rhotic Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early America ...
. He was admired by, and has influenced, many performers including
Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp (band), Pulp, he became a reluctant figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Cocker h ...
,
Alex Turner Alexander David Turner (born 6 January 1986) is an English musician. He is the lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Arctic Monkeys. Turner is known for his Songwriter, lyricism ranging from kitchen sink realism to surrealism, surreal ...
, Benjamin Clementine,
Mike Harding Mike Harding (born 23 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, writer, broadcaster and musician. Early life and education Harding's father, Louis Arthur "Curly" Harding, a navigator in the RAF, was killed in the Second Worl ...
,
Momus Momus (; Ancient Greek: Μῶμος ''Momos'') in Greek mythology was the personification of satire and mockery, two stories about whom figure among Aesop's Fables. During the Renaissance, several literary works used him as a mouthpiece for their ...
,
Ralph McTell Ralph McTell (born Ralph May; 3 December 1944) is an English singer-songwriter and guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s. McTell is best known for his song " Streets of London" (1969), which ...
,
Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...
, and
Jasper Carrott Robert Norman Davis (born 14 March 1945), known by his stage name, Jasper Carrott, is an English comedian, writer, actor, singer and television presenter. His credits include '' An Audience With Jasper Carrott'' (1978), '' The Secret Policeman ...
.
Jasper Carrott Robert Norman Davis (born 14 March 1945), known by his stage name, Jasper Carrott, is an English comedian, writer, actor, singer and television presenter. His credits include '' An Audience With Jasper Carrott'' (1978), '' The Secret Policeman ...
, , accessed 7 September 2011.


Early life

John Philip Thackray was born in
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
,
West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...
, the son of Ernest Thackray, a policeman, and Ivy May Thackray, née Armitage. He was educated at the
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
St. Michael's College in Leeds and St David's College, a Catholic boarding seminary in
Dolgellau Dolgellau (; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, north-west Wales, lying on the River Wnion, a tributary of the River Mawddach. It was the traditional county town of the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Merion ...
, north-west Wales. He considered joining the priesthood but instead chose to study English Literature and Language at
Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...
. After graduation he spent three years abroad teaching English, mainly in France – in
Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
, in
Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
and in the
Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...
– but also including six months in
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
at the height of the war for independence in 1961–1962. During his time in France he had some of his poetry published and discovered the ''chansonnier'' tradition and in particular the work of
Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; ; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and ...
. "I missed out on rock and all my influences were French," he would later say. In 1966, he had two brief columns – ''What is a Prof?'' and ''What is a Student?'' published in the BBC's '' The Listener'' magazine.


Musical career

In 1963 Thackray returned to his native Yorkshire, teaching at Intake School in Rodley, Leeds. Teaching himself to play the guitar, he found that one way to get unruly pupils to take an interest in their studies was through his songs. This and performing in folk clubs led to appearances on local
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
radio programmes, which brought him to the attention of producer Norman Newell. Thackray recorded thirty demos with Newell, eleven of which were soon to be re-recorded and released as his debut album, '' The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray'', in 1967. Many of the songs were given Newell’s trademark orchestral accompaniment in an attempt to broaden the album’s appeal beyond folk audiences. Its title track exhorted his friends to mark his death with a party, and then forget him. The album also included "Lah-Di-Dah", in which a prospective bridegroom assures his bride he loves her so much that he will try to be nice to her dreadful family. This in turn led to a BBC television slot, composing a weekly topical song for Bernard Braden's consumer magazine programme ''Braden's Week''. He was not immediately popular — his first appearance in late 1968 provoked letters demanding his dismissal — but he eventually won over the audience. After ''Braden's Week'' was cancelled in 1972, Thackray took up the same role on its successor show, ''
That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving between 10,000 and 15,000 letters a week. The series was broadcast on BBC1 for 21 yea ...
''. In nearly thirty years of performing he would make over a thousand radio and TV appearances, including slots on ''The
David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was an English television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ...
Show'' and ''Frost Over America'', and his own show, ''Jake's Scene'', on ITV. In 1968, he married Sheila Marian Clarke-Irons, a 21-year-old student. His second album, '' Jake's Progress'', was recorded at
Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...
while the
Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
put the finishing touches to their ''
Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 26 September 1969, by Apple Records. It is the last album the group recorded, although '' Let It Be'' (1970) was the last album completed before th ...
'' album next door. Released in 1969, it abandoned the orchestral arrangements of its predecessor for a small acoustic band. It included the song "The Blacksmith and the Toffee Maker", which Thackray adapted from a story in Laurie Lee's '' Cider with Rosie''. He began recording a new album in 1970, but these recordings were scrapped. In 1971 he released '' Live Performance'', a live recording of 14 songs from his 1970 performance at the
Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts European classical music, classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by ...
in London (an expanded, 29-song double CD of the same performance would be released in 2006). A third studio album, '' Bantam Cock'', followed in 1972. Its title track became a folk standard and was covered by folk singer Fred Wedlock, folk group
the Corries The Corries were a Scottish folk group that emerged from the Scottish folk revival of the early 1960s. The group was a trio from their formation until 1966 when founder Bill Smith left the band but Roy Williamson and Ronnie Browne contin ...
and comedian
Jasper Carrott Robert Norman Davis (born 14 March 1945), known by his stage name, Jasper Carrott, is an English comedian, writer, actor, singer and television presenter. His credits include '' An Audience With Jasper Carrott'' (1978), '' The Secret Policeman ...
among others. Other songs included "Isabel Makes Love upon National Monuments", "Sister Josephine", and "Brother Gorilla", an English adaptation of Georges Brassens' "'' Le Gorille''". In 1973 he opened for Brassens when he performed at the inauguration of the
Sherman Theatre The Sherman Theatre () is a venue in the Cathays district of Cardiff. It was built as a twin-auditorium venue in 1973 with financial support from University College Cardiff (now Cardiff University). Sherman Cymru was the name of the Sherman Thea ...
in
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
, which he would describe as the high spot of his career. After ''Bantam Cock'' Thackray's television appearances continued, but his recording career stalled. A compilation album, '' The Very Best of Jake Thackray'', was released in 1975. His final studio album, '' On Again! On Again!'', appeared in 1977. Its title track, a comedic, long-winded tirade about women who talk too much, would see Thackray accused of misogyny, but the album also included "The Hair of the Widow of Bridlington", a song of female self-determination in the face of social disapproval. It also featured two more Brassens adaptations, "Isabella" (based on Brassens' "''Marinette''") and "Over to Isobel" (based on "''Je rejoindrai ma belle''"). The same year he published a book of lyrics, ''Jake's Progress'', illustrated by
Bill Tidy William Edward Tidy, MBE (9 October 1933 – 11 March 2023) was a British cartoonist, writer and television personality, known chiefly for his comic strips. He was noted for his charitable work, particularly for the Lord's Taverners, which h ...
. From the late 1970s, he had made most of his living on the live circuit, touring in Europe, North America and the Far East, but in 1981 he returned to television with '' Jake Thackray and Songs'', a six-part series on BBC2 featuring Thackray and guests, including
Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
and
Linda Thompson Linda Diane Thompson (born May 23, 1950) is an American songwriter, former actress and beauty pageant winner. Thompson began her acting career as a " Hee Haw Honey" on the American television variety show ''Hee Haw''. She was also a girlfrien ...
and
Ralph McTell Ralph McTell (born Ralph May; 3 December 1944) is an English singer-songwriter and guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s. McTell is best known for his song " Streets of London" (1969), which ...
, performing in a variety of venues. An album of the same name, recorded live at the Stables Theatre,
Wavendon Wavendon is a village and civil parish in the south east of the Milton Keynes urban area, in Buckinghamshire, England. History and geography The village name is an Old English language word, and means 'Wafa's hill'. In the ''Anglo-Saxon Chron ...
,
Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...
, as part of the recordings for the TV show, followed. A BBC-licensed DVD of Jake Thackray and Songs was released in 2014. Thackray's last release during his life was a compilation, '' Lah-Di-Dah'', released in 1991. Although he gave up teaching for show business, Thackray did not really like being what he called "a performing dick". He was uncomfortable with big audiences, and favoured pubs and community halls as performance venues in preference to grander ones such as the
London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...
(although he appeared there in a
Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...
). He became disillusioned with stage life. He is recorded as saying "I'd never liked the stage much and I was turning into a performing man, a real Archie Rice he hack music hall comic in John Osborne's ''The Entertainer (play)">The Entertainer ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
''], so I cancelled gigs and pulled out". He was plagued by a self-doubt and a breakdown in confidence that Ralph McTell describes as "catastrophic". His style of work was also falling out of fashion: his literate, witty lyrics and tales of rural Yorkshire had little resonance in the
punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
and Thatcher years, folk audiences had lost interest in contemporary song and, in the days of
alternative comedy Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe ...
, his bawdy humour was deemed sexist and outdated. He ultimately gave up performing in the early 1990s and turned to journalism: for four years he wrote a weekly column for the ''
Yorkshire Post ''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire, although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by ...
''.


Retirement and death

In the 1990s, Thackray withdrew to his home in
Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...
, South Wales, where he had settled with his family in the late 1960s. Beset by health and financial problems: he had become an alcoholic and was declared bankrupt in 2000. He had always been an observant Roman Catholic and became increasingly religious in his later years, limiting his musical activities to performing the
Angelus FIle:Jean-François Millet (II) 001.jpg, ''The Angelus (painting), The Angelus'' (1857–1859) by Jean-François Millet The Angelus (; Latin for "angel") is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation (Christianity), Incarnation of Jesus ...
at his local church. He died of heart failure on 24 December 2002, at the age of 64, leaving his widow, Sheila, from whom he was separated, and three sons: Bill, Sam and Tom.


Revival in interest

In May 2002, a group of fans formed the Jake Thackray Project with the intention of making more of Thackray's work available to the public. With Thackray's cooperation, the project team, led by record producer David Harris, received permission from EMI to produce a double CD of 42 songs not on any then-available release, limited to 200 copies, which was released in November 2002 with cover art by
Bill Tidy William Edward Tidy, MBE (9 October 1933 – 11 March 2023) was a British cartoonist, writer and television personality, known chiefly for his comic strips. He was noted for his charitable work, particularly for the Lord's Taverners, which h ...
. After Thackray's death the following month, EMI consented to a further edition of 100 copies. This revival of interest led to the release of two mass market CDs the following year: '' The Very Best of Jake Thackray'', and ''The Jake Thackray Collection'', both were released by
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
, with the latter exclusive to
HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...
. The Jake Thackray Project went on to release a remastered live recording (the CD ''Live in Germany''), and two DVDs: the privately recorded ''Live at the Unicorn'' (2009) and the BBC-licensed ''Jake Thackray and Songs'' (2014). A musical written by
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
-born poet Ian McMillan based on Thackray's songs and their characters, ''Sister Josephine Kicks the Habit'', premiered in 2005 and toured the north of England. A rewrite by
Alan Plater Alan Frederick Plater (15 April 1935 – 25 June 2010) was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s. He is best known for the sitcom ''Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt'' and th ...
was due to tour the UK in 2007, but was put on hold following the death of executive producer Ian Watson. In 2014 Jake Thackray was featured on the BBC Radio Four 'Great Lives' Series. 2006 saw a major retrospective. EMI released an expanded, 29-song double CD edition of '' Live Performance'', and '' Jake in a Box'', a 4-CD box set containing Thackray's four studio albums and six singles in their entirety, plus 25 unused tracks recorded in the ''Last Will and Testament'' sessions in 1967, eleven songs recorded for the abandoned album in 1970 and a handful of other rarities. Comedian and writer
Victor Lewis-Smith Victor Lewis-Smith (12 May 1957 – 10 December 2022) was a British film, television and radio producer, a television and restaurant critic, a satirist and newspaper columnist. He was executive producer of the ITV1 Annual National Food & Drink ...
produced a television documentary, ''Jake on the Box'', for the BBC. In 2014, The Jake Thackray Project released a DVD of '' Jake Thackray and Songs'', by arrangement with BBC music, featuring all of Thackray's performances from the television series, along with songs by three of the guest artists, Alex Glasgow, Pete Scott and Ralph McTell. In 2020, attempts to create a one-man show celebrating his life and work — accompanied by excerpts of his performances — formed a subplot in the mockumentary " Meet the Richardsons" in which
Jon Richardson Jon Joel Richardson (born 26 September 1982) is an English comedian and radio presenter. He is known for his appearances on '' 8 Out of 10 Cats'' and '' 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' and his work as co-host with Russell Howard on BBC Rad ...
expresses his admiration for Thackray's life and works.


Discography


Singles

* "Remember Bethlehem (The Intake School Carol)" — Columbia/
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
— 1967 * "Lah-Di-Dah" / "The Black Swan" — Columbia/EMI — 1968 * "Tra La La" / "Le Cygne Noir" — Columbia/EMI — 1969 * "Country Boy" (Promo) — Columbia/EMI — 1972 * "On Again! On Again" — EMI — 1977


Studio albums

*'' The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray'' — Columbia/EMI — 1967 *'' Jake's Progress'' — Columbia/EMI — 1969 *'' Bantam Cock'' — Columbia/EMI — 1972 *'' On Again! On Again!'' — EMI — 1977


Live albums

*'' Live Performance'' — Columbia/EMI — 1971; reissued 1976; reissued in 2006 as an expanded double CD *'' Jake Thackray and Songs'' — Dingle’s Records — 1981; re-released on streaming platforms in 2022 by The Jake Thackray Project, by arrangement with the BBC. A CD release is expected in 2023. *''Live in Germany'' — The Jake Thackray Project – 2005 *''Live at the Lobster Pot Volume 1'' — Lobster Pot — 2005 *''Live at the Lobster Pot Volume 2'' — Lobster Pot — 2005


Compilations

*'' The Very Best of Jake Thackray'' — EMI —
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
*'' Lah-Di-Dah'' — EMI — 1991 *''The Jake Thackray Project'' — The Jake Thackray Project – 2002 (initially limited to 200 copies, with another 100 released the following year) *'' The Very Best of Jake Thackray'' — EMI — 2003 *''The Jake Thackray Collection'' — EMI (
HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...
exclusive) — 2003 *'' Jake in a Box'' (4-CD Box set) — EMI — 2006


DVDs

*''Live at the Unicorn '' — The Jake Thackray Project — 2009 *'' Jake Thackray and Songs'' — The Jake Thackray Project — 2014, by arrangement with BBC Music *''Sister Josephine Kicks the Habit - The Jake Thackray Musical'' — 2005 *''Jake Thackray at the BBC'' – A double-DVD set, including all Thackray's other BBC performances. Released by The Jake Thackray Project in December 2022, by arrangement with BBC Music


Books

*''Jake’s Progress'' — a book written by Thackray containing the lyrics to most of his songs along with anecdotes and spoken routines from his concerts. Released by Star Books in 1977. *''Beware of the Bull - The Enigmatic Genius of Jake Thackray'' — a biography written by Paul Thompson and John Watterson, with the cooperation of the Thackray family, and published by Scratching Shed Publishing in August 2022.


References


External links

* * Jake Thackrayon
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

The Jake Thackray ProjectJake Thackray's 1969 album Jake’s Progress
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thackray, Jake 1938 births 2002 deaths Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham English male poets English Roman Catholics English male singer-songwriters English folk guitarists English male guitarists Writers from Leeds Musicians from Leeds English baritones 20th-century English singers 20th-century English guitarists 20th-century English male singers People educated at Mount St Mary's Catholic High School, Leeds 20th-century English male writers English humorists English male comedians Comedians from Leeds English satirists English comedy musicians