Jake Thackray - Rollicking, Frolicking, Uproarious

Through the wild, the cruel winter
You get the coal in your eyes and the snow up your nose.
But sooner or later
You will turn up in the village square
With daffodils in your gaiters
And pussy-willow in your hair.

Anyone who can write like that about a country bus has to be taken seriously. Jake Thackray looked at his corner of Yorkshire with a sharp eye and a sardonic humour. His troubadour style may indeed owe much to his early teaching years in France, but he was no mere copy artist. Each of his songs is unique... But at this point I'm going to interrupt myself. I've no intention of writing Jake's biography. Everything you need to know about him is on the official Jake Thackray website. All I want to do here is present some of his music, starting with my own cover version of Personal Column. I've always enjoyed playing Jake's songs and may very well be the only person who has ever performed them live to a slightly bemused audience of Qataris. In this song, Jake lets his imagination run free over the stories behind the small 'agony' ads in the local paper. This is typical thematic material for Jake. No detail was trivial in his eyes. He saw (or invented) the human story behind every word.

A common theme in Jake's work is his anti-authoritarian stance, or to be more accurate, his dislike of the pride, pomposity or puffed-up nature of some people in office. His underdog often comes out on top, from his 'Scallywag', an outdoor ruffian who seduces his way through the ladies of the County set, to his Gorilla who does unspeakable things to a judge. In this next one, The Gypsy, the handsome policeman doesn't get it all his own way either:

Think of my offerings above as curtain raisers. The next three songs are performed by Jake himself and give some idea of the versatility of the man. Molly Metcalfe is one of his deepest pieces, in which he is hugely sympathetic for the hardness of his subject's life, but also appalled at the inhumanity that accepts it as 'inevitable'. But his introduction is better than mine:

Jake recorded with everything from solo guitar to a full orchestra, but his favourite combination was as a duo with his bass player. This pairing still gave him the freedom to play with tempo while also taking some of the load off his own guitar, freeing him to put more energy into the vocal line. Sister Josephine is one of his best known songs:

Jake's Last Will & Testament is a great statement of his early outlook on life, and death. Sadly, in his later life he lost all confidence in himself and in his worth as a writer. But again, I'm not going to dwell on that. It's easily researched on the web. This hub is a celebration of his originality and genius, and of the vitality that shines through this, his Last Will & Testament: