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| Jake Thackray R.I.P. | |||||
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Reported briefly on BBC Radio 4's news this morning, Yorkshire's own singer and songwriter Jake Thackray has died at the age of 63. The Yorkshire-born teacher-turned-performer began singing and playing the guitar in folk clubs and on local radio before appearing on TV - doing a topical song-spot on "Nationwide". He went on to appear in shows including "The David Frost Show" and "That's Life" with Esther Rantzen. Always a nervous performer, and with some health problems, he latterly lived in Monmouth. He retired from performing well before his many fans thought he should, and a recent CD collection of his work compiled by fans sold out immediately. You can find more about Jake from the following sites: The (Unofficial) Jake Thackray Homepage: http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/~scs1ec/jakethackray.html
27th December 2002
Update:
EMI now has two compilation CDs, The Very Best of Jake Thackray (April 2003) and Lah Di Dah (due out November 2003). Details of these are available via http://www.jakethackray.com/Lah Di Dah includes three previously-unreleased tracks: Dog, The Policeman's Jig and The Grave Digger. A personal tribute from Jacey Bedford I know Jake's performing days were over but to lose the man himself is very sad. I presented him here at Birdsedge in concert in the 80s - when his love of a more than occasional nip of something to keep his spirits up was an open secret. But - all tribute to the man - he said he was off the booze and all his nerves and pent-up energy were directed at the audience - giving us all the treat of seeing Jake on top-form with a sell-out show and an audience that loved him. Jake stayed with us that night and was a charming, diffident house-guest - very concerned to make sure that the folk club had covered the cost of his fee - not small in those days, but we'd covered it no problem. We set the world to rights that night and I will treasure the memory of his stories. I've followed the twists and turns, ups and downs of Jake's life via mutual friends. The last I heard of him was a couple of years ago when he turned up at the Monmouth folk club, saying he was going to start singing again and promising Sally Saysell, the organiser, that he would come back to our (Artisan) concert the following week and do a floorspot. Sadly, he never turned up. Many of the best comedians have a touch of the Is-this-the-night-they-won't-laugh? syndrome, Jake more than most. A great shame, as they never stopped laughing and wanting more of that robust talent and fragile man we knew and loved as Jake Thackray. Tall tales about Jake This one was told by his old mate, Shep Woolley. Shep, living in Portsmouth, has many connections with the ferry people and many years ago - when there were strict customs limits on the amount of alcohol you could bring in from Europe - he organised what he called a 'Booze Cruise.' A bunch of entertainers got free ferry tickets in return for playing for the ferry passengers. On this particular occasion, Shep, Jake and a local band took the band's van, all their instruments and a shopping list and set out across the channel. Now, there was, at that time, a restriction on how much booze you could bring back in bottles, but as far as I'm aware, there was no restriction at all on how much you could bring back in your bloodstream. Jake was determined to get full value at customs and to that end was well-oiled by the time they got back into Portsmouth harbour. The band's van, with Shep, Jake and all the band members, was pulled over for a random check on the quayside by a rather nice looking lady customs officer. At that moment it would have been prudent for Jake to forget he was a comedian, however, taking the lady customs officer in his arms and giving her a big sloppy kiss, he stage-whispered into her ear, 'The drugs are in the spare wheel!' Customs officers do not have a sense of humour. Several hours later, the van was left on the dockside in kit-form, having been disassembled by an enthusiastic team from Customs and Excise. The band, whose van it was, had a gig that evening and not a spanner between them. Jake's popularity quotient was not high at that very moment. Jake Thackray 1938 - 2002: a brief biography Born in Yorkshire, Jake was originally a teacher working in Leeds. His songs first appeared in folk clubs and local radio, and during his early musical years he built up a growing band of fans.Locally he first came to public attention doing the weekly topical song spot on the Yorkshire section of "Nationwide," before becoming a well known face to the general public after a number of guest spots on UK television shows - in particular "The David Frost Show", "The Braden Beat" with Bernard Braden, and "That's Life", with Esther Rantzen. Jake's songs were unique and his delivery quirky and very Yorkshire. He sang and accompanied himself on a nylon-strung guitar, pretty adventurous when playing live concerts as the strings constantly needed retuning. Despite his stated preference for performing in small venues, Jake appeared on the same bill as Louis Armstrong and other notables, and also performed before the Royal Family on a number of occasions. Jake's songs remain hilarious, quintessentially English, sometimes thoughtful, always intelligent and often bawdy and slightly surreal. There's "The Bantam Cock" - much loved in folk clubs - being about an oversexed cockerel with no sense of propriety; or "Sister Josephine", about a criminal on the run who takes refuge in a convent. Apparently he is unnoticed until the police arrive to take him away leaving the nuns beginning to speculate why Sister Josephine shaved a lot more than the other nuns and noting that No longer will the cloister toilet seat stand upright... Let's not forget "The Widow of Brid"; "The Blacksmith and the Toffeemaker"; "Isobel Makes Love Upon National Monuments"; "The Kiss"; "Castleford Ladies' Magic Circle" (Elizabeth Jones and Lily O'Grady/ And three or four more married ladies/ Are frantically dancing naked for Beelzebub) and many, many more - including what ought to be the mantra for all management teams - "The Bull" (The bigger the Bull the slicker and thicker the bullshite falls). Jake will be missed, but it would not surprise his many loyal fans if his songs re-emerge and become recognised and that, posthumously, Jake will be celebrated for his true genius.
27th December 2002.
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