I came across this YouTube recording of Jake Thackray. It is an extended version of the one published on CD and I think it is breathtaking. Those of you that have read my book will remember that I have used a few Jake Thackray lyrics at the start of some of the chapters. I chose to do this, and pay the copyright fee, because I think some of his lyrics are as good as the other poetry I have used from the likes of Wordsworth and the Brontës.
This guy can certainly paint a picture with words and this piece is really atmospheric. I remember Jake being on TV in the 70′s and thinking how original he was. He made a regular appearance on the Esther Rantzen show and this is what she had to say about him. “I first heard Jake singing his own lyrics on a radio programme one cold week-day morning, and I had to stop and listen to him. For one thing, he was obviously singing the truth – he painted a scene I could recognise. Even though I lived in a city street, I could feel the fresh air in his songs. For another thing, he was unsentimental and funny – and that’s a rare quality in a popular song. And for a third, every word was meticulously chosen, so I could share his pleasures in life, and in the poetry he used to express it.
But still I had a picture in my mind of Jake as a fat and jolly farmer. Until I first saw him on television. In fact he looks like Lord Byron. These gutsy songs are written by a poet as romantic looking as any nineteenth century heat-flutterer.”
He obviously made a big impression on Esther and I hope you enjoy this as much as I do