Biography of Jake Thackray

[John Watterson]

Having wondered for some time why there is not yet a biography of Jake I have decided to give it a go.

Such a talented, intelligent, funny, warm and fractured character must have something put into the library so that the next lot know what he was about.

If anyone has stories, memories, pics, or contacts they would like to have included please email me and we can have a chat.

Thanks

John
john@fakethackray.com

[Pam]

I agree, John.

Maybe a good starting point would be the “Anecdotes and Recollections” section on this site (found under “About and FAQ”). Some of the DVDs and CDs also have stories in them.

Good luck!

[mark sturdy]

There’s actually another book on Jake in the works, or there was a couple of years ago, from Peter Mills. I went to a talk he did in 2012 and he’d certainly done a lot of research and spoken to a lot of people. Don’t know what the current status is though, and not to say there wouldn’t be room for another!

[Michel A]

Hi John
You may remember that on March 29th my Stafford friends gave me the wonderful surprise to take me to Birmingham where you were offering a great “fake” performance, which allowed us to realise we share the view that Jake and Georges, those masters of that MAJOR artistic genre the “marriage” of music with short, meaningful and beautifully worded rhyming texts can produce, deserve to be better known in both English and French speaking countries.
Thanks to the link given on the home page of this website I have just had the further pleasure to hear you and Isy Suttie being interviewed on Radio 4. Some participants to the forum have stressed the fact that they expected more from the broadcast but I think that nothing else than an INTRODUCTION to the amazing richness of the “Jake and songs subject” could be given in a 28 minute conversation and that your interviewer, Isy and yourself did that very well indeed.
I particularly appreciated the choice of the “Nobody else is loved so well by Isobel but me” song by Matthew Parris, the way Isy … confirmed that statement in everything she said about JT and ( last but not least ! ) the “Wordsmith” song you wrote as an echo to “Laurie and Jake’s” blacksmith and toffeemaker and presented us as a … “conclusion” to the afore-mentioned introduction : just perfect !
Concerning your quest for information about Jake and the way he developed his art, perhaps you could add to the result of the conversation you have probably had with Ray Brown by now the benefit of a contact with Loïc Robinot ( cf. the mention I made of his 2012 book in my recent post to Richard O’Brien : http://www.jakethackray.com/forum/2-jakes-music/3486-shakespeare–brassens–thackray.html ).

[Judith]

I was the person who put together the Anecdotes and Recollections, which were drawn from the Book of Condolences set up by The Project at the time. I kept a list of contact addresses for all those whose contributions were used, and I should be happy to share these with anyone who could make use of them. Whether they will still be any use 11 years on is another matter! Just let me know if you are interested.

[John Watterson]

Hi Michael

Thanks very much for your kind comments. I am not often on this forum, but would love to keep in touch with a fellow fan! my email is jmwatterson@aol.com Do drop me a line sometime! Cheers,

John

[John Watterson]

Hi Judith, Thar sounds really interesting – could I ask you to drop me an email on this please? Many thanks, John

jmwatterson@aol.com

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