[Paul]

Welcome, Ian!

You are right: the excellent Jake in a Box only contains studio recordings. Your options for live recordings are:
– Live Performance, a double CD set which contains an excellent performance from 1970. You should be able to pick this up easily via Amazon or other retailers
– Jake Thackray and Songs, Jake’s last official release which contains some brilliant material unavailable elsewhere. Unfortunately this album is not available on CD, but vinyl copies appear on eBay on a fairly regular basis. For my money this is the best live recording of Jake at his peak.
– Live in Germany. This CD contains half a radio show broadcast on British Forces Radio and was released through the work of members of this forum. I have a few copies left. If you want further details, please contact me on P_A_M_Thompson(at)hotmail.com
– Live at the Lobster Pot volumes 1 and 2. These CDs contain two halves of a show recording in a small club in the mid 70s. They appear to have been deleted, but you might spot copies on eBay

Unfortunately, we no longer have copies of the DVD Live at the Unicorn to sell, but if you spot one on eBay, I would recommend that you get it: although the footage is amateur in quality, it contains an entire show in an intimate setting and will give you a real flavour of Jake as a performer.

I can also recommend the live CD of John Watterson a.k.a. Fake Thackray: not Jake himself, but still excellent performances within a live setting. John is one of a number of us who perform Jake’s songs live, so do look out for adverts on this website.

I hope that this helps. Happy listening!

Paul

[Paul]

Welcome aboard, Andrew. Where are you based? Do watch out for Thackray tribute shows, advertised from time to time here and on John Watterson’s Fake Thackray site.

[Paul]

Hi Michel

If you ever make it as far as Cheshire, let me know – it would be good to meet.

[Paul]

My pleasure!

[Paul]

The full documentary has re-appeared on YouTube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrwbA_QIHJ8

You may need to move fast to see it, as it has appeared and disappeared before.

I believe that it may be possible to capture material from YouTube via software freely available on the internet…

[Paul]

The full documentary has re-appeared on YouTube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrwbA_QIHJ8

You may need to move fast to see it, as it has appeared and disappeared before.

I believe that it may be possible to capture material from YouTube via software freely available on the internet…

[Paul]

The full documentary has reappeared on YouTube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrwbA_QIHJ8

I believe that it may be possible to capture material from YouTube via software freely available on the internet…

[Paul]

Hi Hayley

Welcome aboard! I saw your father perform with Jake on a number of occasions, and he was a phenomenal musician whose playing really complemented Jake’s songs well. I wonder whether you would be happy to drop a line to my personal email (P_A_M_Thompson [at] hotmail.com? I’m hoping to move a project forward and would be grateful for some information from you. All will become clear, I hope!

Best wishes
Paul

[Paul]

‘I think I said I’d send over some venue contacts, but evidently I never got round to it. Sorry! Looks like I’ve got no excuse not to do it now.’

Thanks for owning up!

Best wishes
Paul

[Paul]

Thanks for tracking down the Leeds City Varieties poster – Jake makes reference to the striptease artist in some of his writing. I have no doubt that he did play in pubs and other venues as well – on the 4th CD of Jake in a Box he introduces one song as being another ‘public house’ song.

[Paul]

I believe that he made his professional debut at Leeds City Varieties.

[Paul]

Hi Mark

Welcome aboard! I don’t think any of us has a definitive answer to your question. From EMI’s point of view I would imagine that record sales for an artist they could not pigeon hole would not have been strong, although in many respects the Jake Thackray and Songs TV series and album mark a certain sort of high water mark for Jake’s public profile. As far as I can tell Jake wrote very little new material in the 1980s – I saw him several times in the first half of the decade, and heard nothing more recent than The Bull, One of Them and The Remembrance. Indeed, the only frustration about seeing him live was that the set list varied very little. I did hear in the late 80s an interview (tape now lost, sadly), done by a friend of a friend, in which Jake claimed to have an album of new material recorded, and that some people would find the content offensive. However, this may well have been complete fabrication on Jake’s part – something he said he engaged in when being interviewed. Tortoise appeared on a charity album in the mid 80s, but we don’t know when it was written. Our Dog and Tortoise became additions to the setlist towards the end of the 80s. The story he tells about Side by Side suggests that it was written long before the radio show in which it appeared. One other mystery song is Lullaby My Daddio, which survives via a poor recording of a radio broadcast; sadly, the date is unknown.

I’m sorry not to be able to provide more information. If you would like more info about Lullaby My Daddio, email me (P_A_M_Thompson [at] hotmail.com).

[Paul]

What you have done seems to match what I have just done successfully, so I am baffled. Worth dropping Gordon an email as webmaster and run through it with him?

[Paul]

Hi Tim

I should be able to help. Email me direct: P_A_M_Thompson (at) hotmail.com.

[Paul]

Hi John

In the absence of a full blown Jakefest, you might be interested in a Thackray show at the Lymm Festival on 1 July: visit http://www.lymmfestival.co.uk for details of a Jake Thackray Syndrome gig.

[Author]

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