The Lost Archives 1966-1996 (2CD)

The Jake Thackray Project is proud to announce the release of Jake Thackray – The Lost Archives 1966-1996, a two-CD collection featuring rare performances from radio and TV archives, concerts and private recordings, and a clutch of previously unreleased songs.

The Lost Archives 1966-1996 spans Jake’s entire career: from one of his earliest radio appearances, when he was still a teacher in Leeds, to his very last studio recordings, made after  he had largely retired from performing. In between, there is a remarkable range of work.

Disc 1 (Live at the BBC) puts the spotlight on Jake’s skill as a live performer, with a series of excellent stage performances for BBC radio and TV. These include some of his best-known material from his acclaimed 1981 BBC TV series, Jake Thackray and Songs. Alongside the classics there are some wonderful rarities: two amusing children’s songs (‘Tortoise’ and ‘Our Dog’) and the darkly comic, previously unreleased ‘Lullaby My Daddio’. Live at the BBC also showcases Jake’s skill as a raconteur, featuring a number of his legendary ‘talking bits’, taking the listener into the wonderfully entertaining, fanciful and thought-provoking world of an evening spent in his company.

Disc 2 (Rare and Unreleased) contains a cornucopia of rare performances and previously unreleased songs. These include three songs from Jake’s legendary 1973 Sherman Theatre concert, playing support for Georges Brassens, as well as witty, well-crafted ‘point numbers’ covering subjects as diverse as the opening of Radio Leeds, a council workers’ strike, the centenary of Leeds University and the dark side of National Service. And then there are some real curios: an immaculate performance in French, a suite of short, serious songs written in 1971 for a Radio 4 play, and ‘The Berm House’ - perhaps the last song Jake wrote - written for the amusement of a friend and captured by chance on a private cassette. The collection ends, appropriately and movingly, with intimate performances of ‘Lah-di-Dah’ and ‘Our Dog’ from Jake’s final recording session in 1996.

Featuring more than two hours of material, The Lost Archives 1966-1996 is a worthy addition to Jake Thackray’s body of work, shining new light on one of the 20th century’s finest, and most underrated, songwriters.

Full tracklisting

Please note: the sound of these historic recordings has been professionally restored. However, for a small number of songs on Rare and Unreleased it was not possible to bring it up to modern broadcast quality because of the condition of the source material.