255. Jake Thackray - The Unsung Writer by Paul Thompson
Biographer and singer-songwriter Paul Thompson joins us for a new episode of Backlisted devoted to the life and work of Jake Thackray, the so-called 'Yorkshire chansonnier' who died in 2002. Thackray was a man of many talents, as demonstrated by Jake Thackray: The Unsung Writer, a new anthology of his prose and poetry. We invited our friend and fellow fan Andrew Male to join us for a discussion of the teacher from Leeds who lionised Georges Brassens when few outside the French-speaking world had heard of him, and who became famous in the 1960s and 1970s for his numerous TV appearances on shows such as Braden's Week and That's Life, but who later in life sought and achieved near-total obscurity. Paul shares his insights on Thackray's influences and method, and Una, Andy and Andrew each pick a favourite song.
Books mentioned:
Paul Thompson (ed) - Jake Thackray: the Unsung Writer
Paul Thompson & John Watterson - Beware of the Bull: The Enigmatic Genius of Jake Thackray
Alan Sillitoe - Saturday Night Sunday Morning
John Cooper Clarke - I Wanna Be Yours
Richard Thompson - Beeswing: Fairport, Folk Rock & Finding My Voice 1967 - 1975
Robert Hilburn - A Few Words in Defence of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman
Philip Larkin - The Complete Poems
Adeline Cordier - Post-War French Popular Music: Cultural Identity and the Brel-Brassens-Ferre Myth
Other links:
Jake Thackray: The Official Website
Paul Thompson - Jake Thackray and More (Paul’s website)
The Lost Will and Testament of Jake Thackray (CD)