Jake Thackray...

rpr

Anybody else on here a fan?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE-BKrAAZGc&list=PL417D30BF1A19BF4C

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmwyp38VwMQ&list=PL417D30BF1A19BF4C

Bellycaster

I'd never heard of Jake before, sad loss. I love eccentric characters like him. The first thing that struck me in next to no time was "Noel Coward", very similar. He could play the guitar very well too(Jake, that is).

Looking at a bit more of his stuff, especially "On Again" I also think John Shuttleworth borrowed a bit from him as well. John Shuttleworth is also hilarious.

 

 

bluechargeboy

I was in Australia and a Belgian man played me some Georges Brassens, who wrote "Brother Gorilla" (Le Gorille), which was translated into English by Jake Thackray. This is how I came to have heard of Jake. I watched a documentary about him, he was quite a shy and self-doubting chap when off stage, which I can relate to!

rpr

It was the BBC documentary that got me into him-I wasn't aware of him previously. He was influenced by George Brassens and the french troubadour tradition. If you speak to older people they recognise him from tv slots- i think he was on Thats Life quite a bit. A whole album is a bit much to listen to all the way through, but there are some excellent cuts in his canon'

Brother Gorilla being one-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQm_8uoljWM

EricTheWeary

another name from my childhood, he used to pop up on all sorts of programmes ( I have a vague feeling The Two Ronnies - Barbara Dixon must have been unwell that week). I can't remember any of the songs but I can imagine his plummy voice ( not plummy as in posh, just the word plummy seems right), I presume he was influenced by the chanson type stuff ( George Brassens came up on the list of modern chanson singers in wikipedia).

equalsql

Yep, another memory from my childhood too. He was on Southern TV many times when I was a kid. 
I was always fascinated by his plummy delivery and his pained expression. Wonderful diction with his fluid rolling 'r's.