The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray

The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray
Studio album by Jake Thackray
Released 1967
Recorded August 1967
Genre Folk
Length 40:42
Label EMI
Producer Norman Newell
Jake Thackray chronology

The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray
(1967)
Jake's Progress
(1969)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]

The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray is the debut album by Jake Thackray. It was produced by Norman Newell and released on LP in 1967 by EMI in the UK and Philips Records in the USA. The record company, unsure of how the public would respond to Thackray's lugubrious voice accompanied only by his guitar, added orchestral arrangements by Roger Webb and Geoff Love to many of the songs.

The album is now out of print, but its songs, digitally remastered, are included in the 4 CD retrospective Jake in a Box. The fourth CD of the set also contains 26 songs recorded at the same sessions, including alternate solo (vocal and guitar) versions of all the songs that are recorded with orchestral arrangements on the album, with the exception of "The Black Swan".

The song "Lah-Di-Dah" has been covered as a duet by Petula Clark and Rod McKuen,[2] and by the band Sky Larkin.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Jake Thackray. 

Side 1
No. Title Length
1. "Lah-Di-Dah" (Performed with Roger Webb and his orchestra) 3:11
2. "Country Bus" (Performed with accompaniment directed by Geoff Love) 3:55
3. "The Cactus"   3:21
4. "Scallywag" (Performed with accompaniment directed by Geoff Love) 4:25
5. "The Black Swan" (Performed with Roger Webb and his orchestra) 3:00


Side 2
No. Title Length
1. "Jumble Sale" (Performed with accompaniment directed by Geoff Love) 3:32
2. "The Little Black Foal" (Performed with accompaniment directed by Geoff Love) 3:02
3. "Personal Column"   3:59
4. "Ulysses" (Performed with Roger Webb and his orchestra) 4:37
5. "The Statues" (Performed with Roger Webb and his orchestra) 4:40
6. "The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray" (Performed with Roger Webb and his orchestra) 3:00

References

  1. Allmusic review
  2. Spencer Leigh, Jake Thackray obituary, The Independent, 28 December 2002, accessed 17 March 2009

External links