A brand-new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Mystery’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors. More television and radio work followed alongside his live appearances until, in 1972, a third studio album appeared entitled Bantam Cock. It’s a theory strengthened by a story of McTell’s: “After one London gig we sat up late and I dug out my Randy Newman albums. After being a fan of Jake's music and lyrics for some 50 years, it was grand to read the book, which I was given for Christmas. His beautiful songs combine the cynical and the sentimental, the poetic and the profane, warmth and acerbity, subversive social comment with bawdy celebration of the life force.

a reportedly unloving father; the roots put down in Leeds then Monmouth vs the fly-by-night hurly-burly of being a “performing dick”, as he so loved to describe himself; the desire to play for free to fifteen people in a pub vs trying every possible excuse to avoid playing a well-paying 1,500-seat venue; the songs that he characterised as “the holy and the horrid”; the way he was so of his time, yet also so far removed. Whilst he was at the school the headteacher spotted Thackray’s unconventionally charismatic personality, creativity, and ability to win over an audience, and encouraged him to perform his early songs in front of pupils and colleagues. There is an undeniable sadness to this story but, mercifully, they tread lightly around the tragic aspects preferring instead to celebrate the individuality of the man and his talent. Poet, artist, visionary and author of the unofficial English national anthem 'Jerusalem', William Blake is an archetypal misunderstood genius. Unsurprisingly for someone who was growing increasingly disaffected by his entertainer role, rather than seeing his nascent career in television as a potential springboard to bigger and better things, Thackray felt nervous about and somewhat trapped by his achievements so far, or as he himself said “I never enjoyed it…Staring at the red light and shaking with fear!Thankfully, as Thackray would have preferred (being surely embarrassed at the very notion of a biography), there are no weighty codas or unnecessary prologues that describe the state of the nation or Thackray’s far-reaching impact on musicians today.

If Jake was right, and there really is an afterlife, he'll undoubtedly be looking down and giving his gruff approval. He first came to national attention in Britain through popular television programmes like Braden’s Weekly and That’s Life and it’s strange now to think of such an idiosyncratic talent in such a mainstream context. I think Jake would find it amusing and intriguing that his songs are being valued and enjoyed again,” says McTell.

Bantam Cock, freed from its maddening keyboard refrain, was out-and-out funny while the Widow Of Bridlington was both sad and wry (a precursor to Richard Thompson’s Beeswing). He eventually became notorious for not turning up to gigs and regaling his agent with ever more bizarre excuses (‘a snowdrift in August’). The authors describe Brassens’ sympathies as lying with “the outcast, the underdog and the poor, and his anarchism underpinned his hostility to authority” – which also sounds very much like Thackray’s natural disposition.

Although he took his inspiration from Brassens, Thackray’s body of work and performing style are uniquely entrancing in their own inimitable way.Finance is provided by PayPal Credit (a trading name of PayPal UK Ltd, Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH). It’s one of the dominant themes in Paul Thompson and John Watterson’s Beware of the Bull, an excellent new biography of the Yorkshire chansonnier. His relationship with television and large concert halls was decidedly fraught and he was happiest in folk clubs. Thackray was uncomfortable with the fame that had been thrust upon him almost accidentally; it was the wrong sort of success.

Instead, the rich tapestry is woven from a cache of various media found mouldering away on ancient internet pages and physical archives up and down the land. His playing, his punctuation, his timing, the way he phrased, had nothing to do with American or British folk music.Those familiar with Thackray’s life will know he went bankrupt, stopped playing music (save for ringing church bells), and alcohol took an even greater hold on him. Meanwhile, throughout the seventies Thackray’s occasional TV work continued even though it was a medium that he increasingly grew to loathe. Here was someone who preferred the small folk club to the big stage, frustrating his managers and those who had promoted him. Eventually, in December 2002, Thackray died alone in his flat of a heart attack at the age of sixty-four. Exclusive access to personal papers has allowed for the inclusion of a wealth of rare poems, photographs and 'lost' lyrics.