The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray

The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray is the debut album by Jake Thackray. It was produced by Norman Newell in August 1967 and released on LP that year 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 Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray
Studio album by
Jake Thackray
Released1967
RecordedAugust 1967
GenreFolk
Length40:42
LabelEMI
ProducerNorman Newell
Jake Thackray chronology
The Last Will and Testament of Jake Thackray
(1967)		 Jake's Progress
(1969)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

The album is now out of print, but its songs, digitally remastered, are included in the four CD retrospective Jake in a Box. The fourth CD of the set also contains 26 songs recorded in April 1967, including the earlier version of the album (originally mono) and 13 other tracks. They include unreleased 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 tracks are written by Jake Thackray.

Side 1
No.TitleLength
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.TitleLength
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
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