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
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 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.	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

• Track listing and sleeve notes at jakethackray.com