aliasmacalias
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Re:Jake article in the Independent - 2005/05/23 07:40
Hi Richard
I agree with your assessment; I thought the article was a well balanced retrospective. I thought that it caught well the dilemma of Jake as a talent who didn't slot neatly into a marketing category in an industry dominated by labelling and categorisation.
It is why, on the Radio 4 programme, Posy Simmonds, when asked for an English (sic) equivalent of Brassens can think only of Tom Lehrer who is. at least in my view, several steps removed from what Brassens was doing. Thackray was always 'the bloke off the telly' and even in the clubs and theatres where Jake made his living I would bet that it was only a small number who joined the dots to Brassens, although Jake was always assiduous in crediting Brassens for, for example, the gorilla and explaining who Brassens was.
To some extent the same happens in the UK with Brassens - there is no shortage of people who think that "French" music starts and ends with Brel (ironically enough since he was Belgian) but the notion of the broad cultural tradition which Brassens dominated is subsumed within the bucket of "World Music".
Ian
I got boogie, boogie, in my socks |
