YORKSHIREMAN Jake Thackray was a singer-songwriter in the French tradition, a "chansonnier" whose songs were, nevertheless, idiosyncratically English.

After graduating from Durham University, Jake spent four years in France as a teacher where the songs and storytelling of Jaques Brel and Georges Brassens influenced his own art, which was built on deft wordplay and sophisticated guitar playing. Jake's songs are firmly rooted in the English countryside, character and language.

They are also painfully funny, sad, tragic, rude, irreverent, incisive and happy. This box set, containing a wealth of unreleased material, is a fitting tribute to a great artist.