Thackray was obviously more well-versed in class and unionist struggles than anti-racist and feminist ones.

In 1968, Vashti Bunyan gave up everything and everybody she knew in London to take to the road with a horse, wagon, dog, guitar and her then partner. However, while this renewed interest seemed to herald interesting prospects for Thackray at the beginning of the 1980s, Thompson and Watterson note that “as the new decade dawned he was becoming unreliable. But to consign Thackray to the outer darkness due to some offensive turns of phrase would be to wilfully ignore his abundance of compassion for the characters in his songs, combined with his biting wit about their comedic frailties. For instance, he “attended a Conservative Association barbecue because so many friends were going, but first leafleted the assorted Land Rovers, Volvos and Saabs in the car park with ‘Coal, not dole’ flyers, declaring that this was to ‘atone for the sin of hobnobbing’ at a Tory ‘do’”. One man is missing from the graveside: the traitor who pulled the trigger and who is now in custody, accused of M's murder - James Bond.

Increasingly, it seems, he grew tired of having to yet again perform his greatest hits at venues considerable distances away. When the doctor advises Bertie to live the quiet life, he and Jeeves head for the pure air and peace of Maiden Eggesford. Thackray’s column in the Yorkshire Post, beginning in February 1989, showed that he still retained his ability to captivate an audience with his lyrical storytelling, and allowed him to offer his unique take on all manner of subjects. Taking up music quickly led to an odd place in the mainstream, broadcasting strange satirical songs to the nation’s TV screens, and writing albums populated with a wellspring of unusual characters.

There’s a wonderful photograph on the back of this book, showing him performing in a hotel in 1969, which captures the essence of his informal approach. Videos of Thackray during the period where he was, if not in actual decline, looking towards the stage exit, make for sad watching and reinforce McTell’s worries. It's the story of a charismatic, complex and self-effacing man who remained an enigma even to his friends. We give people around the world the opportunity to contribute to the circular economy, earn money and protect the planet, by trading their unwanted books and media. It is a source of regret that all those hundreds of occasions when Thackray played to overcrowded folk clubs up and down the country went unrecorded, except for a few notable occasions which now form part of his discography.This latter composition tells of a bridegroom-to-be’s promise to keep his temper with his fiancée’s family in the run-up to the wedding, despite her dreadful Aunt Susan and various obstreperous uncles, plus her mother with her unappealing cat. Thompson and Watterson were granted access to hitherto-unpublished personal papers, as well as lyric sheets for unknown songs, lost recordings, and television programmes from which only snippets have been available on YouTube. The performers chose their selections carefully, as Thackray’s humour is sometimes dated (all on stage exchanged knowing looks after the line “I shan’t lay a finger on the crabby old bat face” from La-Di-Da, which drew a consciously muffled laugh).

The final chapters are heartbreaking, but - on a very human level - are tempered with a sense of relief at Thackray's (albeit materially ruinous) release from the demands of a working life that he had come to hate and fear. Thackray's devout Catholic faith seems to have provided some sort of respite from all the domestic conflict, and would continue to offer solace throughout Thackray’s life; he even remained an altar boy until he went to university at the age of nineteen. Ultimately Brassens’ influence would, as the authors put it, make Thackray into “a Yorkshire chansonnier, creating and performing a body of work rooted in the north country of England, and yet whose poetic approach and musical style were recognisable to anyone familiar with the Frenchman.Jake Thackray was one of those people who popped up at odd times on TV in the 70’s and then seemingly disappeared. Added to this he has to endure her father’s endless reminiscences about his cricketing and Second World War feats, which he can just about stand although he will have to show considerable fortitude when listening to his medical complaints.