Mungo Jerry | |
|---|---|
 The band performing in 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Mungo Jerry Blues Band |
| Origin | Ashford, Middlesex, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Labels | |
| Members | Ray Dorset |
| Past members | Colin Earl Paul King Mike Cole John Godfrey Joe Rush Michael Pohl Bob Daisley Byron Contostavlos Paul Raymond Boris Williams Dave Bidwell Dick Middleton Eric Dillon Ian Milne Paul Hancox Sev Lewkowicz Jamei Roberts Tim Green Chris Warnes Jon Pope Peter Sullivan Tim Hubbard John Cook Jon Storey John Brunning |
| Website | mungojerry |
Mungo Jerry (formerly known asMungo Jerry Blues Band) are a Britishrock band formed byRay Dorset inAshford,Middlesex, in 1970. Experiencing their greatest success in the early 1970s, with a changing line-up always fronted by Dorset, the group's biggest hit was "In the Summertime", which sold 30 million copies worldwide and is the biggest-selling single of all-time by a British band.[1][2] They had nine charting singles in the UK, including two number ones, five top-20 hits in South Africa,[3][4] and four in the Top 100 in Canada.[5]
Mungo Jerry came to prominence in 1970 after their performances at theHollywood Music Festival atNewcastle-under-Lyme,Staffordshire, on 23–24 May, which was their first gig under this name,[6] inspired by the poem "Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" fromT. S. Eliot'sOld Possum's Book of Practical Cats.[1] They performed alongsideBlack Sabbath,Traffic,Ginger Baker's Air Force, theGrateful Dead (their first performance in the UK) andJosé Feliciano. Their 23 May show was well received and the organisers asked them to perform again on the following day. The band's first single, "In the Summertime", the firstmaxi single in the world,[7] released on 22 May, entered the UK charts at No. 13 and the following week went straight to No. 1. Ray Dorset had to ask his boss for time off to do the BBC ShowTop of the Pops.
Ray Dorset and Colin Earl had previously been members of The Good Earth.[8] Bassist Dave Hutchins left to joinBobby Parker's band, and the drummer was dismissed, so Dorset and Earl decided to fulfil the one remaining gig, anOxford University Christmas Ball in December 1968, as a three-piece with Joe Rush, one of Dorset's colleagues, ondouble bass. Also on the bill wasMiller Anderson, making his debut as a singer and guitarist, andMick Farren andthe Social Deviants. Though booked for only one set, Good Earth were asked to perform another after the bands had finished, playing a selection of American folk/blues/skiffle/jug band music fromLead Belly,Woody Guthrie and others, and some of Dorset's songs.
The trio played more gigs and landed a regular slot at the Master Robert Motel inOsterley,Middlesex, where they soon built up a following, including banjo, guitar and blues harp playerPaul King who eventually joined the band, making it a four-piece.
After Rush left, Mike Cole was recruited on double bass, and this line-up recorded the first seventeen Mungo Jerry tracks which made up the first album and maxi-single including "In the Summertime". When they made their national debut at the Hollywood Festival, Rush joined them on stage for some numbers to play washboard. The record topped theUK Singles Chart for seven weeks.
According to Joseph Murrell'sThe Book of Golden Discs (1978), "Mungomania" was possibly the most startling and unpredictable pop phenomenon to hit Britain sinceThe Beatles.[9]
Mungo Jerry made their first trip to the United States in September 1970. On their return Mike Cole was fired and replaced by John Godfrey, who played bass on their second UK maxi-single, "Baby Jump", which also topped the UK chart in March 1971. The third UK single, another maxi, "Lady Rose", also released in 1971, was set to become another No. 1 hit, but it was temporarily withdrawn from sale on the order of thePublic Prosecutor's Office. This was due to complaints about the inclusion of the traditional song "Have a Whiff on Me" (to which Dorset had added some of his own lyrics) on the grounds that it advocated the use of cocaine.[citation needed] The maxi single was then reissued with "She Rowed" in place of the offending song.
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Eventually, Dorset found the group's good-timeblues andjug band repertoire restricting, and in 1972 he released a solo album,Cold Blue Excursion, with his songs backed bystrings andbrass and, in one instance, a jazz band. His intention to broaden the group's appeal by recruiting a drummer led to King and Earl trying to sack him, but the management, regarding Dorset as inseparable in the public eye from Mungo Jerry, fired them both instead. Dorset and Godfrey, the bassist, recruited new members and presented a new sound, heard on the fourth albumBoot Power. Colin Earl andPaul King went on to form The King Earl Boogie Band and recorded an album atRichard Branson'sManor Studio calledTrouble at Mill, produced byDave Cousins ofStrawbs. Their June 1972 single "Plastic Jesus" was banned by the BBC.[10][11] They played together on and off in the years following and ended up with a band called Skeleton Crew.
Mungo Jerry's hits continued through to 1976 with "Open Up" (Top Twenty in Europe); "Alright, Alright, Alright" (a rewrite of an old French hit forJacques Dutronc, and again a major hit worldwide reaching the Top 3 in the UK); "Wild Love"; "Long-Legged Woman Dressed in Black", "Hello Nadine" (European hit and Top Five in Canada), and "It's a Secret" (European hit). "You Don't Have to Be in the Army to Fight in the War" gave Mungo Jerry another hit.[1]
In 1975, Earl returned to play keyboards, drummer Peter Sullivan joined and percussion player Joe Rush, part-time member of the band in earlier days, also came back for a while. The group's line-up continued to change. Among those who have played with them are bassistBob Daisley, drummers Dave Bidwell, Paul Hancox andBoris Williams, guitarist Dick Middleton, keyboard playerSev Lewkowicz, and keyboard/accordion player Steve Jones. They have remained popular throughout Europe. Mungo Jerry were the first western band to have live television gigs in all countries behind theIron Curtain.[citation needed]
In 1980, another Dorset song, "Feels Like I'm in Love", originally written forElvis Presley, and recorded by the band as aB side of a single, became a British number one hit forKelly Marie. They remained successful with overseas hits like "On a Night Like This", "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (a reggae version of theBob Dylan song) and "Sunshine Reggae" (British version by Mungo Jerry & Horizon).[8]
In 1983, Dorset was part of the blues super-groupKatmandu, which recordedA Case for the Blues, with guitaristPeter Green, formerly ofFleetwood Mac, and keyboard playerVincent Crane, formerly ofAtomic Rooster andThe Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
My dad and our manager [Byron Contostavlos] ... was in a band called Mungo Jerry, he played the bass.
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