Mungo Jerry
| Track | Single / Album |
|---|---|
| Memoirs Of A Stockbroker | Electronically Tested |
| Coming Back To You When The Time Comes | Electronically Tested |
| Lady Rose | Dawn 7N.2510 |
| Baby Jump | Electronically Tested |
| Follow Me Down | Electronically Tested |
| The Man Behind The Piano | Dawn DNX.2505 |
| Little Louis | Dawn 7N.2510 |
| Mighty Man | Dawn DNX.2502 |
| You Better Leave That Whisky Alone | Electronically Tested |
| Alright Alright Alright | Dawn DNS.1037 |
Mungo Jerry playlist
Contributor: Michael W. Richardson
Not many acts can say that they cracked Hollywood with their first ever performance, but Mungo Jerry can.
Mind you, this was the Hollywood Festival in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, which was held in May 1970. Their show, on 23rd May, was so well received that the organisers asked them to perform again on the following day.
The band’s first single (on Dawn, a subsidiary of Pye) was In The Summertime. It had been released the day before, entered the UK charts at No.13 and the following week, with Mungo mania gripping the country, it went straight to No.1.
Their follow up, Baby Jump, also topped the UK charts in 1971. This year proved to be the band’s creative peak and, although they had a handful of hits after these two chart toppers, their chart career gradually petered out as the record buying public went glam crazy.
The band continued to have success throughout Europe, though, and frontman Ray Dorset still tours a version of Mungo Jerry to this day.
In The Summertime was a No.1 smash hit single for Mungo Jerry in June 1970 and with its “inclusion on compilation albums, the song has clocked up global sales in excess of 30 million” (source: Mungo Jerry Magic website). It was “the first maxi-single in the world” (according to Wikipedia) and played at 33⅓ rpm. In The Summertime also reached No.3 in the US. Mungo Jerry’s next maxi-single also made No.1 in the UK in February 1971 and they had four further top twenty UK hits.
“Mungo Jerry is a typical festival band. Its happy-go-lucky brand of music featuring the famous stomp always goes down best in the open air. The group made its name at the Hollywood Festival last year and has been livening up get togethers all over the world ever since.” (New Musical Express 1971)
Mungo Jerry (l to r): Paul King (banjo, harmonica, kazoo, jug), Mike Cole (bass), Ray Dorset (guitar, vocals), Colin Earl (piano)
Mungo Jerry Magic: includes Discography, Gig Guide, Fan Club
The Dawn Singles Collection 2CD
The Dawn Albums Collection 5CD Boxset
Mungo Jerry Live TV Concert 1970
Ray Dorset interview on VH1 in the 90s
Mungo Jerry biography (Apple Music)
Michael Richardson has just turned 61. He has been listening to pop and all of its derivatives for the best part of 50 years. Apart from power ballads, hair metal, the cheesiest country, and whatever it is that passes for chart music nowadays, he can listen to almost anything. Find out more about him at his website, ThePopman.
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My brother had a copy of Electronically Tested and I liked Memoirs of a Stockbroker ahead of the two hit singles. The young me didn’t appreciate the 8 minute version of Willie Dixon’s ‘I Just Wanna Make Love to You’ as much as I did a few years later.
I recall the video of ‘In the Summertime’ was filmed in the middle of Park Lane near Marble Arch.
Thanks for the post, brings back some good memories.
This may not be terribly relevant but for some reason my father (who was not overly impressed with rock music) bought a copy of Mungo Jerry’s ‘You don’t have to be in the army to fight in the war’ on eight track for some reason. He didn’t like it but its cover intrigued me as a six year old.
This may not be terribly relevant either, David. Have you ever loaned a great LP from your friend and never got it back. Yes, probably. At least I have: Mungo Jerry from the organ player in our schoolboy/college student band in early seventies.