Biography of Mungo Jerry

Best remembered for their 1970 smash "In the Summertime," British skiffle revival combo Mungo Jerry was led by singer/guitarist Ray Dorset, a longtime veteran of the London music scene who previously performed in a series of little-known rock and roll outfits including the Conchords, the Tramps and Camino Real. In 1967 he founded Memphis Leather with bassist Dave Hutchins, pianist Cohn Earl and drummer Ray Bowerman; following a name change to the Good Earth, the group signed to the budget label Saga, issuing their debut LP It's Hard Rock and All That the following year. After a second album, Swinging London, Hutchins and Bowerman left the lineup, and upon recruiting stand-up bassist and washboard player Joe Rush, the Good Earth continued as a trio, adopting a good-timey, jugband-influenced sound before Saga dropped them from the roster in 1969. With Rush's subsequent exit, stand-up bassist Mike Cole and guitarist/banjo player Paul King were added before the Good Earth signed to Pye Records' new progressive imprint Dawn to record the infectious "In the Summertime," credited to Mungo Jerry (so named in honor of Mungojerrie, a character in T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats); the single topped the U.K. pop charts in the spring of 1970, reaching number three in the U.S. and selling more than six million copies internationally. The group's self-titled debut LP (complete with 3-D sleeve) appeared a few months later; bassist John Godfrey replaced Cole for the follow-up single "Baby Jump," which reached number one at home despite failing to crack the Top 40 in America, where Mungo Jerry remains widely perceived as a one-hit wonder. 1971's Electronically Tested yielded Mungo Jerry's third Top Five hit, "Lady Rose"; You Don't Have to Be in the Army appeared later that same year, but as internal friction increased both King and Earl left the lineup in early 1972, soon forming the King Earl Boogie Band. (The latter also enjoyed subsequent success as a member of Foghat). Dorset and Godfrey, meanwhile, continued on as Mungo Jerry, adding drummer Tim Reeves and forging a much heavier and more conventional rock approach on 1972's Boot Power. Roster shifts continued to plague the group in the years to follow, although Dorset remained a fixture throughout a handful of later hits including "Alright, Alright, Alright," "Wild Love" and "Long Legged Woman Dressed in Black"; even well after their commercial peak, Mungo Jerry continued recording and touring, celebrating their silver anniversary in 1995 with the release of a new LP, Old Shoes, New Jeans. ~ Jason Ankeny