It's the steamy summer of 1970 .... you're
at the coast enjoying a wonderful childhood summer holiday .... on the way
to your first ever experience of a bowling alley you & your cousins are
all jiggling around, crammed in on those big bench seats in the Hillman
Minx .... the music is irresistible .... Jimmy Saville's playing it again
.... it is THE summer record
of all summer records .... And still imprinted on your
mind, 30 odd years later, are those unforgettable lyrics .... In the
summertime when the weather is high, You can stretch right up and touch
the sky, When the weather’s fine, you got women, you got women on your
mind .... an absolute classic and it was No. 1 for a
whole summer! Ray Dorset, aka Mungo Jerry, subsequently had many more hits
- and performs them now - his rich brown voice delivering all his songs
with great vigour, warmth & charm.
Formed in 1969 by
Ray Dorset, Mungo Jerry started out as a Jug Band and has known massive
international success in the pop field. The band’s first major appearance
was in 1970 during the HOLLYWOOD FESTIVAL at Newcastle-under-Lyme,
alongside Jose Feliciano, Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath, Free, and
Ginger Baker’s Airforce, among others. The phenomenal reaction to their
stage shows prompted the release of In The Summertime (see
further below).
At
the heart of the Mungo Jerry story stands the leader and soul of the band,
a songwriter as well as a great singer and performer: RAY DORSET.
Ray’s career began at the age of 11 when he created, with Phil Collins,
his first band Blue Moon Skiffle Group. At 14 Ray became Jackie Edwards’
guitarist and backing vocalist. In 1969 Ray decided with Colin Earle, Paul
King and Mike Cole to form a band: Good Earth was born. One year
later the band changed its name to Mungo Jerry - with the change of name
came success.
Apart from his
career with Mungo Jerry, Ray Dorset has been successful as a songwriter
for other artists. In 1980 his song Feels Like I’m In
Love by Kelly Marie became a No.1 hit. He’s also written music for
TV series and videos. In 1992 a book, Beyond The Summertime,
was published telling the Ray Dorset story, and in 1993 he produced a film
that highlights the life of a band on the road.
Today Ray Dorset is one of a select few
British songwriters who’ve had 3 UK No.1’s and he can celebrate 30 years
as an international hit-maker. Along with Elton John, Ray is the only
British artist to have the same single go to No.1 in the USA twice. He was
honoured at the Berlin Hard Rock Cafe and has been included in their Hall
of Fame, following a successful celebration evening where he entertained
many German celebrities and fans.
Ray is currently
mixing tracks for the band’s forthcoming album provisionally entitled
Candy Dreams.
MUNGO JERRY HITS:
1970: Single In The Summertime :
No.1 for 7 weeks (in the UK Charts for 20 weeks)
1971: Single Baby Jump :
No.1 for 2 weeks
1972: Single Lady Rose :
No.3
1973: Single Alright, Alright,
Alright : No.3
1975: Single Hello Nadine :
Major hit in France
But
back to THAT song …..
IN THE SUMMERTIME
The single has been bought by more than 30 million fans all over the world
and for many still evokes the spirit of the early 70s. At the beginning of
June 1970 and, after only 3 days’ sales, the song went straight into the
UK charts at No. 13. A week later, it was No. 1. It stayed in the Top 50
for 20 weeks, 7 of them at No. 1. Success wasn’t confined to the UK …. in
France, 400,000 copies were sold in a single month. This track was the
fastest selling single ever – and it maintained this record for 20 years.
Six months after its release the single was at the top of the majority
of international charts. In 1970 Mungo Jerry won the Melody Maker
Award for ‘The Best New Band’. The following year Melody Maker’s readers
voted Mungo Jerry one of the ‘Top Ten Live Bands’ in the UK along
with The Who and The Rolling Stones, among others.
In The Summertime
has resulted in 5 Ivor Novello Awards - 2 to the writer Ray Dorset, 2 to
Eliot Cohen, the publisher, and 1 to Barry Murray, the producer. Two ASCAP
Awards have been also been presented to Ray Dorset for the Top R & B Song
and Top Rap Song of the Year in the USA. The track has been extensively
used throughout the world on many advertising campaigns and has featured
in many TV series such as Eastenders and The Rock & Roll Years. With
global sales to date of more than 30 million copies, In The
Summertime is still going strong for songwriter Ray Dorset and
Mungo Jerry. Shaggy covered the song for the Flipper movie, which resulted
in a second US No.1 for this classic track. The song has also been
recorded by Elton John and Bob Dylan.
At Popkomm 2002,
Mike Weller Managing Director of Sony / ATV Music Publishing Limited -
Germany presented a special award to Ray Dorset and his Publisher, Eliot
Cohen, in recognition of In The Summertime being the most
played summer song ever.
