Formation and original band: 1970–1971 Mungo Jerry came to prominence in 1970 after their performances at the
Hollywood Music Festival at
Newcastle-under-Lyme,
Staffordshire, on 23–24 May, which was their first gig under this name, inspired by the poem "
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer" from
T. S. Eliot's ''
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. 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 Show Top of the Pops''. , 1970
Ray Dorset and Colin Earl had previously been members of The Good Earth. Bassist Dave Hutchins left to join
Bobby Parker's band, and the drummer was dismissed, so Dorset and Earl decided to fulfil the one remaining gig, an
Oxford University Christmas Ball in December 1968, as a three-piece with Joe Rush, one of Dorset's colleagues, on
double bass. Also on the bill was
Miller Anderson, making his debut as a singer and guitarist, and
Mick Farren and
the 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 from
Lead 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 in
Osterley,
Middlesex, where they soon built up a following, including banjo, guitar and blues harp player Paul 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 the
UK Singles Chart for seven weeks. According to Joseph Murrell's
The Book of Golden Discs (1978), "Mungomania" was possibly the most startling and unpredictable pop phenomenon to hit Britain since
The Beatles. 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 for
Jacques 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. 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 bassist
Bob Daisley, drummers Dave Bidwell, Paul Hancox and
Boris Williams, guitarist Dick Middleton, keyboard player Sev 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 the
Iron Curtain. In 1980, another Dorset song, "
Feels Like I'm in Love", originally written for
Elvis Presley, and recorded by the band as a
B side of a single, became a British number one hit for
Kelly Marie. They remained successful with overseas hits like "On a Night Like This", "
Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (a reggae version of the
Bob Dylan song) and "Sunshine Reggae" (British version by Mungo Jerry & Horizon). In 1983, Dorset was part of the blues super-group
Katmandu, which recorded
A Case for the Blues, with guitarist
Peter Green, formerly of
Fleetwood Mac, and keyboard player
Vincent Crane, formerly of
Atomic Rooster and
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Original keyboard player Colin Earl, died after a short illness in February 2025 aged 82. ==Members==