Dorset and Colin Earl had previously been members of The Good Earth. Soon after recruiting Paul King and Mike Cole, they made their national debut at the Hollywood Festival at Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire in May 1970, the week their first single, "In the Summertime" was released. They stole the show and the record topped the UK Singles Chart for seven weeks, made number one in almost every other country around the world, and to date has sold around 23 million copies. After John Godfrey replaced Cole, their second single "Baby Jump" also topped the UK chart in March 1971. A third hit, "Lady Rose" (also in 1971), gave the group the image as a band for producing summertime based hits.
In time Dorset found the group's good-time blues and jug band repertoire a little restricting, and in 1972 he released a solo album Cold Blue Excursion, with his songs backed by strings and brass 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 album Boot Power. King and Earl went on to form the King Earl Boogie Band.
Mungo Jerry's hits continued through to 1976 with "Open Up" (Top Twenty in Europe and number one in Brazil); "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).
In 1975 Earl, who had played piano with Foghat in between, returned to play keyboards, 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 has changed constantly over the years. Among those who have played with them are bassist Bob Daisley, drummers Dave Bidwell, Paul Hancox and Boris Williams, guitarist Dick Middleton and keyboard/accordion player Steve Jones. They have remained particularly popular throughout Europe. Mungo Jerry was the first western band who had live TV gigs, in all countries behind the Iron Curtain. Their famous "Golden Orpheus" gig in Bulgaria, also gave them a lot of new fans.
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" and "Sunshine Reggae" (British version by Mungo Jerry & Horizon). But Dorset had to wait until 1995 for a real comeback, when "In the Summertime" was recorded by reggae vocalist Shaggy, who topped the charts worldwide. The last UK chart entry for Mungo Jerry was "Toon Army", a song for Newcastle United F.C. in 1999.
In 1983 "Mungo Jerry" Ray Dorset was part of the blues supergroup 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.
In 2003, with German musicians, Dorset recorded Adults Only album under the name Mungo Jerry Blues Band, widely acclaimed as one of the best of his career. 2005 saw him performing with three Mungo Jerry line-ups: The British Mungo Jerry Band (pop/rock), the German Mungo Jerry Blues Band (blues/rock) and Mungo Jerry & the Goodtime Gamblers (jug/blues/skiffle).
Also in June 2005, Ray Dorset had a gig again as a duo with Mike Cole - the original double bass player from the early Mungo days - as a highlight of the "35 Years Of Mungo Jerry" event in both Newcastle and Stoke.
In March 2006 Mungo Jerry released their new single "Mr Midnight" from Phantom of the Opera on Ice (http://www.plazarecords.co.uk); produced by Roberto Danova - who had mixed in the past the old continental Mungo Jerry hits "Lana" and "It's a Secret" - and is well-known for his work with rock and pop music, in combination with big orchestras.
46 And On
Mungo Jerry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
They learned a lot of things, it was the end of the war,
Sweets were on ration, there wasn't much fashion,
But everybody had fun, there was so much to be done,
Peace in the air, new coats on the chair,
You could turn out a light, and go out at night
The radio brought new sounds to the air,
Superman, Spiderman, Marvelman, Desperate Dan,
Superboy, Wonderboy, Fab Four, Rob Roy
When I was real small, before I went to school,
We'd play on the fields, or go to the pool,
We might build a camp and hide from out dads,
Or go to the park and stay out 'till dark,
Play doctors and nurse and chase all the girls,
They'd tell their mums and we would be cursed
We'd chew lots of gum, knock doors and run,
Play do or dare, and get real scared,
The big boys would laugh they thought they were hard,
We'd kiss our first chick and show them our stick,
Those times are gone but it's still goin' on,
I remember those days and it still turns me on
I first heard rock an' roll when I was ten,
It was Bill Haley's voice, I was layin' in bed,
Rock around the clock was a big hit,
But I didn't catch on 'till I heard Elvis sing,
Hound dog was the song and it didn't take long,
To get a guitar and start boppin' along
Well, I got up a group and wrote some tunes,
Hit the charts in early June,
Mighty man, In the summertime,
I've lived hard, I've lived fine,
Seen the world, sailed and flown,
Seen the best, seen the worst.
“46 and On” is a nostalgic and reflective song by the folk-rock band Mungo Jerry. The song chronicles the singer's childhood during the post-World War II era in the UK. The song starts with the year the singer was born, 1946, and talks about the things that were happening in the world during that period. The lyrics suggest that it was a time of new beginnings and optimism, with peace in the air and people finding things to do. There was a sense of joy in the little things, like sweets, and the modest pleasures that were available despite the hardships.
The song then delves into the singer's childhood memories of playing on the fields, going to the pool, building camps, and playing games with friends. The song talks about how they chased girls, played dares, and did silly things that made them feel brave, despite the fact that the big boys laughed at them. The song touches on the theme of innocence, how it’s a fleeting resource that eludes us as we grow older, but still leaves an imprint on us.
Line by Line Meaning
Back in '46 the year I was born,
In the year 1946 when I was born,
They learned a lot of things, it was the end of the war,
A lot of new things were discovered and the war came to an end.
Sweets were on ration, there wasn't much fashion,
There was rationing of sweets, and fashion was limited.
But everybody had fun, there was so much to be done,
People still found ways to have fun, as there was a lot of work to be done.
Peace in the air, new coats on the chair,
There was a sense of peace, and new coats were hung up on the chairs.
You could turn out a light, and go out at night
You could turn off the lights and go out at night without any worry.
The radio brought new sounds to the air,
New and different music was broadcasted on the radio.
The comics we bought, were full of good gear,
The comic books that we purchased had really good and interesting stories.
Superman, Spiderman, Marvelman, Desperate Dan,
Some of the popular comic book characters were Superman, Spiderman, Marvelman, and Desperate Dan.
Superboy, Wonderboy, Fab Four, Rob Roy
Other popular comic book characters included Superboy, Wonderboy, Fab Four, and Rob Roy.
When I was real small, before I went to school,
When I was really young, before I attended school,
We'd play on the fields, or go to the pool,
We would play on the fields or go to the swimming pool.
We might build a camp and hide from out dads,
Sometimes we would build a camp and hide from our dads.
Or go to the park and stay out 'till dark,
Or we would go to the park and stay there until it got dark.
Play doctors and nurse and chase all the girls,
We would pretend to be doctors and nurses and chase after all the girls.
They'd tell their mums and we would be cursed
The girls would often tell their mothers, and we would get into trouble.
We'd chew lots of gum, knock doors and run,
We used to chew a lot of gum, knock on doors and run away.
Play do or dare, and get real scared,
We would play truth or dare, and sometimes get scared.
The big boys would laugh they thought they were hard,
The older boys would laugh as they thought they were tough.
We'd kiss our first chick and show them our stick,
We would kiss our first girl and show off our guitar.
Those times are gone but it's still goin' on,
Those times have passed, but similar experiences continue to happen.
I remember those days and it still turns me on
I remember those days and it still excites me.
I first heard rock an' roll when I was ten,
I first listened to rock and roll music when I was 10 years old.
It was Bill Haley's voice, I was layin' in bed,
Bill Haley's music was playing and I was lying in bed.
Rock around the clock was a big hit,
Rock around the clock was a very popular song at the time.
But I didn't catch on 'till I heard Elvis sing,
I did not really appreciate rock music until I heard Elvis Presley sing.
Hound dog was the song and it didn't take long,
The song Hound Dog was the one that made me realize how great rock and roll music is.
To get a guitar and start boppin' along
I got myself a guitar and started to enjoy playing and listening to rock music.
Well, I got up a group and wrote some tunes,
I started a band and I wrote some songs to perform with them.
Hit the charts in early June,
One of our songs became popular and appeared on the music charts in early June.
Mighty man, In the summertime,
Two of the songs we wrote were Mighty Man and In the Summertime.
I've lived hard, I've lived fine,
I have led a life with both difficulties and joys.
Seen the world, sailed and flown,
I have traveled to different places, by sailing and flying.
Seen the best, seen the worst.
I have experienced both the best and the worst in life.
Contributed by Penelope J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@ronkeast3100
I love this guy's music, makes me want to dance and sing and makes me happy. Love it, love it. Rock on Ray...RockinRonny
@richardstone3473
saw them a new day festival 3 years ago brill. Yeah thought his name was Mungo Jerry in 70's
@chrisyates8115
Totally agree and more! No one like MungoG!
@wendyhewitt8711
Great song. Heard this back in the 70’s, loved it then and still love it now.
@65youbet
I was born the same year as Ray Dorset. Song and video is excellent. I feel myself be bopping around all day with the Mungo Jerry music in my head.
@antoniopaglianiti2304
Y es mungo jerry que puedo decir me encanta es un genio de toda la historia de la muy buena musica chapoo mungo
@petersymonds9397
Don't think Mungo ever put out a bad song. Always so much joy in Ray's voice
@mrhyde119
We love ya ray thanks for being so infectious in everything you do you’ll remain an inspiration forever long
@marctremblay8087
Excellent video many thanks brings back lots of memories
@Mungovision
Hello Marc - When Ray Dorset (aka) Mungo Jerry saw the video he loved it i think it brought back some good memories for him also - take care
thanks for stopping bymarc