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.
Somebody Stole My Wife
Mungo Jerry Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Somebody stole my wife, yeah,
Somebody stole my wife,
Somebody stole my wife, yeah they did,
Somebody stole my wife, yeah,
Somebody stole my wife,
Somebody stole my wife.
And I cried every night, Somebody stole my wife.
I never thought she'd leave me, Never thought she would deceive me,
But I was wrong not right, Somebody stole my wife.
My nights are getting longer, And my love is getting stronger,
I've lost my appetite, Somebody stole my wife.
I can't get my boots clean, You know just what I mean,
And my shirts are not white, Somebody stole my wife.
In Mungo Jerry's song "Somebody Stole My Wife", the singer is expressing his pain and confusion after coming back from a weekend trip to find that his wife has left him. The chorus repeatedly emphasizes the fact that somebody has indeed stolen his wife, which reveals the singer's sense of personal loss and powerlessness in the situation. The repetition of this phrase also reflects how the singer is unable to come to terms with the reality of his wife's absence, and instead chooses to repeatedly blame an external force for his misfortune.
The verses of the song provide more specific details about the singer's thoughts and emotions. He states that he never expected his wife to leave him, which suggests that he feels a deep sense of betrayal and hurt. He also mentions that he cries every night, which highlights how the loss of his wife has negatively impacted his mental health. The line "my nights are getting longer, and my love is getting stronger" is interesting because it sets up an expectation for the singer to eventually find a way to move on and grow from this experience. However, this hope is dashed by the final line in the verse, when the singer reveals that he has lost his appetite because of his grief.
The last verse of the song is particularly striking because it takes a humorous turn. The singer mentions that he can't get his boots clean and his shirts are not white, which suggests that he is unable to take care of himself in the same way that he was when he had his wife by his side. The humor in this verse serves to lighten the mood of the song, which otherwise deals with fairly heavy subject matter.
Line by Line Meaning
Somebody stole my wife, yeah,
The singer is claiming that his wife has been stolen from him.
Somebody stole my wife,
The singer is reiterating the fact that someone has taken his wife.
Somebody stole my wife, yeah they did,
The singer is emphasizing the fact that his wife has been stolen.
I went away one weekend, When I came back she'd left me,
The artist left for a short time and when he returned, his wife had disappeared.
And I cried every night, Somebody stole my wife.
The artist is upset about his missing wife, to the point of crying every night.
I never thought she'd leave me, Never thought she would deceive me,
The singer did not expect his wife to leave him or betray him.
But I was wrong not right, Somebody stole my wife.
The singer acknowledges that he was mistaken about his wife's loyalty and that someone other than him is responsible for her disappearance.
My nights are getting longer, And my love is getting stronger,
The artist is experiencing insomnia and becoming more devoted to his wife.
I've lost my appetite, Somebody stole my wife.
The artist has lost his desire to eat because of his distress over his wife's disappearance.
I can't get my boots clean, You know just what I mean,
The artist is struggling with basic household tasks, reflecting how distraught he is.
And my shirts are not white, Somebody stole my wife.
The singer's wardrobe is falling by the wayside because he is too upset to take care of himself.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: RAY DORSET
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@cosmicsymphony1628
when i was little i would ALWAYS say "naw" after he sang the refraine "somebody stole my wife" >.< 20 odd years later and i hear this for the first time and still do it!
@michaelplatter3281
The best Part of this Tune is when they sing "Somebody stole my Wife" :-)
@osju64
Hey, thanks! There's still some great songs from this LP waiting to be dowloaded...how about "Follow Me Down" and "Memoirs of a Stockbroker"...and "Coming Back To You When The Time Comes"....it's been a long time since I have heard those!
@andreasberger8566
Mungo Jerry for Ever
@cornelgeana5803
I give reward:HER MOTHER
@headphoneactor7800
There's something comical about this song. It sounds happy but the words are tragic.
@chrishibbs201012
some bastard in a heap of trouble, and they better run and hide?
@ImekxD
lyrics please
@turnic34
THE BEST*******
@qwer8907
Is this chas and dave