Ray Dorset | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Raymond Edward Dorset |
Born | Ashford, Middlesex, England | 21 March 1946
Genres | British skiffle, Rock |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, guitarist |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, harmonica, kazoo, keyboards |
Years active | 1968–present |
Member of | Mungo Jerry |
Formerly of | Katmandu |
Raymond Edward Dorset (born 21 March 1946) is a British guitarist, singer, songwriter, and founder of Mungo Jerry. IPI name identifyer 00061150028
He composed most of the songs for the band, including the hit singles "In the Summertime", "Baby Jump" ISWC T-010.169.267-4, "Lady Rose" T-801.406.260-4, "You Don't Have to Be in the Army to Fight in the War" T-010.171.777-4, "Long Legged Woman Dressed in Black" T-010.456.108-1, and "Hello Nadine" T-010.838.961-2, plus "Feels Like I'm in Love" T-010.326.162-6, a number one hit single for the Scottish disco singer Kelly Marie.
Dorset attended Stanwell Road School (which was renamed Abbotsford County Secondary School) and then Southall Grammar School from the age of 13 after passing the eleven plus exam. He formed The Blue Moon Skiffle Group as a teenager.
He worked as an apprentice hairdresser for nine months after leaving the school without qualifications. After this he studied for a City and Guilds qualification at Twickenham College of Technology and worked for Radio Control Specialists Ltd, National Works, Bath Road, Hounslow, a firm that manufactured radio control equipment for models and film work as well as electro-mechanical components. [1]
In 1968, Dorset formed the group Good Earth, which included Colin Earl on keyboards, Dave Hutchins on bass, and Ray Bowerman on drums. They recorded the album It's Hard Rock And All That on the Saga record label, before Hutchins and Bowerman left. Joe Rush joined on washboard and the group adopted a more acoustic-based skiffle style.
In 1970, with further line-up changes, the group became Mungo Jerry with hits to follow such as "In the Summertime". The song took Dorset only ten minutes to compose on a second-hand Fender Stratocaster while he was taking time off work from his regular job, working in a laboratory for Timex. [2]
Dorset has also maintained a solo career parallel to his leadership of Mungo Jerry. In 1972, he released the album Cold Blue Excursion , made up entirely of self-penned songs, many featuring strings and brass accompaniment. In 1983, he was part of one-off blues outfit Katmandu with Peter Green and Vincent Crane, who recorded an album A Case for the Blues . In 1986, billed as 'Made in England', he recorded and released the theme tune for the TV drama series Prospects , which was also released as a single.
One song recorded by Mungo Jerry, "Feels Like I'm in Love", was originally written by Dorset for Elvis Presley, who died before the song could be recorded. Nevertheless, in 1979 it was recorded by the Scottish disco singer Kelly Marie, and became a UK number one in September 1980. [3] This made Dorset one of the first songwriters to top the UK Singles Chart with singles performed by himself, and by another musician. [3]
In 2012, Dorset sued his former management company Associated Music International (AMI) for over £2 million in royalties from the 1973 song "Alright, Alright, Alright" which he believed had been wrongfully kept from him. [4] During the course of the proceedings Dorset denied harassing his ex-manager by singing in an "antisemitic" video entitled "Nail that Snail." [5] In 2017, the High Court ordered Dorset to pay AMI a sum of £33,600, finding that he had misrepresented the ownership rights to the song. It did not order that royalties be paid to AMI. [6]
A father of six, Dorset lives with his third wife, Britta, in Bournemouth, Dorset. Interviewed in 2014, Dorset said, "Each of my three marriages has produced two children and I also have three grandchildren. I married my present wife, Britta, in 1995. We sold our home in her native Germany and moved completely to Bournemouth, where we’ve been based since 1994 and own two houses and a restaurant. I should be retired, but my brain is like that of an 18-year-old." [2]
Dorset is a Freemason and a member of Chelsea Lodge No. 3098. [7] He can be seen performing "In the Summertime" in the five-part documentary "Inside the Freemasons", produced for Sky One in 2017.
In 2016, Dorset said that he had suffered from irritable bowel syndrome for over 45 years, partly blaming the "rock 'n' roll lifestyle" that he enjoyed after the success of "In the Summertime". [8]
In June 2021 Dorset said, during an interview with radio and TV presenter Mike Read, that he had recovered from open-heart surgery. He added that he no longer had his trademark sideburns, because they had been difficult to manage in hospital, and that although all his hair was real, he dyed it. [9]
Mungo Jerry are a British rock band formed by Ray Dorset in Ashford, Middlesex, in 1970. Experiencing their greatest success in the early 1970s, with a changing line-up always fronted by Dorset, the group's biggest hit was "In the Summertime", which sold 30 million copies worldwide and is the biggest-selling single of all-time by a British band. They had nine charting singles in the UK, including two number ones, five top-20 hits in South Africa, and four in the Top 100 in Canada.
"In the Summertime" is the debut single by British rock band Mungo Jerry, released in 1970. It reached number one in charts around the world, including seven weeks on the UK Singles Chart, two weeks at number one on the Canadian charts, and number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the US. It became one of the best-selling singles of all-time, and is the biggest-selling single of all-time by a British band, eventually selling 30 million copies. Written and composed by the band's lead singer, Ray Dorset, while working in a lab for Timex, the lyrics of the song celebrate the carefree days of summer. The track was included on the second album by the band, Electronically Tested, issued in March 1971.
Freddie Davies is a British comedian and actor who came to public notice in 1964 though the television talent show Opportunity Knocks and has since appeared in several television series and films.
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Electronically Tested is the second album by the British rock band Mungo Jerry, released in March 1971.
Cold Blue Excursion was a solo album recorded by Ray Dorset, leader of Mungo Jerry. The majority of the group's songs at the time were good-time blues, skiffle and rock’n’roll, and these songs on the solo album, written by him during the previous seven years, were designed to show his versatility as a songwriter away from the confines of the basic Mungo sound. The two photos of Dorset inside the gatefold sleeve — one of him sitting in a woodland clearing playing an acoustic guitar, the other of him onstage delivering an impassioned vocal performance with an electric guitar around his neck — summed the album up as well as the quotes from Woody Guthrie printed inside along the track list —"A song was just a song to me...In my own mind, a song is just a song..."
"Feels Like I'm in Love" is a song written and recorded by Ray Dorset with his band Mungo Jerry. It was a number-one hit on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in September 1980 for Scottish singer Kelly Marie.
"Baby Jump" is a popular song, released as a single in 1971 by Mungo Jerry.
"The Pushbike Song" is a song originally recorded by British skiffle artist Lonnie Donegan, popularised by Australian band The Mixtures and released in 1970. The single was a chart success, reaching numbers one and two in the Australian and UK charts respectively. It has subsequently been covered by various artists.
Alright, All Right or Allwright may refer to:
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"Long Legged Woman Dressed in Black" is a popular song and hit single by the British group Mungo Jerry, first released in 1974. It also became the title track of a compilation album by the group, released later in 1974.
Roger De Courcey is a British ventriloquist and artists' agent, best known for performing with Nookie Bear. He was the winner of the 1976 New Faces televised talent competition grand final.
"Lady Rose" is a song by British group Mungo Jerry, released as a single in 1971.
"You Don't Have to Be in the Army to Fight in the War" is a popular song and hit single by the British group Mungo Jerry, first released in 1971.
"Alright, Alright, Alright" is a popular song and hit single by the British group Mungo Jerry, first released in 1973.
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This article is the discography of British rock band Mungo Jerry.