The Dawn Singles Collection

England's Mungo Jerry were a British blues, skiffle, and jug band that sounded a bit like Canned Heat crossed with the Lovin' Spoonful, and the group's big international hit, 1970's "In the Summertime," written and sung by Ray Dorset, who still tours with various musicians as Mungo Jerry in the 21st century, is an oldies station staple -- it's difficult to imagine getting through a summer anywhere without hearing it played someplace. The group did manage a few more hits in Britain, but "In the Summertime" is the band's gold standard. This set collects all of Mungo Jerry's singles, both A- and B-sides, for the Pye Records imprint Dawn Records, as well as the group's various EPs, and it reveals an extremely versatile outfit with tracks ranging from the signature "In the Summertime" (and the later "Summer's Gone," an obvious attempt to catch "In the Summertime" lightning in a bottle all over again) to the hard garage stomp of "Baby Jump," the straight-ahead rock of "Glad I'm a Rocker," the rockabilly "Too Fast to Live and Too Young to Die," and a fine, energetic, and wonderfully ragged version of the old blues tune "Milk Cow Blues." So there's more to Mungo Jerry than just "In the Summertime," and this set shows that clearly, but it's just one of those songs everybody has to live with, which isn't so bad -- unless it's winter. ~ Steve Leggett