Ray Dorset (born Raymond Edward Dorset, March 21, 1946, in Ashford,
Middlesex) is a British guitarist, singer, songwriter
and founder of the skiffle band, Mungo
Jerry.
In 1968
he formed the group Good Earth, which also 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 classic hits to follow like "In the Summertime".
Dorset has also maintained a solo
career parallel to his leadership of Mungo Jerry. In 1972 he released an
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;
and in 1986, billed as "Made in England", he recorded and
released the theme tune for the TV drama
series Prospects as a single.
One song recorded by Mungo Jerry, "Feels Like I'm In Love",
was originally written by Dorset for Elvis
Presley, but he died before it could be presented to him. Nevertheless,
in 1979 it was recorded by disco singer Kelly
Marie, and became a UK Number
one in September 1980. It thus made Dorset one of the first songwriters
to top the UK Singles Chart with singles
performed by himself, and by another artiste.
In addition to guitar he has played several other instruments
on stage and record,
including harmonica,
kazoo, accordion
and keyboards.
Dorset is currently residing in Mallorca, Spain, where he runs a bar
in the north of the island and continues to perform musically.
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