Chords for ROCKTALK: MUNGO JERRY - THE TRUE STORY

_ Can you tell us a little bit about how you became Mongo Jury?
Yeah, well, I'm Ray Gossett, the _ _ songwriter, the single songwriter, _
and I actually [Ab] adopted the [Eb] persona of Mongo Jury, the artist performer, _
in [G] early 1972 when I got Five on the [F] Bank.
In the summertime, when the weather is hot,
you can stretch right up and burst the [A] sky.
Ooh, _ [Em] _
_ _ [B] ooh. _ _ _
[Bb] Yeah, I had a friend and work colleague [Abm] in the research laboratory at Timex,
his name is Joe Rush, and we were interested in all the same kind of music.
And we started off playing a kind of hybrid of _ rural _ _ _ blues,
[G] _
skiffle, junk band [Ebm] music, rockabilly, _ stuff like that, you know,
Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie [Eb] music.
And, _ _ yeah, [Gm] we got no, unfortunately, there's no video footage
[F] of that particular era around, there might be a few photos
and you can have a look through the archives, see what you can find.
And _ we [Eb] got together with a guy called [E] Colin Earl,
who [C] was a piano player that [Eb] I knew,
and [Em] I've been playing [G] in other bands with him [Eb] and stuff,
and _ [Gb] he likes some [Eb] of the music.
And we did a [G] bit of [Eb] jamming down the pub,
[F] and then we did a [Gb] gig at Oxford [B] University.
We got kind of a residency [N] in a place in Hounslow in Middlesex,
[G] it's called the Osterley Motel, which is very [Eb] near to Heathrow Airport. _ _
[Bb] And a guy started following [G] us coming down there,
his name was Paul King, and he joined the band also.
_ [E] So we were playing all this kind of [G] stuff and big following,
and Joe _ eventually went his own way,
and we got a new double bass player in, Mike Cole,
who went in the studio, [Eb] _ [Ab] recorded 17 [Eb]
tracks,
and one of them _ [F] was the one that went all around the world in the summertime. _ _ _
_ _ _ Love everybody, but we do as we [Bb] please.
_ We go fishing, I'll go sailing [F] in the sea.
_ _ _ [Am] We're always happy, [Gm] the life we live in here, that's [F] our philosophy. _ _ _
Yeah, [G] that was a lot.
_ We _
_ [B] did Hollywood Festival, _ all that kind of stuff,
and first album in the summertime and everything.
Then we [G] did a tour in the States, in America,
[E] _ [F] in the fall _ of 1970, on our return, _
for some strange reason, I don't know exactly what happened,
I don't know, but _ Mike Cole was ousted from the band.
This place got taken by a guy called [Gm] John Godfrey, late John [F] Godfrey,
unfortunately he's passed away now, he plays [Eb] _
electric bass,
[F] and we went on and recorded with that line-up, Baby Jump,
[Ab] _ which was the UK number one.
[F] _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [B] _ _ You might [F] find that out there [Eb] somewhere.
_ _ _ _ [B] Lady Rose.
_ _ _ _ Lady _ _
[Eb] Rose.
And funny enough, Paul King _ _ [Ebm] didn't even play on [Eb] Lady Rose,
in fact it was just me, John Godfrey [Ab] and Colin Earle,
that was a massive hit all around the world.
_ And then we did a scene,
You Don't [B] Have to Be in the Army to Fight in the [Eb] War.
_ _ [B] _ _ [Eb] _ _
_ _ [F] And early 1972, I think January [Gb] I think, we went off,
and [Ab] we did this really long tour in [Eb] the Far East,
Australia, New [Ebm] Zealand, Japan, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok,
[Ab] you know, and _ [Eb] _ on my return, [F] I got a call to the office,
and I was told by Colin Earle _ and Paul [Eb] King
_ that [D] I'd been fired from [Eb] the band. _
_ _ [B] And it was a bit weird, because I was playing a guitar,
I wrote [F] all the songs, I was the front man,
the singer and [Eb] all that kind of thing.
Colin Earle said to me, _ _ [E] in a very sarcastic [Eb] way,
_ [C] _ Don't _ [E] _ _
[Db] worry about [Eb] it,
[Gm] when you're playing down [Ab] the pub, we'll come along
and have a [Eb] jam with you.
And when Paul King _ [A] formed the band,
they [Ab] called it the King Earl Booty Band,
because the record [Gm] company, the publishers, the management,
[Eb] [Db] they didn't agree with their decision.
And they [Gm] told me that I [G] had to become Mungo Jerry,
the artist performer,
[Em] _
_ [F] and Ray Dorsett, the singer-songwriter.
[E] _ _ _ [F] And you might find some stuff of what they've been doing
out there on video somewhere.
I think they do versions of In The Summertime [E] and stuff.
See you on the West End!
_ _ La la la, oh la la la
[A] La _ _ _ _ _ [E] la la, _ see you on the [Abm] West End
La la la, [Gbm] oh la la [E] _ la
[D] I'm John O'Brien-Elford, with the band O'Brien and Ray,
_ [F] and we're a band together,
[N] which _ _ used, and still sold, 23 [Dm] million copies.
And we're expecting to post [Em] them all next month. _ _ _
[Gm] In fact, Barry Murray, [E] the producer, said to the guys,
he said, what if you go and do a gig,
and the promoter says, [C] where's Mungo? _
So I [Eb] became [E] Mungo Jerry. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _
And _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Abm] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ [E] _ _
the other [D] funny thing is,
there was an [Eb] interview _ that [F] we conducted,
all individually,
[Abm] from [Eb] a major _ _ _ _ _ British [F] tabloid newspaper,
_ _ and Paul King told them, he said,
[D] that he thought, I don't know what exactly,
I can't remember his exact words,
[Eb] but he said something like,
_ [E] In the Summertime is a load of rubbish.
_ [Bb] But it [F] was 2016, and it's as strong as [Gm] ever.
Unbelievable.
[F] If your dad is [C] poor,
_ [G] do [D] what you feel [F] in the summertime
_ [C] You [G] _
[D] could touch [Am] the sky
_ Hands in the air, hands in the air, hands in the air
_ _ _ [F]
Touch the sky, [Gm] _ touch [D] the sky
_ _ [F] Stretch [C] right [G] up and touch the [D] sky
[F] It's summertime, _ [Em] _ _
touch [Am] the sky
_ _ _ Well, [F] it's less [C] fun [D] living that _ philosophy
_ [F] You [C] could [G] get your kicks for [Dm] free
In the summertime, [C] _ [G] _ _ _ [D]
touch the [A] sky _ _ _ _ _
[F] _ _ _ [C] _ [G] Touch [D] the sky, [F] touch the [C] [G] sky
Touch the [D] sky, [F] in the [C] summertime
[G] _ [D] Oh, [A] touch the sky _ _ _ _ _ _