Solid Entertainments Presents... Cleethorpes Blues Festival Acts

The song most associated with MUNGO JERRY is the global hit IN THE SUMMERTIME, it sold over six million copies worldwide in the first six months of release and that total is now estimated to be over a staggering thirty million units, and it is now officially recognised as the most played summer song of all time. Winning for itself and its writer RAY DORSET, prestigious Sony / ATV and Ivor Novello awards.

In describing the music of MUNGO JERRY as pure pop would be an insult to the varying styles of rock, blues, boogie and skiffle that has graced the stages of concerts and festivals which have seen MUNGO JERRY sharing and indeed at times topping the bill with the likes of JIMI HENDRIX, ELTON JOHN, ROD STEWART & THE FACES, GENESIS, STATUS QUO, CANNED HEAT, FREE.

Just after the single's release, the band turned in a breathtaking performance at the Hollywood Music Festival, near Newcastle Under-Lyme with acts including BLACK SABBATH, TRAFFIC, JOSE FELICIANO and making their first UK appearance, GRATEFUL DEAD.

Soon after, the music press screamed their approval with headlines of - MUNGOMANIA! and MUNGO JERRY FEVER!

The long awaited follow-up to 'In the SUMMERTIME' was 'BABY JUMP', which also made No 1, it was a Hard rocking Ray Dorset composition much influenced by his Rock a Billy connections, then another of his compositions, Lady Rose, became the third Mungo maxi single and made No 3 in the charts, only failing to make the No 1 spot because of the fact that a track on the maxi, "Have A Whiff On Me", Was banned by the BBC because of it's drug connotations, and had to be re-pressed at the request of the Director of
Public Prosecutions.

1973 saw one of MUNGO JERRY's biggest hits, 'ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT' race up the charts to No.3 with the follow-up WILD LOVE charting and LONG LEGGED WOMAN DRESSED IN BLACK' continuing the hit making sequence along with songs like 'HELLO NADINE' , 'IT'S A SECRET'. FORGOTTEN LAND and LET'S GET STARTED etc.
1980 saw RAY DORSET back at No.1, when Scottish singer KELLY MARIE hit the top spot with his composition Feels Like I'm In Love.

During the 80's, Ray Dorset turned his talents towards writing the music for two popular television shows -PAUL DANIELS children's TV show, 'WIZBIT', and the Thames comedy/drama serial, 'PROSPECTS'.

No history of MUNGO JERRY would be complete without mention of the project in which, Ray invited rock legends, PETER GREEN, formerly of FLEETWOOD MAC and VINCENT CRANE of ATOMICROOSTER, to a jam at his home studio which resulted in the KATMANDU album, 'A CASE FOR THE BLUES'.

In 1995 Shaggy released a new reggae version of 'IN THE SUMMERTIME' complete with samples of Ray's voice and guitar, it reached number 5 in the UK singles chart, but more importantly topped the charts in the USA, meaning that the song had now hit the top spot in every major territory in the world.

Instead of simply resting on his laurels and living off the success of the world's biggest selling Summer song In The Summertime. Ray Dorset aka Mungo Jerry has in this new millennium maintained his reputation as the King of the Groove by releasing some of his best and strongest work and Mungo Jerry's live stage performance has been much acclaimed at Blues, Jazz and Rock Festivals throughout the world.

19-year-old Connor Selby has been a guitar and music fanatic for as long as he can remember - first picking up the instrument at around age 8. Since that day Connor has been honing and developing his craft for almost the entire duration of his life.

Musically Connor takes inspiration from most of the British players that emerged in the 1960s citing Eric Clapton as his first and current major influence, putting particular emphasis on his output with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers and Cream. Connor has also studied the guitar playing of other players such as Paul Kossoff , Gary Moore, and of course, BB King, Albert King and Freddie King. Although blues based guitar music has been the most prominent style in terms of Connor's listening throughout the years his musical taste extends much further and deeper than just the Blues. Connor's listening also includes a variety of Folk, Soul, R and B, Gospel and Country and Western including the music of Ray Charles, Donny Hathaway, Nick Drake and many others. Connor describes these artists in particular as having a huge impact on the way he listens to and thinks about music.

Connor has been busy gigging with his band and is due to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA, next year but has recently been offered a recording contract with 3Ms Music and is scheduled to record a debut album in France in July. As a result of this is currently considering his future career options.

Many people know Gary Grainger as the British Blues Award winning host of The Blues Show on BishopFM

Even more people confuse him with the Gary Grainger who played guitar with Rod Stewart (no, he isn’t that Gary Grainger)

But Gary’s interest in blues goes back a long way, influenced by radio shows of Alexis Korner & Mike Raven. Gary’s current acoustic set includes a mixture of traditional & modern blues tunes and also includes songs not so much from left field, rather from the West Coast – of the USA. Gary features songs by bands such as Little Feat, Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers - & ZZ Top!

Support slots include Guy Tortora, Chantel McGregor, Big Boy Bloater, Kirsten Thien & Eric Bell & Bill Haley & The Comets – really!.

In 2012, Gary headlined the Acoustic Stage at Durham Blues Festival when he played guitar for Jo Harman at the start of an exciting year for Jo.

Since then Gary has played multiple sets at many UK festivals: Durham & Cleethorpes, Hebden Bridge, Great British RnB Festival Colne,
and is also a sought after and experienced MC for festivals and gigs.

Gary has 2 CDs available – First Takes & Mistakes – a studio recording from 2012, and Live At Brooklyn Bowl from 2016, when he opened an evening celebrating the music of Jerry Garcia.

Solid Entertainments Presents... Cleethorpes Blues Festival