On the August Bank Holiday of 1971, MUNGO JERRY were one of the headlining bands of the WEELEY FESTIVAL, held in the village of Weeley in Essex. Following on from B.B.C Radio Essex's radio documentary of last year (2005), we thought we'd take our own look back at the fun.



  • At the time of the Weeley Festival, Edward Heath was Prime Minister and the country was getting to grips with decimal currency.

  • The Weeley Festival had originally started out as a small local fund raising event, organised by Clacton Round Table replacing their usual donkey derby, featuring local bands, but ended up as one of the main rock events of 1971, attracting such names as THE FACES, LINDISFARNE, T.REX, BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST, STATUS QUO, RORY GALLAGHER, EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND, GROUNDHOGS, KING CRIMSON and of course our own MUNGO JERRY.

  • At Weeley, MUNGO JERRY were - RAY DORSET, PAUL KING, COLIN EARL, JOHN GODFREY and JOE RUSH, who also played on the bill with his own band COUNTRY JUG.

  • It is believed that MUNGO JERRY were the first act to be booked to appear at the Weeley Festival



    • New Musical Express said, "MUNGO JERRY is a typical festival band, it's happy-go-lucky brand of music featuring the famous stomp always goes down best in the open air.

    The group made its name at the Hollywood Festival last year (1970) and has been livening up get togethers all over the world ever since".



    SET LIST

    MUNGO JERRY's set list at Weeley (as far we can make out from press reports and fans present) was;

  • MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
  • O'REILLY
  • HAVE A WHIFF ON ME
  • I'M THE URBAN SPACEMAN
  • LADY ROSE
  • STATESBRO'BLUES
  • IN THE SUMMERTIME
  • BOTTLE UP & GO
  • WE SHALL BE FREE
  • I JUST WANNA MAKE LOVE TO YOU
  • GOING DOWN SLOW
  • BABY JUMP
  • MIGHTY MAN


    • NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS'S REVIEW OF MUNGO JERRY's SET

    "The six-man MUNGO JERRY went on in the early afternoon and grabbed one of the best spots of the entire shebang. The audience was in the right mood, the sun was out and the open-air feel of MUNGO JERRY's music took over. After a couple of numbers like, 'MIDNIGHT SPECIAL' and 'HAVE A WHIFF ON ME', the crowd was clapping and yelling and banging cans and things. JOE RUSH was drafted in from COUNRTY JUG to play bass drum, cymbal, skiffle board and assorted wooden blocks and roadie 'BIZZ' sang and banged a tambourine on odd numbers. COLIN EARL played barefoot and RAY DORSET occasionally got up and jogged about the stage. During the act, an alsatian came and laid along the front of the stage panting and shooting the odd glance at the band. He seemed to enjoy, 'URBAN SPACEMAN', 'IN THE SUMMERTIME', 'LADY ROSE', 'BOTTLE UP & GO','MIGHTY MAN', 'WE SHALL BE FREE', 'I JUST WANNA MAKE LOVE TO YOU' and all the others as much as everyone else. Once MUNGO JERRY get a rhythm going, it's hard to break it, and the stomping, 'have a good time' treatment they give".



  • MUNGO JERRY used the famous red bus as a changing room/bar and JOHN GODFREY actually travelled in from London on the bus. It displayed adverts for the band's forthcoming single, 'YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE IN THE ARMY TO FIGHT IN THE WAR', and the band actually shot the promo film for the single whilst at Weeley. ROD STEWART visited the bus on site and gave Ray a promo copy of his latest album, 'EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY', which included his great hit, 'MAGGIE MAY'.

  • The bus was actually left behind afterwards and ended up the property of the landowner after he had informed the owners how much he intended charging for parking and towing. There was a happy ending as the bus served its new owners very well (after he had done a 'bit' of work on it) in later years transporting him and his friends to motor racing events, etc.




  • British Rail ran special festival trains from Liverpool Street Station to Weeley Station, not at set intervals but just when they had enough people to fill one.

  • In the beginning, the organisers hoped the crowd would be something in the region of, at best 10,000, but depending on who you listened to, it is believed the weekend attendance was between 100-150,000!

  • Stories about the toilet facilities have reached almost legendary status, and to describe them would almost certainly put you off your tea so I won't bother!

  • Opinions also vary as to the extent of the trouble between the South London based caterers and the Hells Angels, some people describing the festival as a peaceful one, others recalling the terror of the fighting.