B-side "Mighty Man" | Released 1970 Length 3:40 | |
Recorded 1970Pye Recording Studios, Marble Arch, London | ||
"In the Summertime" is the debut single by British rock band Mungo Jerry. Written and composed by its lead singer, Ray Dorset, it celebrates the carefree days of summer. In 1970, it reached number one in charts around the world, including seven weeks in the UK Singles Chart, two weeks on one of the Canadian charts, and number three on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the US. It became one of the best-selling singles of all-time, eventually selling more than 30 million copies.
Contents
The song took Dorset only ten minutes to write and compose, which he did using a second-hand Fender Stratocaster while he was taking time off work from his regular job, working in a lab for Timex. The song's lyric "have a drink, have a drive, go out and see what you can find" led to the song's somewhat ironic use in a UK advert for the campaign Drinking and Driving Wrecks Lives.
Background
The initial UK release was on Dawn Records, a new label launched by Pye. It was unusual in that it was a maxi single, playing at 33-1/3 rpm, whereas singles generally played at 45 rpm. It included an additional song also written and composed by Dorset, "Mighty Man," on the A-side, and a much longer track, the Woody Guthrie song "Dust Pneumonia Blues," on the B-side. As the record was sold in a picture sleeve, also not standard at the time, and only sold at a few pence more than the normal 45 rpm two-track single, it was considered value for money. The small quantities of 45 rpm discs on the Pye record label, with "Mighty Man" on the B-side, and without a picture sleeve, were pressed for use in jukeboxes. These are now rare collector's items.
In 2012, Dorset sued Associated Music International, claiming over £2 million in royalties from the song that he believed had been withheld from him.
In an interview with Gary James, Dorset explained the origin of the "motorcycle" sound towards the end of the song: "I said, 'We'll just get a recording of a motorcycle, stick it on the end of the song and then re-edit the front and then put the front off to the motorcycle so it starts up again.' But I couldn't find a motorcycle. Howard Barry, the engineer had an old, well, it wasn't old then, a Triumph sports car, which he drove past the studio while Barry Marrit was holding the microphone. So, he got the stereo effects from left to right or right to left, whatever. And that was it."
Shaggy version
In 1995, Jamaican-American rapper Shaggy covered the song, and released it as the lead single from his third studio album, Boombastic. A year after its release, the song was re-recorded and released specifically for the film Flipper. Aside from the addition of rap lyrics, Shaggy's version also substitutes other lyrics for the song's original line containing "have a drink, have a drive."
Track listing
- "In the Summertime" (Single Edit) – 3:46
- "It No Matter" – 3:56
- "Gal You A Pepper" – 3:37
- "In the Summertime" (Sting vs. Shaggy Remix) – 4:40
- "In the Summertime" (Single Edit) – 3:46
- "It No Matter" – 3:56
- "In the Summertime" (Sting vs. Shaggy Remix) – 4:40
- "In the Summertime" (LP Version) – 3:55
- "In the Summertime" (Drum Dancehall Mix) – 3:54
- "In the Summertime '96" (Original Version) – 3:52
- "In the Summertime '96" (Instrumental) – 3:52
- "Flipper Main Theme" – 3:58
- "In the Summertime" (Single Edit) – 3:48
- "In the Summertime" (LP Version) – 3:55
- "In the Summertime" (Drum Dancehall Mix) – 3:54
- "In the Summertime" (Funk Dance Mix) – 3:58
- "Boombastic" (LP Version) – 4:05
- "Boombastic" (Sting Remix) – 4:18
- "In the Summertime" (LP Version) – 3:55
- "In the Summertime" (Drum Dancehall Mix) – 3:54
- "In the Summertime" (Funk Dance Mix) – 3:58
- "Boombastic" (Sting Remix) – 4:18