Mungo Jerry (1976) Never Mind I've Still Got My Rock n Roll- LOST 70s GEMS

Impala Saga was one of Mungo's last albums from the 70s, released in 76 it represents a fresh start, Hello Nadine is a crisp modern sounding metallic mandolin strum full of Greek folk styled rhytmm, a piano track that sounds like a steel drum, Dorset's romantic pop melody and a McCartney-esque tune. The propulsive opening track is followed by sleepy country rock Nevermind I've Still Got my Rock n Roll where Dorset's carefree vocal is hollow but heartfelt as he pines for Rock n Roll's roots, it is followed by two misnomers though; Too Fast is actually too fast, and Ain't Too Bad is actually bad, both are derivative filler. What follows are more 50s Rock N Roll tunes resouped up with new lyrics but the same formula, wasting the vinyl space when their originality came from their roots material. The first fresh track for a while is the ninth track, hit Me with it's chugging speed metal tempo and thick wah wah making up for the retro material, Dorset's unhinged nonsense vocals add adrenaline to the standard 70s hard rock sound of the song. Quiet Man starts with a slow melodic rockabilly guitar part before the soothing vocal led rhytmm drifts in, where he states he sometimes he likes to relax and be a quiet man; another fresh lyrical stance. The last track It's a secret links back to the opening track, Hello Nadine, the same metallic strum of a mandolin but with some minor keyed piano accents, low key Dorset vocal, shamanistic backing vocals make it sound like a haunted house of a tune; the crisp, light stringed playing of the mandolin adds a dark flavour. The title track starts with some staccato guitar playing with a very oriental vibe in their high and whiny tone, it's an arresting sound as hard rock crunch is melded with some ancient medieval melody; blues guitar wailing and marching drum beat mix with an eastern scale fitting the odd title which based on the album cover is based on a make of car called an impala. The repetitive staccato guitar and pianos underline Dorset's direct vocal before breaking into a soaring into the instrumental hook; the thin whine of one of the guitars with it's sweet distortion ends up sounding close to a violin at one point during the song's solo, and a synthesizer during other parts.


Still the only real melodic gem for is the second track Nevermind I've Still Got my Rock n Roll, it even gets a reprise as the 11th track due to the short length.