Rock ‘n’ Roll, Rock ‘n’ Roll: Mungo Jerry’s “Snakebite Revisited” Arrives from 7a Records
Following last year’s expanded edition of Mungo Jerry’s breakthrough album Electronically Tested – featuring the band’s evergreen hit “In the Summertime” – 7a Records has returned to Mungo’s discography with a generously expanded presentation of 1990’s Snakebite. Available now, Snakebite has been reconceived by Ray Dorset, a.k.a. Mungo Jerry, as Snakebite Revisited. This remastered edition now features 17 songs, including rarities and previously unissued rehearsal takes, on CD, and 13 tracks on vinyl.
The original Snakebite was conceived by Dorset as a way to preserve the performances of his then-current live band, including Tim Green (guitar/banjo), Les Calvert (bass), and Jamei Roberts (drums/percussion). He recounts in the liner notes by TSD’s Joe Marchese, “The band stayed together for about five years-which is a long time in this business. I didn’t know how much longer I was going to play with them, if they were going to leave, or what would happen. I thought, ‘Let’s just go in there and record some stuff that we’ve been playing onstage and it will be something they could all look back on and remember the time they worked with me.’ So that’s how Snakebite came about.”
The band was joined in the studio by Steve Jones on keyboard and accordion, who ended up joining on a full-time basis. Mungo brought his strongest compositions into the studio, including the rocking opener “Snakebite,” the muscular “Heartbreak Avenue,” lusty “Red Leather and Chrome,” tender “Remember Me,” elegiac “Rock ‘n Roll, Rock ‘n Roll,” and stomping sing-along “Sugar in the Bowl.” The original album featured two covers, as well: “The Ballad of Jesse James” and Lead Belly’s “Pick a Bale o’ Cotton.” The latter, however, has been replaced on this edition by “Ghost Riders in the Sky” from the Snakebite sessions. (Mungo tells the whole story in the liner notes!) With influences of rock, blues, folk, skiffle, jugband, and country, Snakebite harkened back to Mungo’s earliest successes while pulsating with contemporary energy.
It’s been expanded with seven bonus cuts including a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” which earned the admiration of Dylan himself, and the hidden gems “Gone to Malaya” and “With a Girl Like You.” A live version of Snakebite‘s “All I Wanna Do” offers a snapshot of Mungo in his element onstage. The expanded album comes to a close with three rehearsal takes which give listeners a rare peek into how Mungo Jerry developed a song. The finished studio version of the bluesy “So Lonely” appeared on 2001’s Candy Dreams. The garage-flavored “I Hear Music” joins a cover of garage band Count Five’s “Psychotic Reaction,” a No. 5 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1966.
Snakebite Revisited is adorned with all-new artwork and packaged with 7a’s trademark care and attention to detail. The CD, housed in a six-panel digipak, includes a deluxe 24-page booklet with liner notes and lyrics, as well as numerous full-color photos. The vinyl edition, limited to just 300 units, has the full 10-track album plus “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” “Gone to Malaya,” and “Psychotic Reaction.” It’s pressed on 180-gram blue vinyl and includes an insert with lyrics and liner notes. All audio has been remastered by Dave Blackman at HiltonGrove Mastering.
Look for Snakebite Revisited at the links from various retailers below, and check out Mungo’s rockin’ new music video for the title track at YouTube, below.
Mungo Jerry, Snakebite Revisited (7a Records 7A070, 2025)
CD:
- Snakebite
- All I Wanna Do
- Remember Me
- Sugar in the Bowl
- Rock ‘n’ Roll, Rock ‘n’ Roll
- Heartbreak Avenue
- (Ghost) Riders in the Sky
- Red Leather and Chrome
- Jesse James
- Right On
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
- Gone to Malaya
- With a Girl Like You (+)
- All I Wanna Do (Live) (+)
- So Lonely (+)
- I Hear Music (+)
- Psychotic Reaction
Tracks 1-6, 8-10 originally released on BBC Records CDPC 5011, 1990
Track 7 from Snakebite, Bellevue CD 10286-2, 1999
Track 11 from Stage Coach single TRI 101, 1981
Track 12 from Lovin’ in the Alleys, Fightin’ in the Streets, Polydor LP 2383 435, 1977
Track 13 originally released 2002
Track 14 recorded live in Baden, Baden, Germany, October 2018
Tracks 15-17 previously unreleased
(+) CD-only track
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