Mungo Jerry

Pye Records' Golden Hour series was one of the best-loved and most ubiquitous of all early-'70s anthologies, a seemingly endless parade of compilations that visited positively every major (and many minor) catalogs in the label's archive and, in an age when most albums faded out after 30-40 minutes, kept the music pounding for a full hour. There were drawbacks, of course. Cramming so much information onto a single vinyl disc inevitably compromised the sound quality -- you had to play your Golden Hour records very loud indeed, simply to hear them properly. Dynamics were damaged as well, a fate that renders Mungo Jerry's contribution to the series a major disappointment. The band's entire oeuvre, after all, was based upon the mysterious grunts and whooshing percussives that they layered behind their washboards and guitars. Submerge them in a sea of crackles, and a lot of the joy drowns with them. Nevertheless, in an age when very few record labels truly had a grasp of the treasures that reposed in their vaults, Pye's constant revisiting of their catalog stood as a beacon of light in the darkness. And, for a lot of youthful record collectors, the Golden Hour series will always hold a lot of treasured memories. ~ Dave Thompson, Rovi