Ray Dorset wrote "In the Summertime" in ten minutes on a second-hand Fender Stratocaster while working as a lab technician for Timex. The song went to No. 1 almost everywhere in the world and sold more than 30 million copies. It's been on every summer radio station for 56 consecutive years. Most people who love it have no idea who made it.
He wasn't a professional songwriter. He was a man with a guitar, a day job at a watch company, and a chord progression that arrived without warning. The song celebrates carefree summer days with zero irony. It's not about anything except exactly what it says it's about.
The original recording was only two minutes long. Producer Barry Murraydoubled its length by playing it twice with a slightly remixed second half. They needed a motorcycle sound to bridge the two halves. The engineer went outside and recorded an MG sports car revving its engine instead. Dorset played the jug by finishing a flagon of cider and blowing into it. Barry Murray called the whole thing "quite catchy." The band hadn't even wanted it as their single. They preferred their track "Mighty Man." Murray overruled them. It sold 30 million copies.
Then Mungo Jerry played it live for the first time. The Hollywood Music Festival in May 1970 was held on a pig farm near Staffordshire and drew 35,000 people. The bill featured Traffic, Free and Black Sabbath. The Grateful Dead were making their UK live debut. Mungo Jerry were unknown. They'd named themselves after a TS Eliot poem. They had no drummer. Percussion came from stomping in heavy boots. They played late afternoon on the Saturday just as the sun came out. Paul King recalls: "Ninety per cent of the audience were stoned, just lying around smoking, all pretty lethargic. We went straight in with the harmonicas and the banjo, making a different noise to everybody else. The crowd all started getting up and clapping and dancing. It was like someone had given them an electric shock."
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By Sunday they were the ones being asked back.
"In the Summertime" reached No. 1 within a fortnight, ousting Christie's "Yellow River," and stayed there for seven weeks. On one day it sold 73,000 copies before lunch. In 1970 that meant 73,000 people physically going to a record shop before noon. Not streaming. Walking into a shop and buying vinyl. Dorset had to ask his boss at Timex for time off to appear on Top of the Pops. Mungo Jerry reached No. 1 in 15 countries. American radio didn't know which format to put them in. The rest of the world didn't care.
56 Years Later It's Still Someone's Summer Soundtrack
In summer 2026, TikTok users have created 181,200 videos using "In the Summertime" as audio. New listeners are discovering it through road trip content, beach day videos and outdoor adventures. It sounds like summer itself: warm, effortless and belonging nowhere specific. The song everyone knows, and nobody can credit, is still everywhere.
Ray Dorset is still performing it live in 2026. Released in June 1970, it's still the sound of June 56 years later. Mungo Jerry never had another hit anywhere near this size. They didn't need one.
The jug player finished his cider and played the jug. The crowd got up and danced.
Some songs are just summer.
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