Paul Malcolm King (born 9 January 1948,
Dagenham
Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross.
It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...
,
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, England), is an
English
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English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
musician who was a member of
Mungo Jerry
Mungo Jerry are a British rock band, formed by Ray Dorset in Ashford, Middlesex in 1970. Experiencing their greatest success in the early 1970s, with a changing lineup always fronted by Ray Dorset, the group's biggest hit was "In the Summertime ...
between 1970 and 1972. He contributed occasional lead vocals, and played
acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
(6- and 12-string),
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
,
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
,
kazoo
The kazoo is an American musical instrument that adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of '' mirliton'' (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modifi ...
and
jug
A jug is a type of container commonly used to hold liquids. It has an opening, sometimes narrow, from which to pour or drink, and has a handle, and often a pouring lip. Jugs throughout history have been made of metal, and ceramic, or glass, and ...
. His songs on
the first Mungo Jerry album and on the early maxi-singles were generally more folksy and lighter in style than those of group leader
Ray Dorset
Ray may refer to:
Fish
* Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea
* Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin
Science and mathematics
* Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point
* Ray (g ...
, and he was frustrated when his own songs were constantly rejected for subsequent albums.
On the second album, ''
Electronically Tested'', his composition "Black Bubonic Plague" appeared on
Europe
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an copies only, but not on the
British
British may refer to:
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* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
release. In 1972, King recorded a solo album, ''Been in the Pen Too Long''; he left Mungo Jerry shortly afterward.
He and the group's keyboard player Colin Earl (born 6 May 1942,
Hampton
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*Hampton, New South Wales
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Canada
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*Ha ...
) formed the King Earl Boogie Band with guitarist
Dave Lambert, bassist Russell John Brown and washboard player Joe Rush, who had been a part-time Mungo Jerry member. Their album ''Trouble at Mill'', produced by
Dave Cousins
Dave Cousins (born David Joseph Hindson; 7 January 1945) is an English musician who has been the leader, singer and most-active songwriter of Strawbs since 1967.
Career
Cousins is a founder member of the Strawbs, which started out as the S ...
of
Strawbs
Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock.
They are best known fo ...
, was well reviewed, but a single, "Plastic Jesus", was banned by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. The group disbanded a few months later, and Lambert later joined Strawbs.
King then pursued a solo career, releasing occasional records under the names P. Rufus King and D’Jurann D’Jurann (no connection with the British group
), as well as under his usual name.
King and Earl later formed Skeleton Krew, though in the 1990s they reverted to the name of King Earl Boogie Band. King retired to
in 1996, though since then he has occasionally joined his colleagues and former members for one-off
, sometimes under the name Skeleton Krew or Skeleton Crew.