Mungo Jerry - ’You Don’t Have To Be In The Army To Fight The War’ (1971) • TopPop

“You Don’t Have to Be in the Army to Fight in the War“ is a popular song and hit single by the British group Mungo Jerry, first released in 1971. Written by the group’s lead vocalist Ray Dorset and produced by Barry Murray, it was the band’s fourth single. The group’s four-piece line-up was augmented by Joe Rush, a long-time friend who had played with them in previous bands and often guested with them on stage, playing washboard. The song entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 48 in September 1971 and peaked at No. 13 the following month. The song peaked at number 97 in Australia. Mungo Jerry are a British rock group who experienced their greatest success in the early 1970s, with a changing line-up that has always been fronted by Ray Dorset. The group’s name was inspired by the poem “Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer“, from T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. The group’s biggest hit was “In the Summertime“. They had nine charting singles in the UK, including two number ones, and five top 20 hits in So