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Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
| cover =
| alt =
| type =
| artist = Cannonball Adderley
| album = Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at "The Club"
| released = December 1966
| format =
| recorded = Capitol Records (Los Angeles), October 20, 1966
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Soul jazz
| length = 5:10
| label = EMI
| writer = Joe Zawinul
| producer = David Axelrod
| misc =
}}
"'Mercy, Mercy, Mercy'" is a jazz song written by Joe Zawinul in 1966 for Julian "Cannonball" Adderley and which appears on his album 'Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at "The Club"'. The song is the title track of the album and became a surprise hit in February 1967."This album gave birth to a Top Ten single of the title tune, much to the astonishment of many..." Michael Cuscuna 1995 Capitol Reissue CD liner notes "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" went to #2 on the Soul chart and #11 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100 chart.
Original version
The original version was performed by: Cannonball Adderley (alto saxophone), Nat Adderley (cornet), Joe Zawinul (piano, electric piano), Victor Gaskin (bass) and Roy McCurdy (drums). The theme of the song is performed by Zawinul on a Wurlitzer electric piano previously used by Ray Charles.Keyboards (german keyboard magazine), 06/2007 http://www.keyboards.de.
Buckinghams cover
"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" has been re-recorded numerous times, most notably by The Buckinghams, who reached #5 in August 1967, adding lyrics to the tune. Musicians on the Buckinghams' version included James Henderson, Lew McCreary and Richard Leith on trombone, Bill Peterson, Bud Childers on trumpet, John Johnson on sax, Lincoln Mayorga on Wurlitzer electric piano, Dennis Budimir on guitar, Carol Kaye on bass, and John Guerin on drums.
Chart performance
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Musical analysis
The first part of the theme is played twice and is completely made of notes from the major pentatonic scale of the first degree.
The tune is in the key of B-flat major and has a 20-bar structure with four distinct sections. The chord progression is mainly made of dominant-seventh chords on the first, fourth and fifth degrees, giving the song a bluesy feeling although it does not follow a typical blues progression. The subdominant (IV) chord in the beginning section emphasizes this bluesy feeling. In the second section, the tonic chord alternates with a second-inversion subdominant chord, creating a parallel to the I-IV-V progression (in which the tonic moves to the subdominant).
References
Category:1960s jazz standards
Category:Hard bop jazz standards
Category:1966 songs
Category:1967 singles
Category:The Buckinghams songs
Category:Columbia Records singles
Category:Soul jazz songs
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