Mercury Blues

"Mercury Blues"
Single by Alan Jackson
from the album A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'bout Love)
B-side	"Chattahoochee (club mix)"
Released	September 13, 1993
Format	CD single 7" 45 RPM
Recorded	May 26, 1992[1]
Genre	Country
Length	3:39
Label	Arista
Writer(s)	K. C. Douglas Robert Geddins
Producer	Keith Stegall
Alan Jackson singles chronology
"Chattahoochee" (1993) "Mercury Blues" (1993) "(Who Says) You Can't Have It All" (1993)

"Mercury Blues" is the title of song written by K. C. Douglas and Robert Geddins in 1949. The song, originally titled "Mercury Boogie," pays homage to the American automobile, which ended production in 2010.^[2][3]

The song has been covered among others by the Steve Miller Band (1976), David Lindley (1981), Alan Jackson (1993), the Finn Pave Maijanen (1987), Meat Loaf (2003) and Dwight Yoakam (2004). Lindley's version, from his 1981 album El Rayo-X, peaked at number 34 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Meat Loaf's version appears as a hidden track at the end of his 2003 album Couldn't Have Said It Better. Dwight Yoakam's version appears on his 2002 boxed set, Reprise Please, Baby, and later on his 2004 compilation album, Dwight's Used Records.

Rights to the song were purchased by the Ford Motor Company, which used it for a television commercial for Ford trucks (albeit with the lyrics changed to "Crazy 'bout a Ford truck").^[4]

Alan Jackson version

American country music singer Alan Jackson recorded the song for his album , A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'Bout Love). It was released in September 1993 as the fourth single from the album. His version of the song peaked at number 2 on both the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart and the RPM Country Tracks in Canada.

Music video

The music video was directed by Piers Plowden and premiered in mid-1993. Keith Urban makes an appearance in the video as a guitar player.

In popular culture

His rendition was used by the Ford Motor Company for Ford pickup truck commercials, changing the line "crazy 'bout a Mercury" to "crazy 'bout a Ford truck."^[5] Jackson performed the original "Mercury" version of the song live "in-studio" on an episode of the hit ABC sitcom Home Improvement in 1996.

Chart positions

Chart (1993)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	2
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	2

References

1. ^ (1995) Album notes for The Greatest Hits Collection by Alan Jackson [CD]. Arista Records (07822 18801).
2. ^ "'It's time:' Ford to close Mercury by year's end - Drive On: A conversation about the cars and trucks we drive - USATODAY.com". Content.usatoday.com. 2010-01-06. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2010/06/mercury-will-close-this-year-ford-announces-wednesday/1. Retrieved 2010-06-02. 
3. ^ Maynard, Micheline (2010-06-02). "Ford Appears Ready to End Its Mercury Brand". NYTimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/business/03mercury.html. Retrieved 2010-06-02. 
4. ^ Allmusic biography
5. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc.. pp. 201. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.