Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)

"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"
Single by Marvin Gaye
from the album What's Going On
B-side	"Sad Tomorrows"
Released	June 10, 1971
Format	Vinyl record (7", 45 RPM)
Recorded	Hitsville USA (Studio A); March 1971
Genre	Soul
Length	3:14
Label	Tamla
Writer(s)	Marvin Gaye
Producer	Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye singles chronology
"What's Going On" (1971) "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (1971) "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" (1971)
What's Going On track listing "God is Love" (5) "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (6) "Right On" (7)

"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" was the second single from Marvin Gaye's 1971 album, What's Going On. Following the breakthrough of the title track's success, the song, written solely by Gaye, became one of his most poignant anthems of sorrow regarding the environment. Led by Gaye playing piano, strings conducted by Paul Riser, multi-tracking vocals from Gaye, the instrumentals provided by The Funk Brothers and a leading sax solo by Wild Bill Moore, the song rose to #4 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart and #1 for two weeks on the R&B singles charts on August 14 through to August 27, 1971.^[1]

As the single became his second million seller from What's Going On, the album started on the soul album charts in the top five and began charging up the pop rankings. "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" soon became one of Gaye's most famous songs in his extensive catalogue. In 2002 it was his third single recording to win a "Grammy Hall of Fame" Award. Like "Inner City Blues", Bob Babbitt, not James Jamerson, plays the bass line.

Covers and cultural references

• Grover Washington, Jr. recorded a smooth jazz version of the song, which has been included on various compilations of his work.
• British reggae group Aswad covered the song on their 1984 album Rebel Souls.
• In 1991, Robert Palmer combined the track with another of Gaye's popular hits, "I Want You" to form one single medley that peaked at #9 in the UK. It also reached #16 on the US singles chart.
• In 1992, the track was covered by the acid jazz group The Apostles (not to be confused with the anarcho-punk band of the same name) and their version has been on several acid jazz compilations.^[2]
• Ottmar Liebert made a flamenco cover in his 1993 album The Hours Between Night + Day.
• Jeff Golub and Richard Elliot covered the song as a duo for Golub's 2002 album Do It Again.
• Michael McDonald covered the song on his Motown Two album in 2004.
• The Strokes recorded a cover of the song with Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and released it as a B-side for their 2006 single "You Only Live Once."
• Eleanor McEvoy covered it on her 2006 album Out There.
• R&B group Boyz II Men recorded a cover for their 2007 album, Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA.
• Folk musician/singer-songwriter Susan Werner covered the song in an acoustic style on her 2009 album Classics.
• MC Hammer included a version of the song, titled "Help the Children", on his album Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em.
• Craig David recorded a cover from his 2010 album, Signed Sealed Delivered.
• American rapper Kanye West references the title of this song in his song "Dark Fantasy" when he says "Mercy mercy me, that Murciélago".

Live cover performances

• Todd Rundgren covered this on various releases of his live performances.
• The track was a popular choice for the 2007 Live Earth shows, being performed in London by Corrine Bailey Rae featuring John Legend and in New Jersey by Alicia Keys.
• Robert Randolph and the Family Band performed an impromptu cover of the song at Milwaukee's Summerfest music festival on June 27, 2010.
• Stevie Wonder covered the song at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concert. The performance featured John Legend

Personnel

• Lead and background vocals by Marvin Gaye
• Saxophone solo by "Wild" Bill Moore
• Piano played by Marvin Gaye
• Strings conducted by Paul Riser
• Other instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

References

1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 226. 
2. ^ Mercy Mercy Me, soultracks.com.

Preceded by "Hot Pants (Pt. 1)" by James Brown

Billboard's Hot Soul number one single August 14–21, 1971

Succeeded by "Spanish Harlem" by Aretha Franklin