Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
| "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" is a song written by Joe Zawinul in 1966 for Julian "Cannonball" Adderley and his album Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at 'The Club'. The song is the title track of the album and became a surprise[citation needed] hit, reaching #11 on the Billboard charts in Feb. 1967. The song has been re-recorded numerous times, occasionally with added lyrics. It has now become a jazz standard performed by both beginning and advanced jazz musicians.
The theme of the song on the original recording is performed by Joe Zawinul himself playing it on a Wurlitzer electric piano previously used by Ray Charles.[1]
Theme
The first part of the theme is played two times and is completely made of notes from the major pentatonic scale of the first degree.
Structure and chord progression
The song has a rather unusual 20 bar structure. The chord progression is mainly made of dominant seventh chords on the first, fourth and fifth degree, giving the whole song a blues feeling, although it is not a typical blues progression.
References
- ^ Keyboards (german keyboard magazine), 06/2007 http://www.keyboards.de.
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