Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

It was about 1969 when my high school stage band played our first contest, in Vancouver, WA. We did the Quincy Jones arrangement of "One Mint Julep" that had been recorded by Ray Charles. We had no idea where the chart had come from, of course.

Oddly enough, several bands were playing an arrangement of a stupid song I had been hearing on the radio. I had never heard of the Cannonball Adderley recording or the Phil Wilson arrangement done by Buddy Rich, the Nancy Wilson vocal (lyrics by Gail Fisher - Mannix's secretary), or any of the other many versions of Joe Zawinul's "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" that were being released at the time. I was only aware of the Buckinghams' record. I wasn't exactly impressed with the song. So why was this chart so popular with high school bands that year?

Well, it turned out that the Phil Wilson score had been published in a magazine. Any band director with a pencil and some manuscript paper could copy parts out and have a free chart for their band - and a professional chart at that! Arrangements by the pros weren't nearly as easy to come by at that time.

Eventually I managed to get a copy for myself, and I'm happy to share it with you here.

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