"Mercy Mercy Me/I Want You"
A cover of two Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me" and "I Want You" singles
Song Writers: "
Mercy Mercy Me" (
Marvin Gaye) / "
I Want You" (
Arthur "T-Boy" Ross,
Leon Ware)
Album :
"Don't Explain" (1990)
"
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.
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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.
"I Want You" is the thirteenth
studio album by American
soul musician
Marvin Gaye, released March 16, 1976, on Motown-subsidiary label
Tamla Records. Recording sessions for the album took place throughout 1975 and 1976 at Motown Recording Studios, also known as
Hitsville West, and Gaye's personal studio
Marvin's Room in
Los Angeles, California. The album has often been noted by critics for producer
Leon Ware's exotic, low-key production and the erotic, sexual themes in his and Gaye's songwriting. The album's cover artwork adapts neo-mannerist artist
Ernie Barnes's famous painting
The Sugar Shack (1971).
I Want You consisted of Marvin Gaye's first recorded studio material since his highly successful and well-received album
Let's Get It On (1973). While it marked a change in musical direction for Gaye, departing from his trademark Motown and
doo-wop-influenced sound for funky, light-
disco soul, the album maintained and expanded on his previous work's sexual themes. Following an initial mixed response from critics,
I Want You has earned retrospective recognition from writers and music critics as one of Gaye's most controversial works and influential to such musical styles as disco,
quiet storm,
R&B, and
neo soul.