For me, it depends on my mood. I was familiar with The Buckingham’s cover first and had always thought it was theirs. They turned the original instrumental version into a fun, light pop song that they made their own. I remember hearing it often as a child on the radio on 77 AM WABC for all those who are local to the NYC area. In 1967 when Mercy Mercy Mercy was released as a cover , it was the year that music morphed from the lighter, brighter sounds into the heavier, darker sounds like that of The Doors and Jimi Hendrix . This song feels like the earlier part of the 60s to me since it had that more innocent, non- psychedelic sound rather than what had started to emerge on FM stations like 102.7 WNEW.
There are times though , I feel The Cannonball Adderly version is perfect and should have never been touched. I know there are jazz purists out there that feel the same way but everything is open to interpretation. The original instrumental version can definitely take you somewhere in your own head and words are just a distraction.
The Buckinghams managed to get the song to #5 on the charts while original went to #2 on the Soul chart and #11 on Billboard. Some other fun facts about The Buckingham’s version is you will notice the Union Jack in the background of the stage. The producers thought the band was English because of their name and their look. Everyone was emulating The Beatles and the producers even went as far as to provide them with fish and chips backstage. The band was from Chicago and their name came from a fountain located in the city. So much for due diligence.
The soulful jazz version you may also recognize from the Martin Scorcese film Wolf Of Wall Street from last year.
Two very different versions of a great song, which do you think is best ? Click on the links above and watch the videos and judge for yourself.
