"Have Mercy Baby" is a popular

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

song, written by Billy Ward and Rose Marks, recorded by

The Dominoes Billy Ward and his Dominoes were an American R&B vocal group. One of the most successful R&B groups of the early 1950s, the Dominoes helped launch the singing careers of two notable members, Clyde McPhatter and Jackie Wilson. Early life B ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, produced by Ralph Bass, and released by Federal Records in 1952. It was Number One on the R&B Charts for ten non consecutive weeks.

Description

Clyde McPhatter's roots were in the black church. The song is essentially the gospel song "Have Mercy, Jesus" sung in the

call-and-response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

style of a gospel quartet, although it is in the straight

twelve-bar blues The twelve-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly ba ...

form that gospel singers disdained. In the first chorus McPhatter simply follows the melody, but subsequently he freely improvises in the gospel style with short but spectacular

melisma Melisma (, , ; from , plural: ''melismata''), informally known as a vocal run and sometimes interchanged with the term roulade, is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in ...

s, stringing out phrases to overlap the backup singers responses, interjecting screams and ''yeahs'', shouting a gospel

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

. The backup band lays down the rhythm and provides the expected tenor sax solo. “Have Mercy Baby” would be the final Dominoes recording to feature original bass singer, Bill Brown on background vocals. After which, Brown would help found The Checkers (American band).

Impact

The Dominoes' version of "Have Mercy Baby" was the definitive rhythm and gospel record. Influenced by the group's lead singer

Clyde McPhatter Clyde Lensley McPhatter (November 15, 1932 – June 13, 1972) was an American rhythm and blues, soul, and rock and roll singer. He was one of the most widely imitated R&B singers of the 1950s and early 1960sPalmer, Robert (1981)"Roy Brown, a Pio ...

, its importance lies in that it was the first popular R&B recording highlighting passionate black

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

features.

Cover versions

Other significant recordings of the song were made by: * The Bobbettes (1960), whose version went to #66 on the Hot 100. *

The Rivingtons The Rivingtons were a 1960s doo-wop band, known for their 1962 novelty hit "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow". The members were lead vocalist Carl White (June 21, 1932 – January 7, 1980), tenor Al Frazier (died November 13, 2005), baritone Sonny Harris an ...

(1962) *

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

(1964), whose version charted #92 Pop.White, Cliff (1991). "Discography". In ''Star Time'' (pp. 54–59) D booklet New York: PolyGram Records.

References

Billy Ward and his Dominoes songs Songs written by Billy Ward (singer) Songs written by Rose Marks 1952 singles 1965 singles James Brown songs 1952 songs Federal Records singles King Records (United States) singles {{1950s-R&B-song-stub