Were there two classier singer-songwriters than Marvin Gaye and Robert Palmer? In 1971, Marvin Gaye released his legendary album 'What's Going On', and released the memorable 'Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)' as the second single in June of that year. The song relates to Marvin's sad views of how we as humans have dealt with the environment, and has proven a popular song to cover, especially today-see Corinne Bailey Rae and Alicia Keys performing the song at Live Earth in 2007. It stormed the charts in the US, reaching number 4 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart and number 1 on the R&B Singles Chart.
The other Marvin Song in this double-cover, 'I Want You', was released in April of 1976 from the album of the same name. The song is considered one of Gaye's most romantic songs, and reached number 15 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart and number 1 on the R&B Singles Chart, just as 'Mercy Mercy Me' did.
Robert Palmer cut a cover version that combined both of these singles, released in 1991 after including it on his extra-long 1990 album 'Don't Explain'. It reached number 9 in the UK Singles Chart, as well as number 16 in the US Singles Chart. Not too shabby.
Comments