Rolling Stones – Mercy, Mercy

“Mercy, Mercy” – Song by the Rolling Stones from the album Out of Our Heads
Released July 30, 1965 (US); September 24, 1965 (UK)
Recorded May 10, 1965
Studio Chess, Chicago
Songwriters Don Covay and Ronnie Miller
Producer Andrew Loog Oldham

Don Covay, the son of a preacher from South Carolina, began his musical journey singing with his family’s gospel group, the Cherry Keys. From there, he moved on to the Rainbows, where he occasionally performed alongside future legends like Marvin Gaye and Billy Stewart. Eventually, he became Little Richard’s chauffeur—a role that turned out to be pivotal in his career. The rock ’n’ roll icon is said to have encouraged Covay to try his hand at songwriting, a skill that would soon open doors for him in the music industry. Covay’s compositions became hits for artists like Chubby Checker, Solomon Burke, and Wilson Pickett, especially with tracks like I’m Gonna Cry (Cry Baby) which even marked Atlantic Records’ first big hit. Meanwhile, Ronald Dean Miller’s songwriting talent produced enduring classics that have been covered by icons such as Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Wilson Pickett.

In 1964, Don Covay scored his biggest hit as both a writer and performer with the song Mercy Mercy. The recording session, funded by New York disc jockey Nathaniel “Magnificent” Montague from WWRL and Atlantic Records co-founder Herb Abramson, took place in mid-May of that year at A-1 Recording Studio in New York. Covay recorded the track with a backing group called the Goodtimers, which notably featured a young, twenty-two-year-old guitarist named Jimi Hendrix. Released in August 1964 under the name Don Covay & the Goodtimers, Mercy Mercy quickly rose to success, reaching the top of the Cashbox R&B chart and hitting number 35 on the Billboard pop chart.

In their early days, The Rolling Stones often performed cover songs, focusing primarily on energetic renditions of R&B tracks by American artists. For a number of American fans, these Stones’ versions served as their first introduction to these classic songs. In Mercy Mercy a song of heartbreak and desperation, the singer expresses a deep sense of despair, willing to do anything to keep his love from walking away. Despite the anguish in the lyrics (I’m gonna make it to the nearest river, child, and jump overboard and drown) the upbeat melody adds a lightness that tempers the song’s emotional intensity.

The Rolling Stones recorded their interpretation of “Mercy, Mercy” during their early American recording sessions, when they were beginning to emerge from their blues- and R&B-cover band roots. Their first attempt came during their second session at the Chess Records studio in Chicago in November 1964. This version, which Malvinni calls “workmanlike”, remains unreleased. On their third Chess visit, they recorded the final version of the song. The session took place on May 10, 1965, with engineer Ron Malo.

Just For The Record is a comprehensive documentary commemorating the first 40 years of the Rolling Stones. Told by band members, fellow musicians, biographers and fans, Just For The Record features over 50 exclusive interviews, and spans a period of 40 years, from the beginning of the band in London in 1962, to their 2002 world tour Forty Licks.