“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” is a jazz composition written by Joe Zawinul in 1966 for Cannonball Adderley. Recorded by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet for the live album Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at “The Club”, it became a surprise hit in February 1967, reaching No. 2 on the Soul chart and No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The original performance features Cannonball Adderley on alto saxophone, Nat Adderley on cornet, Zawinul on piano and electric piano, Victor Gaskin on bass, and Roy McCurdy on drums. Zawinul plays the theme on a Wurlitzer electric piano.
The tune is in B-flat major and has a 20-bar form divided into four sections. Its opening theme, stated twice, uses only notes of the tonic major pentatonic scale. Dominant seventh chords on I, IV and V give the harmony a bluesy character without following a standard blues progression. Later hit versions included recordings by Marlena Shaw and the Buckinghams, while the Buddy Rich Big Band recorded it live in 1968.
