Back in the 60s there was a time when all genres appeared together on the pop charts. You might listen to an instrumental by Hugh Masekela and then a tune from The Beatles. Maybe something from Smokey Robinson and the Miracles followed by a song like “Mercy,Mercy, Mercy” from Cannonball Adderley. I loved to hear all kinds of music from the radio. So I often think fondly on those days. They were days for someone with ADHD.
Anyway, I’m thinking about those days more today because September 15th is the birthday of Julian “Cannonball” Adderley. Adderley was born in 1928 and left us way too soon in 1975. Here’s a little background information about Cannonball.
from Wikipedia about Cannonball…
Julian Edwin “Cannonball” Adderley
Julian Edwin “Cannonball” Adderley was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bopera of the 1950s and 1960s.
Adderley is remembered for his 1966 soul jazz single “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”, written by Joe Zawinul. It was also a major crossover hit on the pop charts (it was covered by the Buckinghams).
He worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, on his own 1958 Somethin’ Else album, and on the seminal Davis records Milestones (1958) and Kind of Blue(1959). He was the elder brother of jazz trumpeter Nat Adderley, who was a longtime member of his band.
“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” became a surprise hit. It rose to #2 on the Soul chart and #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Read More
Additionally, you can read more about Cannonball Adderley here at All About Jazz
Here’s “Mercy,Mercy,Mercy”…..
“Mercy Now” Mary Gauthier
Many times, when my ADD brain hear’s a word or phrase it goes flying off and connects that word with something else. In this case, hearing the word Mercy immediately connected me with the song “Mercy Now”. Isn’t that where everyone’s thoughts flew? Now I’m sure many of you are thinking “who the hell is Mary Gauthier?” Now, why is her name pronounced Go-Shay, is my question’
From Wikipedia….
Gauthier was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Born to a mother she never knew and relinquished in St Vincent’s Women and Infants Asylum, Gauthier was adopted when she was about a year old by an Catholic couple from Thibodaux, Louisiana.
Struggling to deal with being adopted she used drugs and alcohol. At age 15, she ran away from home, and spent the next several years in drug rehabilitation halfway house and living with friends; she spent her 18th birthday in a jail cell.
These experiences provided fodder for her songwriting later on. Spurred on by friends, she enrolled at Louisiana State University as a philosophy major, dropping out during her senior year. After attending the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, she opened a Cajun restaurant in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, Dixie Kitchen (also the title of her first album) Mary ran, and cooked at, the restaurant for eleven years. She was arrested for drunk driving opening night, July 12, 1990, and has been sober ever since.
After achieving sobriety, she was driven to dedicate herself full-time to songwriting, and embarked upon a career in music. She wrote her first song at age 35. Read More
From Mary’s Website….
…. The title track, “Mercy Now,” was named “One of The Saddest 40 Country Songs of All Time” by Rolling Stone Magazine in 2014, and continues to be my most streamed and requested song.
“Mercy Now” has been covered by Kathy Mattea, Bobby Bare, Candi Staton, and Mike Farris, whose album “Shine for All the People” won a GRAMMY for Best Roots Gospel Album.Read More
Here’s Mary performing “Mercy Now” Thinking about it after all the US has been going through we could all use a little “Mercy Now”
And Now for Something Completely Different
So in true ADD fashion seeing Thibodeaux, Louisiana in the biography of Mary Gauthier sent my mind and me to my Family Tree at Ancestry.
See my one of my great great grandmother’s maiden name was Parezo, which was originally Pariseau and I have several DNA ancestors who have a Thibodeaux ancestor or an ancestor born in Thibodeaux, La. But I still don’t have a connection between the family lines! I got some work to do now!
