THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
611) Mercy — “Fire Ball”
A horrible ‘69 A-side — treacly pop that reached #2 on the charts, paired with a sensational B-side — one of the best garage-y rock instrumentals of the ‘60’s. WTF? As EastCoastDude says, “Seriously, this is the same Mercy who did “Love (Can Make You Happy)”? Holy Cow! That was one of the great pop ballads of the ’60’s, and mellow as can be, and this is the same band? Wow. Amazing!” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87XUhR4BHRc)
Mike B tells us that the “song is actually [by] Mercy guitarist, Ronnie Caudill. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HawzQe4HlVs)
As to Mercy, Wikipedia says:
Mercy is an American pop group from Florida. The group’s 1969 single “Love (Can Make You Happy)” . . . soared to No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart . . . . [selling] over one million copies by July 15 . . . . The track was originally released on the small Tampa, Florida-based Sundi record label . . . . The B-side of the Sundi single was entitled “Fire Ball”. During the single’s rapid rise in the charts, an album was released by a group calling themselves “The Mercy” (with a cover showing three girls), that included the Sundi recording, as well as several other songs that were not recorded by any of the original Mercy members. Litigation quickly ensued and the Sundi album was banned from distribution. The song was re-recorded on the Warner Brothers label, with the addition of new band members, and included on the Warner Brothers album, Love Can Make You Happy, which peaked at No. 38 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Mercy had one other Billboard Hot 100 hit, the song “Forever” which reached No. 79 in June 1969.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy_%28band%29
Mercy, mercy me!
OK, here is the original hit version of Love (Can Make You Happy):
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