B-side "Eclipse of the Sun" Recorded 1948 | Released 1949 Label Down Town | |
Writer(s) K. C. Douglas, Robert Geddins | ||
"Mercury Blues" is a song written by K. C. Douglas and Robert Geddins, and first recorded by Douglas in 1948. The song, originally titled "Mercury Boogie," pays homage to the American automobile, which ended production in 2010.
Contents
The song has been covered among others by the Steve Miller Band (1967, at The Monterey International Pop Festival, and 1976, on their album, Fly Like an Eagle), David Lindley (1981), the Finn Pave Maijanen (1987), Alan Jackson (1993), Meat Loaf (2003) and Dwight Yoakam (2004). Maijanen's version in Finnish is named "Pakko saada BMW" (meaning Gotta have a BMW), but Maijanen has performed the song as "Mercury Blues" live as well. Lindley's version, from his 1981 album El Rayo-X, peaked at number 34 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Meat Loaf's version appears as a hidden track at the end of his 2003 album Couldn't Have Said It Better. Dwight Yoakam's version appears on his 2002 boxed set, Reprise Please, Baby, and later on his 2004 compilation album, Dwight's Used Records. More recently, a lively, truly blues version appeared on Jackson Browne's "Love Is Strange" (2010), backed by David Lindley.
Rights to the song were purchased by the Ford Motor Company (who already owned the Mercury marque). Ford, in turn, used it for a television commercial featuring Alan Jackson singing his version of the song with the word "Mercury" replaced by the words "Ford Truck."
Alan Jackson version
American country music singer Alan Jackson recorded the song for his album, A Lot About Livin' (And a Little 'Bout Love). It was released in September 1993 as the fourth single from the album. His version of the song peaked at number 2 on both the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) chart and the RPM Country Tracks in Canada.
Critical reception
Kevin John Coryne of Country Universe gave the song a B grade, calling it "a throwaway track that ended up being a pretty big hit." He went on to say that it "might be the least essential Jackson hit of its era."
Music video
The music video was directed by Piers Plowden and premiered in mid-1993. Keith Urban makes an appearance in the video as a guitar player.
In popular culture
His rendition was used by the Ford Motor Company for Ford pickup truck commercials, changing the line "crazy 'bout a Mercury" to "crazy 'bout a Ford truck." Jackson performed the original "Mercury" version of the song live "in-studio" on an episode of the hit ABC sitcom Home Improvement in 1996. The David Lindley version appeared on the "Florence Italy" episode of Miami Vice on February 14, 1986.