Have Mercy! is the second album by the American band Michael Hill's Blues Mob, released in 1996.[1][2] The band supported it with North American and Australian tours.[3][4]
The album was produced by Hill, Bruce Iglauer, Brian Young, and Kevin Hill.[5] Hill wrote 13 of the album's songs.[6] He was backed by keyboardist E. J. Sharpe, drummer Tony Lewis, and bassist Kevin Hill.[7] Hill was inspired chiefly by the music of Jimi Hendrix.[8] Many of the songs are about the Black experience in America, with Hill's lyrics influenced by the works of James Baldwin and Toni Morrison.[9] "Women Make the World Go 'Round" is a response to the many blues songs about men who think women have done them wrong.[10] "Grandmother's Blues" is about an older woman killed by law enforcement.[11] "Stagolee/Perspective" is an interpretation of the Stagger Lee story.[12] "Rest in Peace" is an instrumental.[13] "She's Gone" is a cover of the Hound Dog Taylor song.[14]
The New York Daily News called Hill "an axe man who grinds through electric blues, hard rock, funk and reggae".[16]Guitar Player said that Hill "takes chances, stretching boundaries with supple, supercharged solos and socially conscious lyrics."[20] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette labeled the album "urban blues with a passionate social conscience framed by [Hill's] hard-edged guitar."[18]The Blade stated that Hill's "guitar solos set the fretboard ablaze in displays of both speed and intensity; his vocals have an appropriately emotional quality as he addresses topical themes"; the paper later included the album on its list of the 25 best albums of 1996.[21][22] The North County Times praised "the jazz-influenced 'Let's Talk About the Weather'."[17]
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