Eric Mercury- Electric Black Man

This month, we on the blog have been highlighting contributions to music from African Americans or in this case, African-Canadians.  I bought this at a record show for $3 from a Canadian chick.  It was a pretty up front cover and title.  At the time, I was greatly looking to diversify the records on the site and this title seemed to underscore this.

Eric Mercury is a Canadian singer/songwriter from Toronto, who gained some fame in the 60’s and 70’s.  Coming from a musical family, Mercury performed in several groups up North before going solo in the late 60’s and moving down south to the US of A.

He released a few albums as well as a few acting roles.  In the 80’s, he moved to more behind the scenes roles, such as producing and song writing.  I believe he is still alive today.

This was Mercury’s 1969 debut solo record. I believe it was his most popular effort as well.  It is kind of a soul/ rock and roll mix.  Four songs are written by Mercury.  There is also a cover of Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man”. The album is ok.  I think, given the title, I expected more out of it, perhaps more electric guitar. There is a lot, but I guess with the title, I was expecting the album to be drowning in it. Ah, subtlety. Never one to believe in this.  Anyway, despite this, the album does a great job of showcasing Mercury’s vocal talent, which I really enjoyed.

I really went back and forth with this album with liking it, not liking, etc.  Well, the last time I listened to it, I really liked it so I am going to stop there.  The opening track, “Long Way Down” is pretty cool with a nice fiddle part.  I also really liked “Night Lady” which I felt was finely arranged.  But for a sample, I decided to go with the title track.

Decent enough record and since he is Canadian, I am going to say Satisfactory.