Marvin Gaye: "Mercy Mercy Me" 🎶🎵🎼🎹🎤 August 14, 1971: "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" by Marvin Gaye hits #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart for 2 weeks, also peaking at #4 on the Hot 100 on August 21, 1971. Written and produced by Marvin Gaye, it is the sixth chart topping single for the Motown icon. The basic track for "Mercy Mercy Me" is recorded at Motown's Studio A in Detroit in March of 1971, with Gaye on piano and mellotron, Chet Forest (drums), Bob Babbitt (bass), Robert White, Joe