"Love Without Mercy" is a song written by Don Pfrimmer and
Mike Reid. It was originally recorded by
The Oak Ridge Boys
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet originating in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel during the 1950s. Their name was change ...
for their 1987 album ''
Heartbeat'', and later by Reid on his album ''
Twilight Town''. The Oak Ridge Boys' version was the
B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
of their 1988 single "
True Heart
''True Heart'' is a 1997 American adventure film directed by Catherine Cyran and starring Kirsten Dunst as Bonnie and Zachery Ty Bryan as Sam.
Plot summary
''True Heart'' tells the story of a brother and sister who survive a plane crash that kill ...
".
[Whitburn, p. 303]
It was later recorded by American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
singer
Lee Roy Parnell
Lee Roy Parnell (born December 21, 1956) is an American country music and blues artist, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Active since 1990, he has recorded eight studio albums, and has charted more than twenty singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot C ...
. It was released in September 1992 as the third single from, and title track to, his 1992 album ''
Love Without Mercy
''Love Without Mercy'' is the second studio album by American country music singer Lee Roy Parnell. It was released in 1992 on Arista Records. The album includes the singles "The Rock", "What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am", "Tender Moment" and ...
''. The song spent 20 weeks on the
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...
charts, peaking at number eight in early 1993.
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on '' Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and t ...
released a version on her 1998 album ''Thinkin' About You''.
Music video
The music video was directed by
John Lloyd Miller
John Lloyd Miller is an American filmmaker who has directed, produced and/or written music videos, short films, features, documentaries, commercials and television programming.
Career
Miller has worked in virtually every aspect of the film an ...
and premiered in September 1992.
Chart performance
"Love Without Mercy" debuted at number 68 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of October 3, 1992.
References
1992 singles
The Oak Ridge Boys songs
Lee Roy Parnell songs
Mike Reid (singer) songs
Rita Coolidge songs
Songs written by Mike Reid (singer)
Song recordings produced by Barry Beckett
Song recordings produced by Scott Hendricks
Arista Nashville singles
Music videos directed by John Lloyd Miller
Songs written by Don Pfrimmer
1987 songs
{{1992-country-song-stub