Julius W. "Jimmy" Mullins (March 12, 1930 – September 10, 1977), who performed and recorded as Mercy Baby, was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

musician. A drummer, singer and songwriter, he recorded in the late 1950s. He was born near Rawls Springs,

Forrest County, Mississippi Forrest County is located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 74,934. Its county seat and largest city is Hattiesburg. The county was created from Perry County in 1908 and named in honor of Nathan Bedfor ...

, Bob L. Eagle, Eric S. LeBlanc, ''Blues: A Regional Experience'', ABC-CLIO, 2013, p.118
/ref> the son of Jessie and Jeff Mullins, a nightwatchman. Death certificate, from Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982, ''Ancestry.com''
/ref> By about 1948 he was living in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. He first recorded as a drummer on guitarist and singer

Frankie Lee Sims Frankie Lee Sims (April 30, 1917, New Orleans, Louisiana – May 10, 1970, Dallas, Texas) was an American singer-songwriter and electric blues guitarist. He released nine singles during his career, one of which, "Lucy Mae Blues" (1953), was a re ...

' 1957 record, "What Will Lucy Do?", for Ace Records. He continued to perform as a member of Sims' band,J C Marion, "Some Texas Blues : Frankie Lee Sims and Mercy Baby", 2007
Retrieved 18 May 2014 and recorded with him until at least 1960.
Retrieved 18 May 2014 Using the name Mercy Baby, he released two singles, "Marked Deck" and "Silly Dilly Woman", on the Ace label in 1957, both featuring Sims on guitar, followed by a 1958 single, "Pleadin'", on the Ric label. Frankie Lee Sims discography at WangDangDula.com
Retrieved 18 May 2014 He performed with Sims at

Al Benson Arthur Bernard Leaner (June 30, 1908 – September 6, 1978), who was known professionally as Al Benson, was an American radio DJ, music promoter and record label owner in Chicago between the 1940s and 1960s. He was particularly significan ...

's rock and roll show in Chicago in November 1957, on a bill with

Big Maybelle Mabel Louise Smith (May 1, 1924 – January 23, 1972), known professionally as Big Maybelle, was an American R&B singer. Her 1956 hit single " Candy" received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999. Childhood and musical background Born in J ...

Screamin' Jay Hawkins Jalacy J. "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins (July 18, 1929 – February 12, 2000) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer, and boxer. Famed chiefly for his powerful, operatic vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of s ...

The Dells The Dells were an American R&B vocal group. Formed in high school in 1953 by founding members Marvin Junior, Verne Allison, Johnny Funches, Chuck Barksdale, and Michael and Lucius McGill, under the name the El-Rays. They released their first r ...

and others. His final recordings, "Love's Voodoo" in 1958 and "the Rock and Stomp" in 1959, were released on his own label in Dallas. He was married, and at the end of his life worked in property maintenance. He died in Dallas, aged 47, in the early hours of September 10, 1977, as a result of a gunshot wound to the neck received during an altercation, and was buried in Carver Memorial Park.

Discography

* "Marked Deck" / "Rock n' Roll Baby" (Ace 528, 1957) * "Silly Dilly Woman" / "Mercy's Blues" (Ace 535, 1957) * "Pleadin'" / "Don't Lie To Me" (Ric 955, 1958) * "Love's Voodoo" / "You Ran Away" (Mercy Baby 501, 1958) * "The Rock and Stomp" / "So Lonesome" (Mercy Baby 502, 1959) * "I Tried It" / "I Messed Up" (P&P 105, 1965)

References

External links

1976 phone interview with Mercy Baby on KCLE 99 FM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercy Baby 1930 births 1977 deaths People from Forrest County, Mississippi American blues singers African-American drummers 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American male singers