Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man

"Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man" is a moderate up-tempo whose lyrics centralize on a theme of economic injustice towards blue collar workers.

The instrumentation features various forms of percussion from Sam Bacco, including crotales, wobble board, spoons and a broom.{{cite AV media notes |title=T-R-O-U-B-L-E |others=Travis Tritt |year=1992 |type=cassette insert |publisher=Warner Bros. Records |id=45048}} Richard Bennett and Wendell Cox play guitar solos before the third verse, and Brooks & Dunn, T. Graham Brown, George Jones, Little Texas, Dana McVicker, Tanya Tucker and Porter Wagoner all sing background vocals on the final chorus.{{cite news |first=Jack |last=Hurst |title=Satellite show Travis Tritt to launch new album from Park West |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24342467.html?dids=24342467:24342467&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+13%2C+1992&author=Jack+Hurst%2C+Country+music+writer.&pub=Chicago+Tribune+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&desc=Satellite+show+Travis+Tritt+to+launch+new+album+from+Park+West&pqatl=google |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022085603/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24342467.html?dids=24342467:24342467&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+13,+1992&author=Jack+Hurst,+Country+music+writer.&pub=Chicago+Tribune+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Satellite+show+Travis+Tritt+to+launch+new+album+from+Park+West&pqatl=google |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 22, 2012 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=13 August 1992 |access-date=28 August 2009}}{{cite book|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|title=The Billboard Book of Top 40 Country Hits|publisher=Billboard Books|date=2006|edition=2|pages=353|isbn=0-8230-8291-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eKicir5sZr4C&q=%22dana+mcvicker&pg=PA353}}

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• Sam Bacco – bass drum, spoons, wobble board, broom
• Richard Bennett – acoustic guitar, slide guitar
• Mike Brignardello – bass guitar
• Brooks & Dunn – additional backing vocals on final chorus
• T. Graham Brown – additional backing vocals on final chorus
• Larry Byrom – acoustic guitar
• Wendell Cox – electric guitar
• Terry Crisp – pedal steel guitar, resonator guitar
• Stuart Duncan – fiddle
• George Jones – additional backing vocals on final chorus
• Little Texas – additional backing vocals on final chorus
• Dana McVicker – additional backing vocals on final chorus
• Matt Rollings – piano
• Jimmy Joe Ruggiere – harmonica
• Steve Turner – drums
• Billy Joe Walker Jr. – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• Travis Tritt – vocals
• Tanya Tucker – additional backing vocals on final chorus
• Porter Wagoner – additional backing vocals on final chorus
• Dennis Wilson – backing vocals
• Curtis Young – backing vocals

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Teresa M. Walker, in her review for the Gainesville Sun, said that with the assistance from superstars on the final chorus, the song "should shoot up the charts."{{cite news |first=Teresa M. |last=Walker |title=Travis Tritt's rockin' country |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SOgSAAAAIBAJ&pg=3990,1294166&dq=lord-have-mercy-on-the-working-man |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712075556/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SOgSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XeoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3990,1294166&dq=lord-have-mercy-on-the-working-man |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 July 2012 |work=Gainesville Sun |date=4 September 1992 |access-date=28 August 2009}} Dave Larsen of the Dayton Daily News cited it as one of the stronger tracks on the album, saying that the album "works best when Tritt sticks with the populist approach."{{cite news |first=Dave |last=Larsen |title=Recordings on review |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DDNB&p_theme=ddnb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0F50527C0B39112D&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |work=Dayton Daily News |date=18 September 1992 |access-date=28 August 2009}} Alanna Nash of Entertainment Weekly said of the song, "Tritt finds a solid image for his laborer's lament[…]But the melody is so slight that he resorts to an acoustic arrangement that evokes Jimmie Rodgers and the young Roy Acuff."{{cite magazine |last=Nash |first=Alanna |date=4 September 1992 |title=T-R-O-U-B-L-E in mind |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |url=https://ew.com/article/1992/09/04/t-r-o-u-b-l-e/ |access-date=28 August 2009}} Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard magazine gave the song a mixed review, saying that while the final chorus of song features famous country artists, it was too bad that the entire song isn't as strong as the last verse.Billboard, August 15, 1992

Jack Cole directed the song's music video. In the book Country Music Culture: From Hard Times to Heaven, Curtis W. Ellison wrote that the song's music video "confronted a litany of personal oppressions attributed to government policy" that coincided with Bill Clinton's presidential campaign.{{cite book |title=Country Music Culture: From Hard Times to Heaven |last=Ellison |first=Curtis W. |year=1995 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=0-87805-722-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780878057221/page/233 233] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780878057221 |url-access=registration |quote=lord have mercy on the working man. |access-date=28 August 2009}}

"Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man" spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs) charts in 1992, peaking at number 5 for the chart dated November 7. The song also reached number 10 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks charts.

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{{Travis Tritt singles}}

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Category:1992 singles

Category:Travis Tritt songs

Category:Songs written by Kostas (songwriter)

Category:Warner Records singles

Category:1992 songs