Summary

A Buddy Rich Big Band album titled 'Mercy, Mercy'. It consists of a vinyl record in its original paper and plastic sleeve within the album cover. It was recorded live at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and distributed in London in 1968. Lindsay and Sylvia Motherwell both enjoyed a variety of music, from jazz to musicals.

Sylvia Boyes (a South African-born orphan) and Lindsay Motherwell (a Melbourne-born drummer) met in Cape Town, South Africa in 1967 through their theatre connections. They fell in love but due to apartheid laws were forced to leave South Africa to marry in London. They subsequently relocated permanently to Melbourne in 1970.

Physical Description

A 12" record in its original paper and plastic sleeve within a cardboard album cover. The front cover is a photo of Buddy Rich in front of a wall of psychadelic posters. The title "Mercy, Mercy" and artist "THE BUDDY RICH BIG BAND", as well as the by-line "Recorded live at Caesars Palace" is all top centre. In the top right-hand corner is the Liberty Records logo. The back of the cover has a white background, a list of songs on each side of the record, a credits list of those who were involved in making the record, and a long blurb about Buddy Rich and the album itself.

Significance

Statement of Historical Significance:
This collection provides a significant opportunity to represent political and personal freedom as a motivation for migrating to Australia within the international context of both apartheid in South Africa and the end of the White Australia policy in Australia. The personal narrative is well documented and the objects provide a material way to follow the lives of both Lindsay and Sylvia, both separately and where they coincide in South Africa and onwards together to Melbourne. While this is ultimately a love story, it plays out through the collection against the backdrop of apartheid South Africa, sixties London and an increasingly multicultural Australia.

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