Every Little Bit Hurts

"Every Little Bit Hurts" was originally a 1964 hit single for Motown soul singer Brenda Holloway, written by Ed Cobb and featured on Holloway's album of the same name.^[2]

"Every Little Bit Hurts"
Single by Brenda Holloway
from the album Every Little Bit Hurts
B-side	"Land of a Thousand Boys"
Released	March 26, 1964
Recorded	1964
Genre	Pop-soul[1]
Length	3:17
Label	Tamla
Songwriter(s)	Ed Cobb
Producer(s)	Hal Davis, Marc Gordon
Brenda Holloway singles chronology
"Every Little Bit Hurts" (1964) "I'll Always Love You" (1964)

"Every Little Bit Hurts"
Single by Spencer Davis Group
from the album Their First LP
B-side	"It Hurts Me So"
Released	5 February 1965
Genre	Pop, rock
Label	Fontana Records
Songwriter(s)	Ed Cobb
Producer(s)	Chris Blackwell
Spencer Davis Group singles chronology
"I Can't Stand It" (1964) "Every Little Bit Hurts" (1965) "Strong Love" (1965)

Background

Though Brenda Holloway was against recording the song again (she had recorded it in 1962 for Del-Fi before signing with Motown), she reluctantly recorded the song^[3] and the label released it in the summer of 1964 on Tamla. "Every Little Bit Hurts" was a big hit peaking at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[4][5] and became one of Holloway's trademark singles.

Covers

• Aretha Franklin recorded the song on her 1964 album Runnin' Out of Fools
• The Spencer Davis Group version from their 1965 album Their First LP reached No. 41 on the UK singles chart in early 1965.^[6] and No. 9 in Canada in 1967.^[7]
• In 1968, Small Faces recorded the song and included on The BBC Sessions LP.
• Released in October 1976, it was covered by Graeme "Shirley" Strachan (lead singer of Skyhooks) as his debut solo release and peaked at No. 3 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Charts.^[8]
• British band The Clash recorded a cover of the song in 1980 for Sandinista!, but the track didn't make it onto the album. It was instead released in 1991 on the box set Clash on Broadway
• Etta James released the song on her collection How Strong is a Woman --- The Island Sessions in 1993.
• Petula Clark
• Gladys Knight & The Pips
• Cilla Black
• Bobby Rydell^[9]

Chart history

Brenda Holloway

Chart (1964)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[10]	13
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[11]	18

Spencer Davis Group

Chart (1965–67)	Peak position
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[7]	9
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[12]	2
UK Singles (OCC)[6]	41

Graeme "Shirley" Strachan

Weekly charts

Chart (1976-77)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8]	3

Year-end charts

Chart (1976)	Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[13]	37
Chart (1977)	Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[14]	74

Alicia Keys version

"Every Little Bit Hurts"
Single by Alicia Keys
from the album Unplugged
Released	January 17, 2006
Recorded	July 4, 2005
Studio	Brooklyn Academy of Music (New York, New York)
Genre	Soul
Length	4:01 (Album version) 3:58 (Radio edit)
Label	J
Songwriter(s)	Ed Cobb
Producer(s)	Alex Coletti
Alicia Keys singles chronology
"Don't Give Up (Africa)" (2005) "Every Little Bit Hurts" (2006) "Ghetto Story" (2006)
Music video
"Every Little Bit Hurts" on YouTube

"Every Little Bit Hurts" was included by American recording artist Alicia Keys on her live album, Unplugged (2005). It was released as the album's second and last single in 2006. It failed to enter the US and international charts.

Critical reception

Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine felt that Keys treated the song "like [a] vocal audition[...] and not the blank canvas[...] of an interpretive artist".^[15]

Music video

Directed by Justin Francis, the video premiered on January 17, 2006 on BET's 106 & Park.

Track listing

• US promotional CD single^[16]

1. "Every Little Bit Hurts" (Radio Edit) – 3:58
2. "Every Little Bit Hurts" (Call Out Hook) – 0:10
3. "Every Little Bit Hurts" (Radio Edit) (MP3 format) – 3:58