YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 168 (It Hurts Me Too)
(Originally finalized on November 8, 2025)
Preface: I was scrounging around for the final track to my theme dedicated to wrong songs last quarter, and I very nearly picked a version of the blues standard It Hurts Me Too (popularized by King of the Slide Guitar, Elmore James) - because the chorus precedes the titular phrase with the words, "when things go wrong". Then I realized I had several versions of the song by different bands, and I figured I could dedicate a whole theme to it - like I've done with Rock Me Baby, Johnny B. Goode, and Good Morning Little Schoolgirl before.
Monday: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band [The Original Lost Elektra Sessions, 1964]
Comments: Just last week I featured another cover of a blues song by this band, from the very same sessions recorded prior to the release of their debut album. So I won't repeat myself. This version of the song highlights Michael Bloomfield's guitar work, along with singer Paul Butterfield's storied harmonica playing.
Tuesday: John Mayall's Bluesbreakers [released as a single, 1967]
Comments: Later collected on the retrospective album Looking Back in 1969, John Mayall recorded this version of the song with the Bluesbreakers - but not with Eric Clapton (we'll hear from him in a bit). Notwithstanding John Mayall's contributions as singer and on the piano, you could just as well have called the band Fleetwood Mac, since it consisted - on guitar, drums, and bass - of Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie!
Wednesday: Bob Dylan [Self Portrait, 1970]
Comments: This is without a doubt the most unexpected artist to appear this week, and the most unique version of the song we'll hear. It comes from an album cheekily titled Self Portrait, designed to confound the expectations that Bob Dylan felt constrained by, having been involuntarily cast as the voice of a generation so early in his career.
Thursday: Wet Willie [Wet Willie II, 1972]
Comments: Originating in Alabama and active in Georgia, Wet Willie never achieved the success of fellow Southern rock bands Lynyrd Skynyrd or The Allman Brothers. Their only real hit was Keep On Smilin' - which, to be fair, is a centerpiece of my inspirational music playlist. When I heard their version of It Hurts Me Too, I knew I had to include it this week.
Friday: The Rolling Stones [Jamming With Edward!, 1972]
Comments: The most surprising discovery for me this week was The Rolling Stones' version of the song - not because it isn't right up their alley, but because it comes from an obscure studio session the core band (minus Keith Richards) recorded with slide guitarist Ry Cooder (who is featured on Sister Morphine) and pianist Nicky Hopkins.
Saturday: Foghat [Stone Blue, 1978]
Comments: And we are brought back once again to Foghat's "blues album", Stone Blue. Bandmember Rod Price (who once replaced Paul Kossoff in a little known British blues band by the name of Black Cat Bones, when Kossoff left with drummer Simon Kirke to form Free), shows off his chops on the slide guitar, paying hearty tribute to Elmore James.
Sunday: Eric Clapton [From The Cradle, 1994]
Comments: Jumping ahead to the nineties, we'll finish with a track from Eric Clapton's blues album, which was something of a comeback (or return to form) for him in that decade. As I said when I introduced the album at the top of this quarter, my opinion as a fan of electric blues guitar is that, pound for pound, it's the best record Clapton ever recorded.