Love Hurts

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"Love Hurts"
Song by the Everly Brothers
from the album A Date with the Everly Brothers
PublishedAugust 30, 1960 (1960-08-30) Acuff-Rose Publications, Inc. [1]
ReleasedOctober 1960
RecordedJuly 1960
Genre Country
Length2:22
Label Warner Bros. Nashville
Songwriter(s) Boudleaux Bryant
Audio video
"Love Hurts (2007 Remaster)" on YouTube

"Love Hurts" is a song written and composed by the American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by the Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is most well known in two hit versions by UK artists; by Scottish hard rock band Nazareth in 1974 and by English singer-songwriter Jim Capaldi in 1975.

Contents

Original version by the Everly Brothers

The song was introduced in October 1960 as an album track on A Date with the Everly Brothers but was never released as a single (A-side or B-side) by the Everlys. Due to a falling out with their manager and publisher Wesley Rose, they were prevented from issuing it as a single, though it had been meant for them. It was after the quarrel was settled in 1964 that they rerecorded it for the 1965 album Rock 'n' Soul .


Roy Orbison version

"Love Hurts"
RoyOrbisonRunningScared.jpg
US picture sleeve
Single by Roy Orbison
from the album Crying
A-side "Running Scared"
ReleasedMarch 1961
RecordedFebruary 27, 1961 [2]
Studio RCA Victor Studio B, Nashville [2]
Genre Pop
Length2:26
Label Monument
Songwriter(s) Boudleaux Bryant
Producer(s) Fred Foster
Audio video
"Love Hurts" on YouTube

Roy Orbison covered "Love Hurts" in 1961 and issued it as the B-side to "Running Scared." While "Running Scared" was an international hit, the B-side only picked up significant airplay in Australia. Consequently, chart figures for Australia show "Running Scared"/"Love Hurts" as a double A-Side, both sides peaking at No. 5. This makes Orbison's recording of "Love Hurts" the first version to be a hit.

Chart (1961)Peak
position
Australia5


Gram Parsons version

Gram Parsons performed the song in harmony with Emmylou Harris on his posthumously released 1974 album Grievous Angel. Harris has continued to perform the song throughout her career.

Nazareth version

"Love Hurts"
Nazareth Love Hurts.png
Netherlands single sleeve
Single by Nazareth
from the album Hair of the Dog
B-side
ReleasedNovember 8, 1974
Genre
Length3:53
3:03 (U.S. single)
Label
Songwriter(s) Boudleaux Bryant
Producer(s) Manny Charlton
Nazareth singles chronology
"This Flight Tonight"
(1973)
"Love Hurts"
(1974)
"Shanghai'd in Shanghai"
(1974)
Audio video
"Love Hurts (Single Edit)" on YouTube

Performed as a power ballad, [4] the Nazareth version is the most popular version of the song and the only rendition of "Love Hurts" to become a hit single in the United States, reaching No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1976. Billboard ranked it as the No. 23 song for 1976. [5] As part of the "Hot Tracks (EP)" it also reached No. 15 in the UK in 1977. [6] Nazareth's version was an international hit, peaking at No. 1 in Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa and Norway. The Nazareth single was so successful in Norway that it charted for 61 weeks on the Norwegian charts (VG-lista Top 10), including 14 weeks at No. 1, making it the top single of all time in that country. [7]

A later recording by Nazareth, featuring the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, peaked at No. 89 in Germany.

The lyrics of the song were changed for Nazareth's 1975 album, where the original line "love is like a stove/it burns you when it's hot" was changed to "love is like a flame/it burns you when it's hot".

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (1975–1977)Peak
position
Argentina [8] 3
Australian Singles (Kent Music Report) [9] 8
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [10] 11
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [11] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [12] 28
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [13] 1
Germany (Official German Charts) [14] 30
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [15] 1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [16] 4
Norway (VG-lista) [17] 1
South Africa (Springbok Radio) [18] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [19] 6
UK Singles (OCC) [20] 41
US Billboard Hot 100 [21] 8

Year-end charts

In media

Nazareth's version was used in an advertisement for Esurance, [26] and also in a series of advertisements by Zurich. [27] The song was featured in Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween. [28] A cover of the song by Canadian singer Nan Vernon was featured in the credits of its sequel, Halloween II. [29]

Jim Capaldi version

"Love Hurts"
Jim Capaldi Love Hurts.png
Single by Jim Capaldi
from the album Short Cut Draw Blood
B-side "Sugar Honey"
ReleasedNovember 1975 (November 1975)
Recorded1975
Genre Pop
Length3:29
Label Island
Songwriter(s) Boudleaux Bryant
Producer(s) Steve Smith
Jim Capaldi singles chronology
"It's All Up to You"
(1974)
"Love Hurts"
(1975)
"Goodbye Love"
(1976)
Audio video
"Love Hurts" on YouTube

Jim Capaldi reached number 4 in the UK charts with his interpretation of "Love Hurts" in November 1975, which was to prove his highest-charting UK single. [30] Described by Rolling Stone as having "a sense of pain very different from Roy Orbison's." [31] the single also charted in the US, [32] Germany, [33] and Sweden. [34]

Weekly charts

Chart (1975–76)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [35] 6
Canada RPM Top Singles [36] 15
Germany42
Ireland (IRMA) [37] 8
South Africa (Springbok) [38] 13
Sweden16
UK4
US97

Year-end charts

Chart (1976)Position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [22] 31
Canada RPM [39] 137

Cher version

"Love Hurts"
Cher Love Hurts single.jpg
Single by Cher
from the album Love Hurts
B-side "One Small Step"
ReleasedNovember 25, 1991 (1991-11-25) [40]
Length4:07
Label Geffen
Songwriter(s) Boudleaux Bryant
Producer(s) Richie Zito
Cher singles chronology
"Save Up All Your Tears"
(1991)
"Love Hurts"
(1991)
"Could've Been You"
(1992)
Audio video
"Love Hurts" on YouTube

American singer Cher recorded her first version in 1975 for the album Stars but did not release this version as a single. She later recorded a second version in 1991 for her album of the same name. This version was a cover of Nazareth's version. The single became a minor hit in the UK in December 1991.

Track listings

  1. "Love Hurts" – 4:19
  2. "One Small Step" – 3:27
  1. "Love Hurts" – 4:19
  2. "One Small Step" – 3:27
  3. "Just Like Jesse James" – 4:06

Charts

Chart (1991)Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC) [41] 43

See also

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