Contents

Every Little Bit Hurts

1964 single written by Ed Cobb

"Every Little Bit Hurts"
SinglebyBrenda Holloway
from the album Every Little Bit Hurts
B-side	"Land of a Thousand Boys"
Released	March 26, 1964
Recorded	1964
Genre	Soul
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" was originally a 1964 hit single for Motown soul singer Brenda Holloway, written by Ed Cobb.^[1]

Background[edit]

Though she was against recording the song again (she recorded it a couple of years before signing with Motown), she reluctantly recorded the song ^{[citation needed]} and the label released it in the summer of the year. "Every Little Bit Hurts" was a big hit peaking at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[2][3] and became one of Holloway's trademark singles.

Covers[edit]

• The Spencer Davis Group version reached No. 41 in the UK in early 1965.^[4] and No. 9 in Canada in 1967.^[5]
• 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.^[6]
• 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.

Chart history[edit]

Brenda Holloway

Spencer Davis Group

Graeme "Shirley" Strachan

Weekly charts[edit]

Year-end charts[edit]

Alicia Keys version[edit]

"Every Little Bit Hurts"
SinglebyAlicia 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"onYouTube

"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[edit]

Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine felt that Keys treated the song "like [a] vocal audition[...] and not the blank canvas[...] of an interpretive artist".^[12]

Music video[edit]

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

Track listing[edit]

• US promotional CD single^[13]

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

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Every Little Bit HurtsatDiscogs (list of releases)