Aired on Treasure Island Oldies – Jan 28, 2024
Boudleaux and Felice Bryant were one the first husband and wife teams in Nashville to make a full-time career from songwriting.
In 1957, they had the good fortune to connect with the Everly Brothers who became their biggest outlet for their songs. In addition to supplying the Everly’s with their first hit, “Bye, Bye Love,” they would go on to be the brother duo’s main source of material through the early 1960s.
All told, the Bryant’s wrote twenty-nine songs for the Everly Brothers; twelve of them were hits, including “Wake Up, Little Susie,” “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” and “Devoted To You.”
In 1960 a Bryant composition that appeared on the first Everly Brothers album, “A Date With The Everly Brothers,” failed to be released as a single due to a falling out with the brother’s manager and publisher, Wesley Rose. But that didn’t stop other artists from doing so …
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In March 1961 Roy Orbison released his cover version of the song as the B-side of “Running Scared,” a song which would hit the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 5th.
“Running Scared” became an international hit and was so impactful that the B-side only received significant airplay in Australia. In fact, both “Running Scared” and its B-side went to #5 on the Australian charts making the 45 a double-sided hit.
But that was just the beginning of this “B-side’s journey,” as it would be covered by artists such as Cher (1975 & 1991), Jennifer Warns (1976), Don McLean (1981), Joan Jett (1990), Heart (1995), and even Pat Boone (1997).
After the death of Gram Parsons in 1973, Emmylou Harris has made the song a staple of her repertoire and continues to include it in her concert setlists. Harris has also recorded the song.
However, the most popular version of the song and the only version to make it onto the Billboard Hot 100, was that released by a hard rock band from Scotland. Initially released by the band in 1974, it soared to #8 on Billboard in early 1976.
It was also an international hit as well, peaking at No. 1 in Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, and Norway. The single was so successful in Norway that it charted for 61 weeks on the Norwegian charts, making it the top single of all time in that country.
This most popular version has been described as a power ballad which becomes pretty evident when you hear Nazareth sing, “Love Hurts,” this week’s Tom Locke moment in time.
YouTube video of this song:
Everly Brothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a_7kk13Mkg
Roy Orbison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_J9aC7HM3k
Nazareth
