Every Day I Have the Blues

"Nobody Loves Me"
Single by Memphis Slim
A-side	"Angel Child"
Released	October 1949 (1949-10)
Format	10" 78 rpm record
Recorded	October 10, 1947 (1947-10-10)
Genre	Blues
Length	2:32
Label	Miracle (Cat. no. 145)
Memphis Slim singles chronology
"Help Me Some" (1949) "Nobody Loves Me" (1949) "Mother Earth" (1951)

"Every Day I Have the Blues" or "Everyday I Have the Blues" is a classic of the blues that has been recorded by numerous artists.^[1] The song is usually credited to Peter Chatman (also known as Memphis Slim) and is often associated with jazz singer Joe Williams and B.B. King. "Every Day I Have the Blues" has been a Billboard R&B chart Top-Ten hit single four times and has received two Grammy Hall of Fame Awards.

Early versions

In 1949, the song was released as the B-side to the "Angel Child" single by blues pianist Memphis Slim and first titled "Nobody Loves Me" (an earlier "Everyday I Have the Blues" with different lyrics and vocal line was recorded by the Sparks Brothers in 1935).^[2] The opening lines to the song are "Every day I have the blues", with the second section containing:

Nobody loves me, nobody seems to care (2X)

Speakin' of bad luck people, you know I had my share

Although the A-side was a hit for Slim,"Nobody Loves Me" did not enter the chart.^[3] However, Slim did not seem to care; his composer royalties from the later hits "were sufficient to buy a Rolls Royce with which to squire himself around Paris".^[4]

Lowell Fulson with Lloyd Glenn recorded a version of "Everyday I Have the Blues" in 1949. His version was the first to become a hit and spent twenty-three weeks in the Billboard R&B chart, where it reached #3 in 1950.^[5] Fulson's "slow grooving" version, with sax and guitar solos, influenced B.B. King's approach.^[6]

Jazz singer Joe Williams had hits with two different recordings of the song. The first version, recorded with the King Kolax Orchestra in 1952, reached #8 in the R&B chart (Checker 762).^[7] In 1955 in New York, he recorded a second and perhaps the most famous version of the song with the Count Basie Orchestra, titled "Every Day" (Clef 89149). It featured a big band arrangement and spent twenty weeks in the R&B chart, where it reached #2.^[8]

B.B. King versions

Also in 1955, B.B. King recorded "Every Day I Have the Blues" (RPM 421). King attributes the song's appeal to arranger Maxwell Davis: "He [Davis] wrote a chart of 'Every Day I Have the Blues' with a crisp and relaxed sound I'd never heard before. I liked it so well, I made it my theme ... Maxwell Davis didn't write majestically; he wrote naturally, which was my bag. He created an atmosphere that let me relax".^[9] The song was recorded at Capitol Records' old studio on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, which, according to RPM Records part-owner Joe Bihari had "a better sound" than the new studio in the company's new tower. "We jacked B.B.'s guitar straight into the board, so it sounded a little different".^[10] The song reached #8 in the R&B chart^[11] and became an important piece in King's repertoire. It appears on several King albums, including his first album Singin' the Blues, the live albums Live at the Regal and Live in Cook County Jail, as well as various compilation albums.

Other versions

Since the hits of the 1950s, a variety of artists continue to record "Every Day I Have the Blues". Elmore James recorded a version with slide guitar during his last recording sessions in New York in late 1962 – early 1963 (Enjoy 2027). Fleetwood Mac recorded James' version in 1969 for Fleetwood Mac in Chicago/Blues Jam in Chicago, Vols. 1–2. A live blues-rock version was recorded in 1974 by the Marshall Tucker Band for the Where We All Belong album. Tony Bennett recorded it as a duet with Stevie Wonder on chromatic harmonica and vocals for the 2001 album Playin' with My Friends: Bennett Sings the Blues. In 2007, John Mayer recorded a live version using a different melody and harmony for his album Where the Light Is: John Mayer Live in Los Angeles.

Accolades

The song has received two Grammy Hall of Fame Awards: Count Basie with Joe Williams' 1955 version "Everyday (I Have the Blues)" in 1992 and B.B. King's 1955 version "Every Day I Have the Blues" in 2004.^[12]

Notes

1. ^ Herzhaft 1992, p. 447.
2. ^ Herzhaft 1992, p. 447.
3. ^ Whitburn 1988, p. 286
4. ^ Escott 2002, p. 41
5. ^ Whitburn 1988, p. 161.
6. ^ McGhee 2005, p. 84
7. ^ Whitburn 1988, p. 445.
8. ^ Whitburn 1988, p. 36.
9. ^ McGhee 2005, p. 83.
10. ^ McGhee 2005, p. 84.
11. ^ Whitburn 1988, p. 239.
12. ^ "Grammy Hall of Fame Awards". The Recording Academy. 1992, 2004. http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame#e. Retrieved April 10, 2011. 

References

• Herzhaft, Gerard (1992). Encyclopedia of the Blues. University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 1557282528. 
• McGee, David (2005). B.B. King: There Is Always One More Time. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0879308438. 
• Whitburn, Joel (1988). Top R&B Singles 1942–1988. Record Research, Inc. ISBN 0898200687. 
• Escott, Colin (2002). B.B. King / The Vintage Years (liner notes). Ace Records, Ltd. Ace ABOXCD 8.