Love's Greatest Hurts

If you're the right age to have followed the procession of top 40 hits through the mid-70s or enjoy listening to classic rock, you have no doubt encountered the Nazareth rock anthem Love Hurts.

It's not much of a stretch to say that most people believe that Nazareth recorded the original or at least the only hit version of the song, an assumption that is far from the truth. In fact, In the UK, the Nazareth version of the song did not even achieve the highest chart position among the records which lamented that musical sentiment.

Humble beginnings marked the start in life for Love Hurts. It first appeared as an album cut in the 1960 section of the Way Back Machine, during a period of the rock era when albums generally consisted of a couple of hits and 8 or 10 throw away tracks. The Everly Brothers included it on an album called A Date with the Everly Brothers.

Nice harmony, but little notice.

During its second time around, Love Hurts was the B Side to a Roy Orbison No. 1 hit from 1961 called Running Scared. In Australia, the Orbison version actually received more air play than the side being promoted by Monument Records.

Then, for Love Hurts, it was 14 years of silence, moving us forward to 1975. That's when Nazareth recorded it and for most of us, theirs is the signature Love Hurts. It was Top 10 in the US and reached No. 1 in Norway and the Netherlands.

So, isn't that the end of the story? It might be, unless you happened to live in the UK at the time.

Classic rock fans remember a group called Traffic who recorded an impressive list of successful albums between the late 60s and the mid 70s. Though they didn't achieve a lot of success with the singles they released, one group member, Jim Capaldi did enjoy watching some of his 45's as they climbed the UK singles charts. One of those chart successes was Capaldi's version of Love Hurts, which reached number 4 in the UK, also in 1975. It's vocal treatment reminds me of Roy Orbison, but musically, it's unlike any of the other versions mentioned here.

Four unique interpretations of the song, each with elements that set it apart from the rest. You may well listen to all of them and decide that Nazareth's is still the best. Maybe it is, but in rock history, it does not stand alone.

'Til next time, that's another @maindogsound look back at a classic track.