"Every Little Bit Hurts" was originally a 1964 hit single for Motownsoul singer Brenda Holloway, written by Ed Cobb and featured on Holloway's album of the same name.[2]
Though Brenda Holloway 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 1964. "Every Little Bit Hurts" was a big hit peaking at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100,[3][4] and became one of Holloway's trademark singles.
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.
"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.
Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine felt that Keys treated the song "like [a] vocal audition[...] and not the blank canvas[...] of an interpretive artist".[13]
^Every Little Bit Hurts (US promotional CD single liner notes). Alicia Keys. J Records. 2005. 82876-75977-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)