Ready for an early cocktail? Me too after being on the road this week. I’ll have more about our Mississippi excursion tomorrow.

I’ve defaced a Mark Rothko painting for the featured image because there aren’t many good pictures online of this week’s songwriter. Besides, it’s a blues classic and this is one of Rothko’s blue paintings.

It Hurts Me Too is one of the best loved and most recorded blues standards. As with many blues tunes there’s an authorship dispute but most sources believe that Hudson Woodridge AKA Hudson Whittaker DBA Tampa Red wrote this week’s tune in 1929. It was originally called You Got To Reap What You Sow.

Damn, that was a long ass introduction. Let’s get to the music already.

We begin with Tampa Red’s 1941 version with the hurtful title we all know and love. Is that masochistic? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Elmore James recorded the best known version of this week’s tune in 1957.

It Hurts Me Too seems to be a manly lament. The vast majority of versions were recorded by dudes. Karen Dalton bucked that trend.

Next up, Grateful Dead with Ron Pig Pen McKernan on lead vox:

Eric Clapton. Say no more.

Our second chick version comes from Susan Tedeschi:

Kevin Moore DBA Keb Mo is one of the best interpretive singers currently working. He makes every song his own. It Hurts Me Too is no exception to the Keb Mo rule.

Finally, the Gret Stet Of Louisiana’s own, Sonny Landreth.

That’s it for this week. Let’s drink to the blues, one of America’s major contributions to world culture. It’s what Rick Danko, Muddy Waters, and Robbie Robertson would want. Never argue with them.