Every Day I Have the Blues (song)

"Every Day I Have the Blues" (known by various titles, including "Nobody Loves Me") is a blues song written Pinetop Sparks and his brother Marion in 1935, and first recorded that same year by Pinetop. though it is often incorrectly ascribed to Peter Chatman (better known as Memphis Slim), who recorded it in 1949 under the title "Nobody Loves Me" The song has become a blues standard. It has been recorded by numerous artists, and four different versions have reached the Top Ten of the Billboard R&B chart. Two of these recordings—one by the Count Basie Orchestra with Joe Williams and one by B.B. King—have received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

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). 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

"Angel Child" was a hit, but "Nobody Loves Me" did not enter the charts. Although Slim's version was not successful, his composer royalties from the later hits by other artists "were sufficient to buy a Rolls Royce with which to squire himself around Paris".

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 No. 3 in 1950. Fulson's "slow grooving" version, with sax and guitar solos, influenced B.B. King's approach.

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 No. 8 in the R&B chart (Checker 762). 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 No. 2.

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".

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".

The song reached No. 8 in the R&B chart 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 notable versions
Since the hits of the 1950s, a variety of artists have continued to record "Every Day I Have the Blues". Johnnie Ray recorded his version in 1956. Lambert, Hendricks & Ross led off their hit 1958 debut album Sing a Song of Basie with a vocalese version of the song, which included additional lyrics.

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.

In 1994, Little Willie Littlefield recorded a version for his album Yellow Boogie & Blues. 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.