Photo by Judy Marut



Famous Blues Covers


Every Day I Have the Blues is a blues song that has been performed in a variety of styles. An early version of the song is attributed to Pinetop Sparks and his brother Milton. It was first performed in the taverns of St. Louis by the Sparks brothers and was recorded July 28, 1935 by Pinetop with Henry Townsend on guitar. The song is a twelve-bar blues that features Pinetop's piano and falsetto vocal. The opening verse includes the line "Every day, every day I have the blues".



After a reworking of the song by Memphis Slim in 1949, it became a blues standard with renditions recorded by numerous artists.





Despite Sparks' earlier song, most versions of Every Day I Have the Blues are credited to Memphis Slim (to his real name, John Chatman, or to his pseudonym, Peter Chatman). However, when Lowell Fulson with Lloyd Glenn adapted Memphis Slim's arrangement, but used Sparks' earlier title, it became a hit and spent twenty-three weeks in the R&B chart, reaching number three in 1950. Fulson's "slow grooving" version influenced B.B. King's later rendition of the song.






 



Everyday, everyday I have the blues
Everyday, everyday I have the blues
When you see me worried baby
Because it's you I hate to lose

Oh nobody loves me, nobody seems to care
Yes nobody loves me, nobody seems to care
Speaking of bad luck and trouble
Well you know I had my share

I'm gonna pack my suitcase, move on down the line
Yes I'm gonna pack my suitcase, move on down the line
Where there ain't nobody worried
And there ain't nobody crying