Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris – Love Hurts

This song has been covered many times. The one that is probably the most popular is by the hard rock band Nazareth. This version was the one that Nazareth heard to base their version on. It was written and composed by the American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant, who was a very prolific and successful songwriter for other artists throughout the 1950s and beyond.

Gram and Harris’s version is my favorite version of the song now. It was on Parson’s Grievous Angel album released in 1974. Parsons and Harris had a great musical partnership. You can hear it in this song on how their voices weaved together.

Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris

On the album… James Burton played electric lead guitar, Herb Pederson on rhythm, and Al Perkins on pedal steel. Bernie Leadon played dobro, and Byron Berline added some fiddle and mandolin. Linda Ronstadt always contributed vocals to a Harris-Parsons song that I will cover next.

Harris was talking about the making of the Grievous Angel Album: “Gram was in really good shape for that album, and we were really tight from working on the road together. The band knew what they were doing and we had the charts together by the time we got into the studio. We went in and, man, it was really fast – we did the tracks in five days and then a second five days for the vocals which were nearly all first or second takes. For all extent and purposes ist should be regarded as a ‘live’ album.”

“We didn’t really write songs together. He always carried those songs around in his head. He just needed a little prodding to get them out. That’s all I did. I helped him with a line here and there. I’d suggest something but those were his songs. I didn’t dispute the credit on ‘In My Hour Of Darkness’, which he gave to me. I think that was probably because at the same time, there was this big thing about that stupid album cover.”

What Harris was referring to about the cover was that it made Gram’s wife upset. It was originally a cover of Parson and Harris that Gram picked out. Parson’s manager was Phil Kaufman and he said that Gretchen Parsons, Gram’s wife, found out about the picture and fought with Parsons. So, she had the picture removed when it was released because Gram had passed away in September of 1973 and this album was released in 1974.

The Everly Brothers were the first to cover it, but they never released the song as a single. They planned to release this as a single, but industry politics got in the way. Their version is very good as well but Harris and Parson’s voices just sounded so good together for this particular song.

Emmylou Harris: “I really liked working with Gram, it was a completely new experience for me. I was a little weary at first because of Los Angeles and Hollywood and all, and I was very much East Coast orientated. I was very much on my guard but Gram was a very real person and, whenever I went out there, I always felt that I was in some kind of protective bubble. It was never Los Angeles itself, but always working with Gram and the music, and I kept myself in a very small circle.”

“It was the first time to have ever lost a close friend. I’m sure that all people have lost someone who is very dear to them, but Gram was young and so full of life. There are people who say ‘well, it was bound to happen’… but not to me because Gram was the most alive person I ever knew and breathed a whole lot into me and into my life. So he still remains very much alive in my heart.”

“Eventually Gram will find his place in history. He had a real creative vision of his own as a writer. Perhaps there is a shadow of that inspiration on my records but it’s not the gut level thing.”

Here is a live version from Gram and Emmylou from 1973. 

Love Hurts

Love hurts, love scarsLove wounds and marsAny heart not toughNor strong enoughTo take a lot of painTake a lot of painLove is like a cloudHolds a lot of rain

Love hurtsMmm-mm, love hurts

I’m young, I knowBut even soI know a thing or twoI’ve learned from you

I’ve really learned a lotReally learned a lotLove is like a stoveBurns you when it’s hotLove hurtsMmm-mm, love hurts

Some fools think of happinessBlissfulness, togethernessSome fools fool themselves, I guessBut they’re not fooling me

I know it isn’t trueKnow it isn’t trueLove is just a lieMade to make you blue

Love hurtsMmm-mm, love hurts

Love hurtsMmm-mm, love hurtsOh-oh, love hurts

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

27 thoughts on “Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris – Love Hurts”

  2. Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris sounded absolutely stunning together. I believe she was really devasted when he passed away and suspect there was more than just close musical cooperation. I think their rendition of “Love Hurts” is even better than the Everlys – something I rarely feel! I also still dig Nazareth’s rendition, which was super popular in Germany and the first version of the song I knew.

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    1. I think the Nazareth version and this one is apples and oranges in a way…two different moods…them singing together took it to a different place. It doesn’t feel like a song…it feels real.

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      1. Oh 100%! Nazareth turned “Love Hurts” into a rock power ballad, which I find intriguing. Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, on the other hand, gave it more of an Americana/ country vibe and, as such, remained closer to the original. The true magic of their rendition is how beautifully their voices blend. I think it’s not an exaggeration to say this song was perfect for them.

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      2. When I like some voices over the Everly Brothers…THAT is saying something. I would not say that much at all…even with the Beatles. The Everly Brothers two voices made ONE voice…it’s so rare….but with this song…Gram and Emmylou….you can feel the pain.

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      2. I do think they would have ended up with each other. Like Phil said…if anyone could have saved him…it would have been Emmylou.

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  4. They were a dynamic duo. If that song don’t get you right in the heart, then you’re a walking zombie. I’ve always been an Emmylou fan, and discovered Parsons music, long after his passing. I think Emmylou may have saved the man if he had married her. I read an interview that she gave in the early 2000s and she said they were meant to be and we can assume that is why his death hit her so hard. I was lucky to have seen her in concert with the Fort Worth Symphony back in the late 80s and she was incredible.

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    1. From everything I’ve read…Gretchen and him were having bad problems way before Emmylou…yea they would have probably ended up together.
      If he would have lived…I do see both of them being well known…something he never achieved on a wide scale. If I ever get a chance I will see her.

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  6. Gretchen didn’t like the picture of Gram and Emmy sitting on a motorcycle and she never cared for Harris’ relationship with her husband. Boudleaux usually wrote with his wife Felice Bryant and I wonder why she didn’t get any credit on this song.

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    1. It doesn’t make sense but…after reading about Paul and Linda McCartney…it could have been because of the publishing.
      Gretchen hit Gram with a coathanger and clipped his ear…his manager claimed he was partially deaf in that ear at the time of his death….they were having massive problems way before Emmylou…but yea.

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