Elvis Presley - It Hurts Me - From First Take to the Master

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Scattered throughout Elvis' back catalogue there are literally dozens of hidden gems which are mainly known only within Elvis' own fan base. In many cases these songs are generally better than the hits which are constantly recycled on endless "hits" albums and that these more obscure songs are still largely unknown is possibly something which RCA/Sony would be better focusing their time and effort on rather than the seemingly endless production of Royal Philharmonic Orchestra titles.
One prime example of these hidden gems is "It Hurts Me" which is also one of the finest recordings that Elvis ever made and the tale as to why it became a largely unknown outside the "Elvis world" is a travesty but symptomatic of the way that Elvis' material has been treated by corporate decisions, a practice which continues to this day although perhaps not quite in the same way.
Elvis recorded "It Hurts Me" in Nashville on 12 January 1964 and was the last of just three songs recorded at this mini session and was also the only new song at the session. The other two songs "Memphis, Tennessee" and "Ask Me" were remakes of songs he had attempted at a recording session the previous May. All three songs were amongst the best he had recorded since 1960 but the best was left to last. Elvis always seemed to be at his best when telling a story and as the protagonist in this case by the end of the song you are pulled in an sympathetic to the narrators plight.
Recorded in just five takes, three of which were false starts, Elvis changes from his normal voice, at times almost at a whisper to one more more powerful at just the right moments highlighting both the anger and frustration felt by the protagonist.
In his book "Reconsider Baby" Shane Brown tells us :
"Sung over a triple beat, Elvis also manages to incorporate a soul element into his singing. Almost ten years to the day, he had been cutting his second disc of private recordings at Sun Studios in a rather stiff, plaintiff voice that seemed to be lacking in commercial potential. Now that voice could be a wondrous instrument as this recording shows but for the most part it was being wasted on second or third rate (or worse) material."
This would be the final recording session for two years which would produce anything but movie soundtracks but this mini session showed that given the right material and if Elvis was in creative mood songs ;like this would emanate from the studio with ease. It is therefore a pity that album of this quality was not produced at this session. Instead and in accordance with baffling corporate decisions which would blight Elvis' recording career "It Hurts Me" ended up being the 'B' side to "Kissin' Cousins".
On that decision Ernst Jorgenson laid the blame solely at Elvis' door by writing:
"Unfortunately, "It Hurts Me" lost it's potential almost immediately. Elvis relegated the marvellous performance of “It Hurts Me” to the B side of “Kissin’ Cousins,” and although the A-side managed to climb into the top twenty at number twelve, selling a respectable 750,000 records, its flip never attained the classic stature promised by the song and the performance."
the song was then a surprise inclusion in the production sequence in the second half of Elvis' 1968 TV Special and recorded the version in two parts, one either side of a karate fight with "Big Boss Man". For inclusion on the soundtrack album Elvis recorded a full version in the Burbank Studios of Western Recorders and the final master was a a splice of takes seven and eleven. This version suffers from the typical ;late 60's TV musical arrangement and robs the song of the emotion experienced in the original.
The original recording seemed to tick every box required for a re-recording with the RPO and it was fortunate that that particular temptation was resisted. However it would be desirable if the powers at be find some other way of bringing this long neglected recording into the public's consciousness!