Songfacts®:

• "Hurt So Bad" was originally recorded by Little Anthony & the Imperials, who took it to #10 in the US in 1965. Another male vocal group, The Lettermen, took it to #12 in 1969.
  
  Linda Ronstadt gave the song a whole new sound with her 1980 cover, flipping the gender so it's a guy who has her in a tangle. The song is a classic heartbreaker, with the singer in so much pain they're reduced to begging even though their ex has found someone else.
• Ronstadt took the song to #8 in the US, the highest chart position of any version of the song. Some of her biggest hits were covers. Among them:
  
  "You're No Good" (originally by Dee Dee Warwick)
  "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" (originally by Warren Zevon)
  "Blue Bayou" (originally by Roy Orbison)
  "When Will I Be Loved" (originally by The Everly Brothers)
  
  Ronstadt wasn't a songwriter but she could sing anything with remarkable conviction as long as she believed in the song. Many of the covers she chose with her producer Peter Asher became the most popular versions.
  
  Ronstadt's run of hits started when she began working with Asher in 1973. Asher, who produced James Taylor's early albums, told Songfacts that by listening to Ronstadt and valuing her keen musical judgment, they were able to take her career to new heights.
• That's Danny Kortchmar on the guitar solo. A first-call session player who appears on many hits for James Taylor and Jackson Browne, he was previously in a band with Carole King called The City. When Don Henley started his solo career, Kortchmar was his main collaborator.
  
  The other musicians on "Hurt So Bad" are:
  
  Bill Payne - keyboards
  Bob Glaub - bass
  Russ Kunkel - drums
  Dan Dugmore - guitar