Pianist Sonny Thompson, who played on several early King songs, is credited as the songwriter.
[3] For his recording, Clapton uses an arrangement close to King's original, including the falsetto vocal phrases and guitar fills.
Reprise Records released a compact disc promotional single in 1994, which reached number five on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart.
A studio version by Northern Irish guitarist and singer Gary Moore is included on the 2021 album How Blue Can You Get.
In an album review for Classic Rock magazine, Hugh Fielder describes it as "a hard-hitting, well-greased version of Freddie King’s I’m Tore Down, with Moore’s mean, gritty voice sliding all over the place and his vicious guitar phrases doing much the same".