50 years ago: Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man” topped the country chart

Stand by Your Man Tammy Wynette

Writer(s): Billy Sherrill, Tammy Wynette (see lyrics here) Released: September 20, 1968 First Charted: October 19, 1968 Peak: 19 US, 23 CB, 19 HR, 11 AC, 13 CW, 13 UK, 15 CN, 9 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.4 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 45.86 video, 56.59 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Producer Billy Sherrill had the idea for the song “Stand by Your Man.” He had the title scribbled on a scrap of paper which he carried in his pocket for a year. During a recording session for Tammy Wynette on August 26, 1968, he suggested the title to her. She “had an instant affinity for the concept.” TR The wrote the song in under a half hour. AC Wynette said that Sherrill told her the melody came from a work by Richard Strauss that was in the public domain. TR The song stirred controversy amongst the women’s liberation movement as an “example of a compliant wife willing to defer to her husband,” SF but “would play well in the Bible Belt.” AC Wynette defended the song “as not a call for women to place themselves second to men, but rather a suggestion that women attempt to overlook their husbands’ shortcomings and faults if they truly love them.” WK Ironically, she was married five times. Sherrill admitted that he intended the song for women who wanted no part of feminism. TR “Even though to some skeptics it may hint of chauvinism, as far as I’m concerned they can like it or lump it. ‘Stand by Your Man’ is just another way of saying ‘I love you – without reservations.’” TR The song was her fifth #1 out of 20 country chart toppers. It took five releases in the UK for it to become a hit, but then it went all the way to #1 in 1975. SF It was “the most successful record of Wynette’s career, and is one of the most familiar songs in the history of country music.” WK In 2003, Country Music Television rated the song the greatest in country in music. WK “With the almost cult status of ‘Stand by Your Man,’ Tammy would never again be just another girl singer, and her stature would demand that country charts make room for…powerful women.” AC Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Tammy Wynette AC Ace Collins (1996). The Stories Behind Country Music’s All-Time Greatest 100 Songs. New York, NY; The Berkley Publishing Group. Pages 201-3. TR Tom Roland (1991). The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 16. SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 10/27/2021; last updated 10/23/2022.

George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today” topped the country chart

He Stopped Loving Her Today George Jones

Writer(s): Bobby Braddock, Curly Putman (see lyrics here) First Charted: April 12, 1980 Peak: 11 CW (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.52 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 18.1 video, 55.11 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: George Jones first hit the country charts in 1955 when he was 24 years old. His career seemingly peaked in the late sixties and early seventies, AC but then he found success with a series of duets with his then-wife Tammy Wynette. By the time 1980’s “He Stopped Loving Her Today” came around, he’d racked up more than one hundred entries on the country charts over a quarter century. It became what the BBC called “the most important song in country music history.” AC The “classic is about a man who spends decades hoping his true love will return to him, but their reunion doesn’t happen until his funeral.” RS500 Songwriters Bobby Braddock (“D-I-V-O-R-C-E”) and Curly Putman (“Green, Green Grass of Home”) started writing together in 1977 and Braddock says Curly “swears that I brought him an idea about a man who so loved his wife that his love only stopped the day he died.” AC It started out as a joke about how natural someone looked at his funeral. TR They weren’t impressed with the song and nearly forgot about it. Braddock finally recorded a demo more than 6 months after they wrote it. They didn’t get much response. Only Johnny Russell was interested. He cut it for two labels, but neither recording was released. AC When the song came to Billy Sherrill, he thought it would be a great single for George Jones. AC However, he wanted an additional verse about the woman in the relationship coming to the funeral. TR He gave that his stamp of approval, but Jones wasn’t impressed, saying “I looked Billy square in they eye and said, ‘Nobobdy will buy that morbid son of a bitch.’” RS500 Sherrill convinced Jones to give it a shot, but the first take fell flat. Then Jones’ ex-wife, Tammy Wynette, came into the studio with her new husband. According to Braddock, “when he sang the song the second time, he never took his eyes off Tammy. It was like he was singing every word just for her.” AC It was that quality which made Jones such a beloved performance. He “always appeared to feel such great pain that you could hear it when he sang.” AC Braddock said, “George Jones’ performance and Billy Sherrill’s production have a hell of a lot to do with that record becoming a standard.” TR The Academy of Country Music awarded it Single and Song of the Year. Jones said of it, “I was back on top. A four-decade career was salvaged by a three-minute song.” RS500 Resources: AC Ace Collins (1996). The Stories Behind Country Music’s All-Time Greatest 100 Songs. New York, NY; The Berkley Publishing Group. Pages 249-51. TR Tom Roland (1991). The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits. Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 261. RS500 Rolling Stone (9/16/2021). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 10/31/2021; last updated 8/27/2022.