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.

Lyle Lovett Lyle Lovett and His Large Band released

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band Lyle Lovett

Released: January 23, 1989 Peak: 62 US, 10 CW, 88 CN Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Genre: alt-country/Americana

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. The Blues Walk (Brown) [2:25] Here I Am [4:01] Cryin’ Shame [2:28] Good Intentions [3:13] I Know You Know [3:57] What Do You Do/The Glory of Love (Hill/ Lovett) [3:06] I Married Her Just Because She Looks Like You [3:14] (12/10/88, 45 CW) Stand by Your Man (Sherrill/ Wynette) [2:44] (3/4/89, 82 CW) Which Way Does That Old Pony Run? [4:08] Nobody Knows Me [3:06] (6/17/89, 84 CW) If You Were to Wake Up [4:07] Once Is Enough [4:26] Songs written by Lyle Lovett unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 40:55

Rating: 3.960 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “While from the outset Lyle Lovett sounded like a hard artist to pigeonhole, his sponsors at Curb Records and MCA Records seemed determined to sell him as a country artist, though the blues and retro-jazz leanings of Lovett’s second album, Pontiac, suggested that strategy would only be practical for so long. With his third album, 1989’s Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, Lovett seemingly sidelined any career aspirations as a mainstream country act he or his handlers may have held.” MD “The album kicks off with a lively cover of Clifford Brown’s The Blues Walk, and the next five tunes all bear the smoky, late-night vibe of a low-key jazz joint, with top marks going to the hilariously off-kilter Here I Am, the witty scenario of potential infidelity What Do You Do/The Glory of Love, and the marvelously sly Good Intentions.” MD “The second half of the album is steeped in twang, but it was hardly more comforting for country radio programmers; I Married Her Just Because She Looks Like You is a ‘sweet on the outside and sick on the inside’ tale of romantic obsession, Nobody Knows Me bears a punchline that makes ‘God Will’ sound generous, and Lovett’s straight-faced cover of Stand By Your Man stubbornly refuses to either announce itself as a joke or suggest another interpretation.” MD “Wherever you choose to file it, Lyle Lovett and His Large Band made it clear that Lovett was only getting better with each album; the songs are uniformly well-crafted, Lovett’s vocals are full of subtle nuance, and his band is in brilliant form throughout (with special kudos to Lovett’s frequent vocal foil, Francine Reed). If you’re going to burn your bridges, you could hardly find a better way to do it than this.” MD

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Lyle Lovett MD Mark Deming, All Music Guide WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/24/2008; last updated 5/18/2022.