"Stand by Your Man"
Single by Tammy Wynette
from the album Stand by Your Man
B-side"I Stayed Long Enough"
ReleasedSeptember 20, 1968
RecordedAugust 26, 1968[1]
GenreCountry
Length2:38
LabelEpic 10398
Songwriter(s)Billy Sherrill, Tammy Wynette
Producer(s)Billy Sherrill
Tammy Wynette singles chronology
"D-I-V-O-R-C-E"
(1968) 		"Stand by Your Man"
(1968) 		"Singing My Song"
(1969)
Licensed audio
"Stand by Your Man" on YouTube

"Stand by Your Man" is a song recorded by American country music artist Tammy Wynette, co-written by Wynette and Billy Sherrill. It was released on September 20, 1968, as the first single and title track from the album Stand by Your Man. It proved to be the most successful record of Wynette's career, and is one of the most familiar songs in country music. The song was placed at number one on CMT's list of the Top 100 Country Music Songs.

Released as a 7-inch 45 rpm single, it was reported added to some jukeboxes and receiving airplay on select American R&B and country radio stations by October 12,[2] and it entered the Billboard charts on October 19.[1] The song stayed number 1 on the U.S. country charts for three weeks.[3] "Stand by Your Man" crossed over to the U.S. pop charts, peaking at number 19.[4] It elevated Wynette—then one of many somewhat successful female country recording artists—to superstar status. It reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart when the record was released in the United Kingdom in 1975,[5] and also reached number 1 in the Netherlands. An album of the same name—which was also quite successful—was released in 1968. The song earned Wynette the 1970 Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance, Female—her second Grammy win in that category—and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Vocal accompaniment is provided by the Jordanaires, who provided background vocals on most of Wynette's hit recordings.

The song was selected by the Library of Congress as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry, which selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[6] In 2021, it was ranked No. 473 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Songs of All Time".[7]

In popular culture

The song opens Jack Nicholson's 1970 drama film Five Easy Pieces.[8]

Answer songs included Conway Twitty's 1971 No. 1 hit "How Much More Can She Stand" and Ronnie Milsap's "(I'm A) Stand by My Woman Man," a 1976 number that also topped the country music charts.[9]

Country band The Chicks recorded a cover that was included as a B-side of their 2000 single "Goodbye Earl". This prompted some people to think that the cover was meant to be taken ironically as "Goodbye Earl" tells the story of two women murdering one's husband as a way to escape domestic violence.[10]

Country music star Carrie Underwood performed the song at the Grand Ole Opry in May 2008.[11]

In the 2022 film Mr. Harrigan's Phone, Craig's and Mr. Harrigan's phone ringtones are set to the song so that they know when the other is calling.[12]

Chart performance

Heike Makatsch version

"Stand by Your Man"
Single by Heike Makatsch
ReleasedMarch 10, 1996
Recorded1996
GenreCountry, pop
Length3:52
LabelMetronome Records
Songwriter(s)Billy Sherrill, Tammy Wynette
Producer(s)Detlef Petersen
Heike Makatsch singles chronology
"Stand by Your Man"
(1996) 		"This Girl Was Made for Loving"
(1997)

In 1996, Heike Makatsch recorded her version of the song, which was used as the soundtrack of the movie Jailbirds. The cover was a great success in the German-speaking countries. In terms of musical genre, the cover remained true to the original, but more pop.

Track listings

CD-Maxi

  1. Stand By Your Man - 2:53
  2. Cat Calls - Detlef Petersen - 3:37
  3. Stand By Your Man (Part II mit dem Gefangenenchor) - 3:37

Charts

Chart (1996) Peak
position
German Singles Chart[20] 11
Austrian Singles Chart 30
Swiss Singles Chart 29

Other cover versions

References

  1. ^ a b Sullivan, Steve (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (1 ed.). Scarecrow Press. p. 634. ISBN 9780810882966.
  2. ^ "Programming Aids". Billboard. Vol. 80, no. 41. October 12, 1968. pp. 42, 50. ISSN 0006-2510.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 399.
  4. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition. Record Research. p. 690.
  5. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 313–4. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  6. ^ "The National Recording Registry 2010". Library of Congress. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
  7. ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
  8. ^ "Five Easy Pieces (1970) – Deep Focus Review – Movie Reviews, Critical Essays, and Film Analysis". Deep Focus Review. 2021-07-24. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  9. ^ Roy Shuker (1994). Understanding Popular Music. p. 102. ISBN 9780415107228. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  10. ^ https://www.pastemagazine.com/article/best-songs-1999
  11. ^ "Carrie Underwood Entertains The Opry With Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man"". countrymusicfamily.com. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  12. ^ Lennon, Mads (2022-10-05). "Mr. Harrigan's Phone soundtrack: All songs featured in the film". Netflix Life. Retrieved 2023-10-07. He says his favorite song is Stand By Your Man by Tammy Wynette, so Craig makes that song his and Mr. Harrigan's matching ringtones, so they always know when the other is calling.
  13. ^ "Tammy Wynette Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  14. ^ "Tammy Wynette Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  15. ^ "Tammy Wynette Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  16. ^ "Go-Set Australian charts - 16 April 1969". Poparchives.com.au. 1969-04-16. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  17. ^ a b Steffen Hung. "Tammy Wynette - Stand By Your Man". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  18. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Hot Country Songs 1944–2012. Record Research, Inc. p. 383. ISBN 978-0-89820-203-8.
  19. ^ "Top 100 1975 - UK Music Charts". Uk-charts.top-source.info. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  20. ^ chartsurfer.de
  21. ^ "Candi Staton Discography". The Soul of the Net. www.melingo.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  22. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 11/21/70".
  23. ^ "RPM Country Tracks". RPM. January 24, 1994. Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  24. ^ Zemler, Emily (2023-09-04). "Watch Lana Del Rey Perform 'Stand By Your Man' at Robert's Western World in Nashville". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
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