Stand by Your Man

For other uses, see Stand by Your Man (disambiguation).

"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.

"Stand by Your Man"
Single by Tammy Wynette
from the album Stand by Your Man
B-side	"I Stayed Long Enough"
Released	September 20, 1968
Recorded	August 26, 1968[1]
Studio	Columbia Studio B (Nashville, Tennessee)
Genre	Country
Length	2:38
Label	Epic 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

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.

The song received some criticism during the late 1960s-early 1970s women's liberation movement, as feminist groups deemed it to be too conservative,^[6][7] while, for others, the song made Wynette a spokeswoman for working-class housewives experiencing marital disappointments and changing gender roles in the late 1960s.^[8] However, Wynette herself said that she had not intended any social or political slant to it. In 1992, during a 60 Minutes interview regarding Bill Clinton's affair with Gennifer Flowers, Hillary Clinton remarked: "I'm not sitting here, some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette".^[9] Wynette was angered by this remark and issued a statement shortly after.^[6]

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".^[10] In 2021, it was ranked No. 473 on Rolling Stone's "Top 500 Songs of All Time".^[11]

In popular culture

The song opens Jack Nicholson's 1970 drama film Five Easy Pieces.^[12]

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.^[13]

The song is performed by the Blues Brothers Band in their 1980 film in the scene in Bob's Country Bunker.

The song is played during the closing scene of The Wonder Years 1993 episode "The Little Women". The episode, set in 1973, featured Kevin and his father Jack feeling down during the backdrop of the women's lib movement of the 1970s, with Kevin's girlfriend Winnie scoring higher at her SAT tests than him and his mother Norma getting a full-time job, so they took their partners out bowling and beat them mercilessly at the game, however, they still remained good sports despite losing, as shown during the drive home.^[14][15]

In the 2018 Korean TV series "Something in the rain" the song is frequently played throughout the show.

In the 2021 Netflix series ‘’Country Comfort’’, the song features prominently at the end of episode three, "Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign".

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.^[16]

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1968–1969) Peak position Australia (Go-Set)[17] 9 Canada Country Tracks (RPM)[18] 1 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[19] 15 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[20] 11 US Billboard Hot 100[21] 19 US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[22] 1 Chart (1975) Peak position Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[23] 1 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[24] 9 Ireland (IRMA)[25] 1 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[26] 1 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[27] 31 UK Singles (OCC)[28] 1 West Germany (GfK)[29] 36 Chart (1998) Peak position US Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks[30] 56

Year-end charts Chart (1975) Position Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[31] 9 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[32] 7 UK (British Market Research Bureau)[33] 5

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[34]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Heike Makatsch version

"Stand by Your Man"
Single by Heike Makatsch
Released	March 10, 1996
Recorded	1996
Genre	Country, pop
Length	3:52
Label	Metronome 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[35]	11
Austrian Singles Chart	30
Swiss Singles Chart	29

Other cover versions

• In 1968, Patti Page covered the song and released it as an easy listening single, peaking at No. 20.
• In 1970, Candi Staton covered the song, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard R&B chart and at No. 24 on the pop Hot 100.^[36] She also reached No. 21 on the Cash Box Top 100.^[37]
• In 1982, Motörhead and the Plasmatics collaborated to cover this song. Wendy O. Williams and Lemmy Kilmister sung a duet, making the song into a punk rock song.
• In 1993, Lyle Lovett covered the song for the soundtrack to the film The Crying Game. That same year, Lovett performed the song with Wynette on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.^[38]
• In 1994, Lisa Brokop covered the song for the soundtrack to the film Harmony Cats. It was released as a single and peaked at number 88 on the RPM Country Tracks chart.^[39]
• 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.^[40]
• Country music star Carrie Underwood performed the song at the Grand Ole Opry in May 2008.^[41]

• In 2012, Willam Belli and Drake Jensen released a cover as the seventh single from Belli's debut studio album The Wreckoning.^[42]

• In 2023, on multiple occasions across her 2023–2024 tour, Lana Del Rey covered the song.^[43]

References

1. 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. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 313–4. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
6. Benitez-Eves, Tina (2022-05-05). "The Meaning Behind Tammy Wynette's Controversial Country Classic "Stand By Your Man"". American Songwriter. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
7. Bugg, Anita (2000-10-28). "'Stand By Your Man'". NPR. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
8. Gleason, Holly (2010). ""Stand By Your Man"—Tammy Wynette (1968)" (PDF). Library of Congress. Retrieved 2023-03-23.
9. Hillary Clinton's first 60 Minutes interview, retrieved 2024-02-25
10. "The National Recording Registry 2010". Library of Congress. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
11. "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
12. "Five Easy Pieces (1970) – Deep Focus Review – Movie Reviews, Critical Essays, and Film Analysis". Deep Focus Review. 2021-07-24. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
13. Roy Shuker (1994). Understanding Popular Music. Psychology Press. p. 102. ISBN 9780415107228. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
14. "The Wonder Years (Original Series) Episode and Music Guide". www.wonder-years.tv. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
15. "The Wonder Years - Transcript - Episode 112". www.peter-reynders.de. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
16. 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.
17. "Go-Set Australian charts - 16 April 1969". Poparchives.com.au. 1969-04-16. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
18. "Top RPM Country Tracks: Issue 5895." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
19. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 5884." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
20. "Tammy Wynette Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
21. "Tammy Wynette Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
22. "Tammy Wynette Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
23. "Tammy Wynette – Stand by Your Man" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
24. "Tammy Wynette – Stand by Your Man" (in French). Ultratop 50.
25. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Stand by Your Man". Irish Singles Chart.
26. "Tammy Wynette – Stand by Your Man" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
27. "Tammy Wynette – Stand by Your Man". Top 40 Singles.
28. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
29. "Offiziellecharts.de – Tammy Wynette – Stand by Your Man" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
30. Whitburn, Joel (2013). Hot Country Songs 1944–2012. Record Research, Inc. p. 383. ISBN 978-0-89820-203-8.
31. "Jaaroverzichten 1975". Ultratop (in Dutch).
32. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1975". Dutchcharts (in Dutch).
33. "Top 50 Singles 1975" (PDF). Music Week. December 27, 1975. p. 25 – via World Radio History.
34. "British single certifications – Tammy Wynette – Stand by Your Man". British Phonographic Industry.
35. chartsurfer.de
36. "Candi Staton Discography". The Soul of the Net. www.melingo.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
37. "Cash Box Top 100 11/21/70".
38. "Flashback: Lyle Lovett Duets With Tammy Wynette on 'Stand By Your Man'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
39. "RPM Country Tracks". RPM. January 24, 1994. Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
40. "The Best Songs of 1999".
41. "Carrie Underwood Entertains The Opry With Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man"". countrymusicfamily.com. 8 March 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
42. Virtel, Louis (9 November 2012). ""Watch: Gay Country Artist Drake Jensen Covers "Stand By Your Man" With Willam Belli"". AfterElton.com. Retrieved 13 April 2023.^{[dead link‍]}
43. 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.