Maps of Music

Stand by Your Man (1969)

Where the lyrics of Stand by Your Man take you, and where it was really made.

The title track was written during a 20-minute break in the session and later gave the album its name, yet Wynette did not like the finished song at first.

Key places

Where the album was recorded (1969)

Recording site Nashville — All sessions for the album were held at Columbia Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, between March and August 1968. Billy Sherrill produced the sessions. The marker sits at Nashville city center rather than at the exact studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Stand by Your Man: studio album by American country artist Tammy Wynette
• Released January 1969 on Epic Records, 11 tracks
• Fifth studio album of Wynette's career, named after its title track
• Title track became her signature song and most successful single
• Mostly original recordings, which was unusual for 1960s albums; several cover tunes also included
• Re-released several times in several formats

Background

• By 1969 Wynette's career as a country music artist was at its peak
• Four singles reached the top of the North American country charts between 1967 and 1969
• In 1968 Wynette and producer Billy Sherrill were recording material for what would become her fifth studio record
• The title song was composed during a break in the session and later named the album

Recording

• Sessions ran from March to August 1968 at Columbia Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee
• Billy Sherrill produced all sessions
• The title track was recorded the same day it was composed
• Other tracks include Wynette's self-composed 'I Stayed Long Enough'
• One cover song, 'It's My Way', was originally written and recorded by Webb Pierce, whose version charted in 1957

Cover

• Photography credited to Grine/New World on the 1969 version

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Early life

• Born Virginia Wynette Pugh on May 5, 1942, in Itawamba County, Mississippi.
• Raised by her mother, stepfather and maternal grandparents; picked cotton on the family farm as a child.
• Married Euple Byrd at age 17; divorced in 1965.

Formation

• Moved to Nashville in 1966 and signed with Epic Records, produced by Billy Sherrill.
• Debut single "Apartment No. 9" (1966) reached number 44 on the US country chart.

Career

• Twenty singles topped the US country chart, including "Stand by Your Man" and "D-I-V-O-R-C-E".
• Joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1969 and won two Grammy Awards.
• Recorded numerous duets with George Jones before their divorce in 1975.
• Returned as a solo headliner and continued charting into the 1980s.
• Collaborated with KLF on "Justified and Ancient" (1991) and with Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton on Honky Tonk Angels (1993).
• Died April 6, 1998, in Nashville at age 55.

Legacy

• Estimated 30 million records sold worldwide; inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Epic Records issued the title track as a single in September 1968, ahead of the album
• Three months later the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart
• The album came out in January 1969 as a vinyl LP and a cassette, with five songs on side A and six on side B
• Wynette's 1969 album was reportedly the source of her highest-peaking Billboard 200 position

Reappraisal

• AllMusic's Greg Adams gave the re-released CD version five stars
• Adams said the album was consistent by 1960s standards, but its commercial importance was tied more to the title track than to its overall quality
• Rolling Stone named the album among its '50 Country Albums Every Rock Fan Should Own' in 2020, ranking it at number 23
• Marissa Moss wrote that Wynette conveyed emotion through restrained delivery rather than precise phrasing

Records

• Billboard Country LP chart: number two in April 1969
• Billboard 200: number 43 around the same time, her highest-peaking album on that chart
• UK all-genre albums chart: number 13 in 1975

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title track was written during a 20-minute break for the studio session musicians.
• Wynette disliked the finished song and feared it would hurt record sales, but later gave in to Sherrill's insistence on a single release.
• Before this album, Wynette was known for songs with story lines about children.
• The title track became her highest-selling single and signature song.
• Her self-written 'I Stayed Long Enough' was recorded by Billie Jo Spears in 1970 and reached the top 40 of the American country chart.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

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