One of the most iconic country music songs in history was written in just 15 minutes, but caused years of controversy for the woman who performed it.
In 1968, Tammy Wynette and Billy Sherrill worked for a quarter of an hour on a song that would go on to define her career. "Stand By Your Man" reached number one on the Billboard Charts on December 3 of that year, according to American Songwriter.
She wrote the song during her third marriage to country legend George Jones (she would eventually marry five times). But eventually, the song's popularity was eclipsed by what some perceived as an anti-feminist message.
As the Women’s Liberation movement surged in the late ’60s and early ’70s, the song drew criticism for its message. Sherrill noted, via NPR, that an ad placed in Billboard by Wynette’s label Epic Records only cemented that reaction.
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"There was a full-page ad in the Billboard magazine taken out by Epic Records. 'Tammy Wynette's Answer to Women's Lib, Stand By Your Man, New Release,'" Sherrill said.
However, Wynette ultimately felt conflicted about the song. Rolling Stone shared her comments about the tune during an early 80s interview with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show.
"I have five girls, and I would by no means write anything that would belittle my girls," Wynette explained. "I just thought it was a pretty love song when I wrote it, and I’d like for a man to say ‘stand by your woman.'”
Additionally, Wynette told Melody Maker in September 1978 that Jones wasn't a fan of the song. "I didn't have a lot of faith in my own writing at the time... the song was really different from the rest I'd done. I went home and played it for George [Jones], and he didn't like it. He didn't know I'd written it. That kinda got me started off wrong."
Wide Open Country shared another one of Wynette's statements about the song, excerpted from her autobiography, Stand By Your Man. She wrote, "I don't see anything in that song that implies a woman is supposed to sit home and raise babies while a man goes out and raises hell. To me, it means: be supportive of your man; show him you love him, and you're proud of him, and be willing to forgive him if he doesn't always live up to your image of what he should be."
According to The Library of Congress, "Stand By Your Man" is one of the most recorded and performed songs in history. Performers such as Patti Page, Candi Station, Loretta Lynn, Kitty Wells, Mother Earth featuring Tracy Nelson, Bobby Vinton, Wanda Jackson, Lawrence Welk, Merlene Webber, and Lyle Lovett have had success with their versions of the song.
Tammy Wynette died in April 1998. She was 55.
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