It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels

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“It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”
“It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” cover
Single by Kitty Wells
Released June 1952 (U.S.)
Format 7", 78 rpm
Recorded May 3, 1952
Castle Studios,
Nashville, Tennessee
Genre Country
Length 2:33
Label Decca Records 28232
Writer(s) J.D. Miller
Producer Owen Bradley
Kitty Wells singles chronology
"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"
(1952)		 "Paying For That Back Street Affair"
(1953)

"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" is a 1952 country song written by J.D. Miller, and originally recorded by Kitty Wells. It was an answer song to the Hank Thompson hit "The Wild Side of Life."

The song — which blamed unfaithful men for creating unfaithful women[1] — became the first No. 1 Billboard country hit for a solo female artist. In addition to helping establish Wells as the country music's first major female star, "It Wasn't God ..." paved the way for other female artists, particularly Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette[1], and songs where women defied the typical stereotype of being submissive to men and putting up with their oft-infidel ways.

Contents

[edit] Song history

In the late 1940s, Wells had recorded on RCA Victor, but had little success there. By 1952, she was recording on Decca Records, and recorded "It Wasn't God ..." at her first recording session.[2]

In "The Wild Side of Life," Thompson expresses regret that his bride-to-be has left him for another man whom she met in a roadhouse, stating "I didn't know that God made honky tonk angels..." That song and its appeal to people who "thought the world was going to hell and that faithless women deserved a good deal of the blame ... just begged for an answer from a woman," wrote country music historian Paul Kingsbury.[3]

The rebuttal song, as it turned out, was written by a man, J.D. Miller, although it was a female (Wells) who sang the song.[3] In "It Wasn't God ..." – which follows the same melody, but more uptempo – she cites the original song and counters that, for every woman who had been led astray, it was a man who led her there (often through his own infidelity). She also expresses frustration about how women are always made scapegoats for the man's faults in a given relationship.

[edit] Reception

Wells' statement was a rather daring one to make in 1952, particularly in the conservative, male-dominated realm of country music; plus, women's liberation and their sentiments in song were still more than 10 years away[4]. There was plenty of resistance to the song and its statement: the NBC radio network banned the song for being "suggestive," while Wells was prohibited from performing it on the Grand Ole Opry and NBC's "Prince Albert" radio program.[3]

Yet, Wells struck a chord with her fans, as "It Wasn't God ..." became a six-week No. 1 song on Billboard magazine's country charts. In topping the charts, Wells became the first woman to ever accomplish the feat, at least as a solo act; if all female singers are considered, then Margaret Whiting gets the honor (in a 1949 duet No. 1 with Jimmy Wakely called "Slippin' Around").[5]

Ironically enough, Wells was at first reluctant to record the song, but eventually agreed ... if only to get the standard $125 session fee payment. Eventually, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels" outsold Thompson's "The Wild Side of Life," and launched the then little-known Wells into superstardom. Years later, Wells told an interviewer she was shocked over the song's success and endurance. "Women never had hit records in those days. Very few of them even recorded. I couldn't believe it happened," she said.[3]

Historian Charles Wolfe noted that "It Wasn't God ..." was one of the few notable exceptions to the rule of an answer song not enjoying the same success as the original.[6]

[edit] A familiar melody

The melody of both "The Wild Side of Life" and "It Wasn't God ..." is very similar to the Carter Family's "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" and the Rev. Guy Smith's "The Great Speckled Bird" (popularized by Roy Acuff).[7]

In addition to Wells' vocals, husband Johnnie Wright played bass guitar and Jack Anglin played rhythm guitar. Paul Warren played the fiddle and Shot Jackson played the steel guitar, traits that would be prevalent on many of Wells' biggest hits.[7][2]

[edit] Cover versions

Several cover versions of the song have been recorded, including the following:

[edit] Parody

The lyrics of "It Wasn't God ..." — along with those from "Wild Side," "Speckled Bird" and "Blue Eyes" — were included in David Allen Coe's novelty song, "If That Ain't Country." In mocking the similarities of the melodies of the four songs, he sings:

I'm thinking tonight of my blue eyes
Concerning the Great Speckled Bird
I didn't know God made Honky-Tonk Angels
And went back to the Wild Side of Life

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b [1] Mansfield, Brian and Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Kitty Wells biography at All Music Guide.
  2. ^ a b Davis, Bill and Ronnie Pugh of the Country Music Foundation, liner notes for From the Vaults: Decca Country Classics 1934-1973, 1994.
  3. ^ a b c d Kingsbury, Paul, "The Grand Ole Opry History of Country Music: 70 Years of the Songs, the Stars and the Stories," Opryland USA, Villard Books, Random House, New York, 1995.
  4. ^ Malone, Bill C., "Country Music USA," 2nd revised ed. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, 2002.
  5. ^ a b c Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006.
  6. ^ Kingsbury, Paul and Alanna Nash, eds., "Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music in America," DK Publishing, New York, 2006.
  7. ^ a b Malone, Bill, "Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection" ((booklet included with Classic Country Music: A Smithsonian Collection 4-disc set). Smithsonian Institution, 1990).
  8. ^ [2] Honky Tonk Angels at All Music Guide.

[edit] External links