 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2021) |
| "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Kitty Wells | ||||
| B-side | "I Don't Want Your Money, I Want Your Time" | |||
| Released | June 23, 1952 | |||
| Recorded | May 3, 1952[1] | |||
| Studio | Castle Studio (Nashville, Tennessee) | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:38 | |||
| Label | Decca 28232 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | J. D. "Jay" Miller | |||
| Producer(s) | Paul Cohen | |||
| Kitty Wells singles chronology | ||||
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"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" is a 1952 country song written by J. D. "Jay" Miller, and recorded by Kitty Wells. It was an answer song to the Hank Thompson hit "The Wild Side of Life." First performed by Al Montgomery as "Did God Make Honky Tonk Angels" on the Feature label which was owned by songwriter J.D. Miller.[2]
The song — which blamed unfaithful men for creating unfaithful women[3] — became the first No. 1 Billboard country hit for a solo woman artist. In addition to helping establish Wells as country music's first major woman star, "It Wasn't God..." paved the way for other women artists, particularly Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette and Jean Stafford (Australia),[3] and songs where women call out unfaithful men.
In 1998, the 1952 recording of the song by Wells on the Decca label was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[4]
It was preserved by the National Recording Registry in 2007.
- ^ "Kitty Wells". 1976. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
- ^ "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels | Songs with Earlier Histories Than the Hit Version". 19 May 2015.
- ^ a b Brian Mansfield. "Kitty Wells | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
- ^ https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#i [bare URL]