Sherrill had carried the title in his pocket on a piece of paper for more than a year. He put it to good use at a Wynette recording session at Columbia’s Studio B on August 26, 1968. After cutting two songs, Sherrill gave the musicians (including The Jordanaires and steel guitarist Pete Drake) a 20-minute break, and went upstairs with Wynette to write one more tune, which was needed to fill out the session.
Billy suggested “Stand By Your Man,” and Tammy had an instant affinity for the concept. “We sat down, and after a couple of lines, it just came to us,” Tammy recalled. “It was one of the fastest songs I ever worked on. It was almost as if it was meant to be.”
The antagonistic response from the nation’s feminists actually helped gain publicity for the song after its release. In Dorothy Horstman’s book “Sing Your Heart Out, Country Boy,” Sherrill even admitted that he intended “Stand By Your Man” as a song for the women who wanted no part of the women’s movement. “I wanted a song for the truly liberated woman” he explained, “one who is secure enough in her identity to enjoy it.
Even though, to some skeptics it may hint of chauvinism, “Stand By Your Man” is just another way of saying ‘I love you – without reservations.’” “Stand By Your Man” was the standout track in a quintet of Wynette songs used in the 1970 Jack Nicholson movie “Five Easy Pieces.” The notes from the tune’s melody were also used in the design of the “burglar bars” on the windows of Tammy’s Nashville home, purchased in 1974.