It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels

The 2nd of 3 is for the women’s side.

It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” is a 1952 country song written by J. D. “Jay” 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 — 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, and Tammy Wynette, and songs where women call out unfaithful men.

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 Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” at her first recording session.

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