"I Wouldn't Be a Man" is a song written by Mike Reid and

Rory Bourke Rory Michael Bourke (born July 14, 1942 in Cleveland, Ohio is an American country music songwriter and music publisher. Bourke moved to Nashville in 1964 and worked for a period in the promotional department of Mercury Records. His songwrit ...

. Originally recorded by

Don Williams Donald Ray Williams (May 27, 1939 – September 8, 2017) was an American country singer, songwriter, and 2010 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He began his solo career in 1971, singing popular ballads and amassing seventeen number ...

, it has also been covered by

Billy Dean William Harold Dean Jr. (born April 2, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He first gained national attention after appearing on the television talent competition ''Star Search''. Active as a recording artist since 1990, h ...

and

Josh Turner Joshua Otis Turner (born November 20, 1977) is an American country and gospel singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to MCA Nashville Records. That same year, his debut album's title track, "Long Black Train", was his breakthrough single r ...

. Williams's version of the song was a Top Ten country hit in late 1987–early 1988, while versions by Dean and Turner also charted.

Don Williams version

Williams' version of the song appears on his 1987 album ''Traces'' for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. It was released as a single in October of that year and his version peaked at number nine on the Hot Country Singles (now

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

) charts published by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', and number seven on the Canadian country music charts published by ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

''.

Chart positions

Billy Dean version

recorded the song for his 1996 album '' It's What I Do'', also released through Capitol Records. His version of the song was the third single from it, spending fourteen weeks on the country charts and peaking at number 45 by January 1997.Whitburn, p. 119

Background

In October 1996, Dean told ''Billboard'' magazine that he chose to cut the song because he thought that it was different from the material that he had cut before; he called it a "one-on-one, man-to-woman song". He recorded the vocals in one take. He also said that he had heard Mike Reid, the original co-writer, sing it and it "knocked imout". Richard Murray directed the video for Dean's version.

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of ''

'' magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that the tune boasts a "romantic lyric and wistful melody." She goes on to call Dean's rendition "bluesier" than Williams' "straight-ahead country cut." She says that while it is impossible to top Williams' original "sensitive rendering", Dean manages to do a "more-than-adequate job" of bringing the song back to life.

Music video

The music video was directed by Richard Murray and premiered in late 1996.

Chart positions

"I Wouldn't Be a Man" debuted at number 69 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of November 2, 1996.

Josh Turner version

In late September 2010,

Universal Music Group Nashville Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records Nashv ...

announced that

's version of the song would be the third single from his album '' Haywire''. He began filming the music video for it on September 27, 2010, under the direction of

Peter Zavadil Peter Zavadil is an American music video director who works primarily in the field of country music. He has directed many music videos since the late 1990s. He has won the Country Music Association Award for Video of the Year twice from seven nomin ...

. The song debuted at number 56 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart the week of November 13, 2010.

Critical reception

Juli Thanki of Engine 145 thought that Turner's rendition of the song sounded like he was "phoning it in". Bobby Peacock of Roughstock rated it 4 stars out of 5, saying that Turner "finds the right balance of emotions". He also thought that it was better than both Williams' and Dean's versions.

Music video

The music video was directed by Peter Zavadil and premiered in late 2010.

Chart positions

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1987 singles 1996 singles 2010 singles Don Williams songs Billy Dean songs Josh Turner songs Songs written by Mike Reid (singer) Songs written by Rory Bourke Music videos directed by Peter Zavadil Song recordings produced by Garth Fundis Song recordings produced by Tom Shapiro Song recordings produced by Frank Rogers (record producer) Capitol Records Nashville singles MCA Nashville Records singles Country ballads 1987 songs