"Right or Wrong" or "Right or Wrong (I'll Be with You)" is a song written and originally recorded by

Wanda Jackson Wanda LaVonne Jackson (born October 20, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Since the 1950s, she has recorded and released music in the genres of rock, country and gospel. She was among the first women to have a career in rock and roll, ...

, an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, and

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely aroun ...

artist. Originally, the song was a major country and pop hit for Jackson in 1961. A second version was released in 1964 that became popular by American pop artist,

Ronnie Dove Ronnie may refer to: * Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadiu ...

Wanda Jackson version

The song was recorded at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio on October 28, 1960 in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and was produced by Ken Nelson. It was one of Jackson's first recording sessions in Nashville. "Right or Wrong" was officially issued as a single in April 1961, peaking at number nine on the ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the musi ...

'' Hot Country and Western Sides chart. It also reached number twenty nine on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming her second top-forty single on that list. Thirdly, the single peaked at number nine on the ''Billboard''

Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by stat ...

chart, her first entry on to the chart. "Right or Wrong" became the second top-ten country single of Jackson's career. "Right or Wrong" is associated with Wanda Jackson's "comeback" into mainstream

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. After a series of

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

-styled singles during the late 1950s, Jackson ultimately reverted to country and claimed to have lost her "rock" audience. She explained her reasoning to this switch in the book, ''Finding Her Voice: Women in Country Music'', stating, "Then country music began comin' back, and I had written a ballad called 'Right or Wrong' and it became a big hit...I think that when I went back to country I lost my rock and roll fans."

Chart performance

Ronnie Dove version

In 1964, American performer,

, recorded Jackson's composition. The song was recorded at the RCA Studio B in

in September 1964. Also included on the recording session was Dove's minor hit, "

Hello Pretty Girl "Hello Pretty Girl" is Ronnie Dove's fourth single for Diamond Records, and his third chart hit. Written by Tommy Boyce and Wes Farrell, it peaked at number 54 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart. In January 1965, Ronnie performed the song on ...

". According to Ronnie,

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

sat in on the session and advised him to add the high note at the end of the song.
Dove's version was officially released as a single in October 1964 and it peaked at number fourteen on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song became Dove's first major hit as a recording artist, leading to a string of successful top-twenty hits on the Hot 100 during the 1960s. The song also became a surprise R&B hit, making it in the Top 5 in Cashbox (Billboard was not printing R&B charts at this time). It was his only charting record on the R&B chart. He re-recorded the song in 1976 for Melodyland Records. This country version did not chart.

Chart performance

References

{{Wanda Jackson 1961 singles Wanda Jackson songs Song recordings produced by Ken Nelson (American record producer) Ronnie Dove songs 1961 songs 1964 singles Capitol Records singles Songs written by Wanda Jackson