"You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" is a song written and originally recorded by American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

artist

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

. It was released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in May 1966 via

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

. The song has since been regarded as one of Lynn's signature songs.

Background and reception

"You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" was recorded at the

Columbia Recording Studio Columbia Records is an American recor ...

in Nashville, Tennessee on November 15, 1965. The session was produced by the studio's co-founder, renowned country music producer

Owen Bradley William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician, bandleader and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was a chief architect of the 1950s and 60s Nashville sou ...

. Three additional tracks were recorded during this session, including the single's

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

, "God Gave Me a Heart to Forgive" and Lynn's hit single " Dear Uncle Sam". "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" was based on a real life woman Lynn had met backstage before a concert. In 2016, Lynn recounted that the woman confided in Lynn about how another woman attempted to steal her husband from her. In response to her words, Lynn replied, "Honey, she ain't woman enough to take your man!" Following the conversation, Lynn went into her dressing room and wrote the song. "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" reached number two on the ''

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 advertis ...

Hot Country Singles 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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

survey in 1966. The song became her eighth top ten single on the country chart and her biggest hit up to that point. It was included on her 1966 studio album, ''

You Ain't Woman Enough ''You Ain't Woman Enough'' is the seventh solo studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn. It was released on September 12, 1966, by Decca Records. It was Lynn's first No. 1 album on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Al ...

''.

Later versions

The song was performed by the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

several times in 1973. Sung by female vocalist of the band,

Donna Jean Godchaux Donna Jean Thatcher Godchaux-MacKay (born August 22, 1947) is an American singer best known as a member of the rock band the Grateful Dead from 1972 to 1979. In addition to the Dead, she performed with the Jerry Garcia Band and the short-lived ...

, it was never played over its original play length and was kept from becoming one of their extended jams.

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocated to Nashville, T ...

covered the song for her album '' Timeless''. The song has proved popular with southern soul artists with June Edwards (1968), Gloria Edwards (1978) and

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

(1979) recording three well known versions. A comedic version of the song was recorded for the 2005 film ''

Be Cool ''Be Cool'' is a 2005 American crime comedy film directed by F. Gary Gray and based on Elmore Leonard's 1999 novel, which was the sequel to Leonard's 1990 novel '' Get Shorty''. The movie is the sequel to the 1995 film adaptation of ''Get Sh ...

'' by

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...

, with the full music video viewable on the DVD extras and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Hayley Williams Hayley Nichole Williams (born December 27, 1988) is an American singer and songwriter. She is the lead vocalist and only constant member of the rock band Paramore, which she co-founded in 2004. Williams was born and raised in Meridian, Miss ...

, lead singer of rock band

Paramore Paramore is an American rock band formed in Franklin, Tennessee, in 2004. Since 2017, the band's lineup includes lead vocalist Hayley Williams, lead guitarist Taylor York, and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of ...

, has regularly performed the song while on tour; in 2010, Paramore recorded the song for the tribute album '' Coal Miner's Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn''. Also in 2010,

Lisa McHugh Lisa McHugh (born 16 August 1988) is a Scottish-Irish pop and country singer. She was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to Irish people, Irish parents. Her father is from Castlederg in County Tyrone and her mother is from Falcarragh in Cloughaneely, a ...

recorded the song for her album ''Old Fashioned Girl''. Lynn re-recorded the song as a duet with

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. During her career Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature into adulthood ...

for her final studio album '' Still Woman Enough'', released in 2021. Country music singer

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...

covered the song from the television special George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade All Star Concert.

Track listings

;7" vinyl single * "You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man)" – 2:11 * "God Gave Me a Heart to Forgive" – 2:54

Charts

Weekly charts

References

{{Loretta Lynn singles 1966 songs 1966 singles Decca Records singles Loretta Lynn songs Songs written by Loretta Lynn Song recordings produced by Owen Bradley