"A Woman's Hand" is a song written by

Jan Crutchfield Jan Crutchfield (February 26, 1938 – October 30, 2012) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He is best known for writing " Statue of a Fool", which was first recorded in 1969 by Jack Greene and was a No. 1 hit on the Hot Coun ...

. It was 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, ...

singer

Barbara Fairchild Barbara Fairchild (born November 12, 1950) is an American country and gospel singer, who is best known for her hit 1973 country song " Teddy Bear Song" and other country hits. Biography Early life and beginnings in Nashville Fairchild was born ...

and 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 1969. Her version entered the top 70 of the US country songs chart. It was notably recorded by American country singer

Jean Shepard Ollie Imogene "Jean" Shepard (November 21, 1933 – September 25, 2016), was an American country singer who was considered one of the genre's first significant female artists. Her commercial success ran from the 1950s to the 1970s while also be ...

whose version was released as a separate single in 1970. Shepard's version reached the top 30 of the US country chart. Both songs appeared on individual studio albums by each recording artist.

Barbara Fairchild version

In 1972, Barbara Fairchild topped the country charts and crossed over to the pop charts with "

The Teddy Bear Song "Teddy Bear Song" is a 1973 single written by Don Earl and Nick Nixon, and made famous by country music vocalist Barbara Fairchild. Released in December 1972, the song was Fairchild's only No. 1 song on the ''Billboard magazine'' Hot Country Sin ...

". Prior to that, Fairchild had a series of charting singles following signing with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. Among them was 1969's "A Woman's Hand". The

-penned tune was recorded in June 1969 at the

Columbia Studios Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film production and distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. The session was produced by

Billy Sherrill Billy Norris Sherrill (November 5, 1936 – August 4, 2015) was an American record producer, songwriter, and arranger associated with country artists, notably Tammy Wynette and George Jones. Sherrill and business partner Glenn Sutton are regar ...

. The song was released by Columbia Records in July 1969 and was backed on the

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 ...

by the song "Got a Chance and I Took It". ''

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 ...

'' magazine predicted the song would soon enter its country chart in their July 26 issue. Their prediction was proven when Fairchild's version of the song reached number 66 on the US ''Billboard''

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 along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart. It was Fairchild's second song to enter the ''Billboard'' country chart. It was then included on Fairchild's 1970 debut studio album ''Someone Special''.

Track listings

;7" vinyl single * "A Woman's Hand" – 2:27 * "Got a Chance and I Took It" – 2:15

Charts

Jean Shepard version

Jean Shepard's version of "A Woman's Hand" was the highest-peaking on the US country chart. Beginning in the 1950s and ending in the 1970s, Jean Shepard went on to have 20 years of success as a commercial country singer. This began with songs during country music's

honky tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, honky tonk, or tonk) is either a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons or the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ...

era and scoring a comeback in the middle sixties. Her singles reached progressively lower positions until her resurgence with the 1969 top 20 song "

Seven Lonely Days "Seven Lonely Days" is a song written by Earl Shuman, Alden Shuman, and Marshall Brown (musician), Marshall Brown. It was originally recorded by American singer Georgia Gibbs with orchestra conducted by Glenn Osser and the Yale Bros. choir in Dec ...

" and followed by the top ten "

Then He Touched Me "Then He Touched Me" is a song originally recorded by American country singer Jean Shepard. Written by George Richey and Norro Wilson (incorrectly labeled as "Norris Wilson" on the single), it reached the top ten of the US country chart and was nom ...

". Shepard's next four releases reached top 40 country chart positions including "A Woman's Hand". Shepard's version was produced by Larry Butler in July 1969 at the Columbia Studio in Nashville, Tennessee. The song was described by ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' magazine as an "

ode An ode (from ) is a type of lyric poetry, with its origins in Ancient Greece. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structu ...

". "A Woman's Hand" was released as a single in March 1970 by Capitol Records. It was issued as a seven-inch vinyl single. On its

was the song "What Went Wrong". ''Cash Box'' magazine predicted the song would be "a biggie" in terms of commercial success. ''Billboard'' magazine predicted the song would place in the top 20 of their country singles chart. Despite this prediction, "A Woman's Hand" peaked outside the top 20, reaching the number 23 position on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart in 1970. It was then included in Shepard's 1970 studio album of the same name.

Track listings

;7" vinyl single * "A Woman's Hand" – 2:21 * "What Went Wrong" – 1:57

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woman's Hand 1969 singles 1970 singles Capitol Records singles Columbia Records singles Barbara Fairchild songs Jean Shepard songs Song recordings produced by Larry Butler (producer) Songs written by Jan Crutchfield