"If Teardrops Were Silver" is a song written by Don Wayne that 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

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 ...

. 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 ...

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

in 1966, reaching the US country top ten that year. It received positive responses from '' Cashbox'' and ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' magazines. It was included on her 1967 studio album of a ''Heart, We Did All That We Could''.

Background, recording and content

Jean Shepard had nearly 20 years of commercial success in the country field, beginning in the 1950s

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. She topped the charts with

Ferlin Husky Ferlin Eugene Husky (December 3, 1925 – March 17, 2011) was an American country music singer who was equally adept at honky-tonk, ballads, spoken recitations, rockabilly and pop tunes. From 1948 to 1953, he recorded under the stage name Terry ...

on "

A Dear John Letter "A Dear John Letter", or "Dear John" is a popular country music song written by Billy Barton, Fuzzy Owen and Lewis Talley. It was popularized by Ferlin Husky and Jean Shepard, and was a crossover country-pop hit in 1953. The song played on the c ...

" and reached the top ten as a solo artist with "

A Satisfied Mind "A Satisfied Mind" is a country music song written by Joe "Red" Hayes and Jack Rhodes. Hayes explained the origin of the song in an interview: "The song came from my mother. Everything in the song are things I heard her say over the years. I put ...

" and " Beautiful Lies". After several years of declining popularity she had a comeback in 1964 with the top ten single "

Second Fiddle (To an Old Guitar) "Second Fiddle (To an Old Guitar)" is a song written by Betty Amos that was originally recorded by American country singer Jean Shepard. It was released as a single by Capitol Records in 1964, reaching the top five of the US Country chart. The son ...

". A series of top 40 singles followed in the 1960s, including the top ten recording "If Teardrops Were Silver" The ballad's theme centered on heartbreak and was composed by Don Wayne. The song was produced by Marvin Hughes in December 1965 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 ...

Release, critical reception and chart performance

"If Teardrops Were Silver" was released as a single by Capitol Records in June 1966. It was distributed by the label as a seven-inch vinyl single. On its

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 ...

was the song "Outstanding in Your Field". It received positive reception from ''

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 who called the song "very pretty" and "bittersweet". ''

'' also praised the tune, writing, "Clever torch song should turn into one of Jean's biggest to date. Pretty song, pretty singing." "If Teardrops Were Silver" reached number ten on the US ''

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 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 became her eighth single to place in the ''Billboard'' country top ten. In 1967, it was included on her studio album '' Heart, We Did All That We Could''.

Track listings

;7" vinyl single * "If Teardrops Were Silver" – 2:07 * "Outstanding in Your Field" – 2:17

Charts

References

{{authority control 1966 singles 1966 songs Capitol Records singles Jean Shepard songs Songs written by Don Wayne (songwriter)