"I Wouldn't Be a Man" | ||||
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Single by Don Williams | ||||
from the album Traces | ||||
B-side | "The Light in Your Eyes" | |||
Released | October 1987 | |||
Format | CD single | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 3:21 | |||
Label | Capitol Nashville | |||
Writer(s) |
Mike Reid Rory Michael Bourke |
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Producer(s) | Don Williams Garth Fundis |
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Don Williams singles chronology | ||||
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"I Wouldn't Be a Man" | ||||
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Single by Billy Dean | ||||
from the album It's What I Do | ||||
Released | October 21, 1996 | |||
Format | CD single | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 4:24 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Writer(s) | Mike Reid Rory Michael Bourke |
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Producer(s) |
Tom Shapiro Nancy H. Williams |
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Billy Dean singles chronology | ||||
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"I Wouldn't Be a Man" | ||||
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Single by Josh Turner | ||||
from the album Haywire | ||||
Released | October 25, 2010 | |||
Format | Music download | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 3:32 | |||
Label | MCA Nashville | |||
Writer(s) | Mike Reid Rory Michael Bourke |
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Producer(s) | Frank Rogers | |||
Josh Turner singles chronology | ||||
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"I Wouldn't Be a Man" is a song written by Mike Reid and Rory Michael Bourke. Originally recorded by Don Williams, it has also been released as a single by Billy Dean, and covered by Josh Turner. 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.
Williams' version of the song appears on his 1987 album Traces for Capitol Records. 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) charts published by Billboard, and number seven on the Canadian country music charts published by RPM.
Billy Dean 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 year's end.
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 [him] out". Richard Murray directed the video for Dean's version.
Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard 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.
The music video was directed by Richard Murray and premiered in late 1996.
"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.