In the late 1940s, Wells had recorded on
RCA Victor, but had little success there. By 1952, she was recording on
Decca Records, and recorded "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" at her first recording session at
Castle Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. In
The Wild Side of Life, Thompson expresses regret his bride-to-be has left him for another man whom she met in a roadhouse, stating, "I didn't know that God made
honky tonk angels." That song and its appeal to people who "thought the world was going to hell and that faithless women deserved a good deal of the blame...just begged for an answer from a woman". The rebuttal song, as it turned out, was written by Jay Miller, although it was Wells who made it a hit. There was plenty of resistance to the song and its statement: the NBC radio network banned the song for being "suggestive," while Wells was prohibited from performing it on the
Grand Ole Opry and
NBC's "Prince Albert" radio program. Yet Wells struck a chord with her fans, as "It Wasn't God..." went to number one for six weeks on ''
Billboard's'' country charts. In topping the charts, Wells became the first woman to ever accomplish the feat, at least as a solo act; if all female singers are considered, then
Margaret Whiting gets the honor (in a 1949 duet No. 1 with
Jimmy Wakely called "Slippin' Around"). Wells was at first reluctant to record the song, but eventually agreed, if only to get the standard $125 session fee payment. Eventually, "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels" outsold Thompson's "The Wild Side of Life," and launched the then little-known Wells to stardom. Years later, Wells told an interviewer she was shocked over the song's success and endurance. "Women never had hit records in those days. Very few of them even recorded. I couldn't believe it happened," she said. In 2024,
Rolling Stone ranked the song at #11 on its 200 Greatest Country Songs of All Time ranking.
A familiar melody "The Wild Side of Life" and "It Wasn't God ..." are set to an apparently traditional tune used in the song "Thrills That I Can't Forget" recorded by Welby Toomey and Edgar Boaz in 1925, and more familiarly in the
Carter Family's "
I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes" recorded in February, 1929, as well as the Rev. Guy Smith's "
Great Speckled Bird"—popularized in 1936 by
Roy Acuff. In view of the common associations, the correspondence was hardly accidental. The connection between these songs is noted in the
David Allan Coe song "If That Ain't Country" that ends with the lyrics "I'm thinking tonight of my blue eyes/ Concerning a great speckled bird/ I didn't know God made honky-tonk angels/ and went back to the wild side of life." In addition to Wells' vocals, husband
Johnnie Wright played bass guitar and Jack Anglin played rhythm guitar.
Paul Warren played fiddle and Shot Jackson played steel guitar, traits prevalent on many of Wells' biggest hits.
Chart performance The song ranked #51 on ''
CMT's 100 Greatest Songs in Country Music'' in 2003. ==Cover versions==