It’s just the truth. This past weekend, Ella Langley headlined shows in Texas, and she broke out some classic country in Kitty Wells’ honky tonk heartbreaker “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.” It’s one of my all-time favorite classic country songs, and was the first-ever #1 Billboard country hit for a solo female artist. It was released in 1952 and written by J.D. Miller, and Kitty was reluctant to even record it because the content was quite suggestive for the time, but went ahead with it mainly because she wanted to get paid. I respect that. Her career wasn’t going quite the way she wanted it to at the time, and she was actually considering retirement because of it… she actually only agreed to do the session at Owen Bradley’s studio because of the $125 union scale recording payment. It definitely worked out for her though, because it basically launched her career and sent her into country music superstardom. Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn both credit her with being the greatest female country singer of all-time, and inspiring hem to start their own country music careers. And as it turns out, the song was created as a response to Hank Thompson’s 1952 song “The Wild Side Of Life”, where he laments his supposed cheating wife. In Thompson’s song, he sings: “I didn’t know God made honky tonk angels, I might have known you’d never make a wife, You gave up the only one that ever loved you, And went back to the wild side of life” The chorus in Wells’ version goes like this: “It wasn’t God who made honky tonk angels, As you wrote in the words of your song, Too many times married men think they’re still single, And that has caused many a good girl to go wrong” The searing, unapologetic sass in the chorus is genius. Ladies, how many times have you felt like the crazy one in a relationship when it turns out, you were right about whatever it was the entire time? We’ve probably all felt like that before, and this song sums up all those feelings perfectly. If women felt like that in the 50’s, don’t hold your breathe that it will ever change… but at least it makes for really good music. Ella’s voice sounds perfect for this song, and I would absolutely LOVE for her to cut it in the studio one day… it’s a timeless song and message, and she makes it sound just as perfect in 2025 as it did when it was released nearly 75 years ago. Do yourself a favor and check it out: @ellalangleyarchive new country singing old country @Ella Langley ♬ original sound – Ella Langley Archive Speaking of Ella, she just released a new song called “Choosin’ Texas,” which was co-written and produced by Miranda Lambert, and I’m obsessed. Check it out: “Choosin’ Texas” The post Ella Langley Delivers Flawless Rendition Of Kitty Wells’ Classic Country Hit, “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.