APPRECIATION: SHE STOOD BY HER FANS.

Byline: - Gene Harbrecht

``Stand By Your Man.''

It was the song that defined Tammy Wynette to her public. Indeed, it was the song that made her famous - the first lady of country music, it's said. But she was much more than that, and in the end, the song became as much a curse for Wynette as it was a blessing.

She was the quintessential Southern lady. Sweet as magnolia blossoms and as gracious as the day was long, a former beautician who made the big time. I met her once, briefly, at a Nashville, Tenn., publicity function and, aside from her beauty, I was struck by that graciousness. She didn't know me, and she had no real cause to pay me any mind, yet she spoke with me more like friend to friend than star to press.

But you didn't want to get on her bad side. After all, through five marriages, her hit ``D-I-V-O-R-C-E'' was more definining than the song she was famous for.

And that song got her in some scrapes, as well. When Hillary Rodham Clinton invoked it during the 1992 presidential campaign, saying she wasn't just standing by her man out of some ill-conceived sense of feminine duty, Wynette lashed out, saying she and every country music fan in America were insulted.

Mrs. Clinton apologized, and Wynette ended up embracing the ticket, but it became a rare public glimpse into the soul of a woman who was tougher than most people gave her credit for.

She had to be. She had a history of serious health problems, but managed to maintain her career and an often grueling touring schedule.

In one of her most recent appearances at the Crazy Horse in Orange County in 1996, Wynette stood up and sang for 45 minutes despite being flu-ridden and virtually voiceless. Sadly, in later years, illness was more the norm for her than the exception.

And it's that stubborn, fighting spirit I will remember. A story often associated with former husband George Jones puts it into perspective.

Tiring of his too-frequent nights on the town drinking, she hid his car keys. Legend has it he was so desperate he drove the John Deere into town one night. Folks all thought Jones got the last laugh. But Wynette survived and thrived after that marriage, and laughed about that story in later years. She assured me with a twinkle in her eye that she never fell for the same trick twice.

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Photo

Photo: Country singer Tammy Wynette, shown in a 1989 photo, died Monday at age 55.

Associated Press