“How Much More Can She Stand”
Conway Twitty
Written by Harry Conton
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
Mary 8, 1971
When I wrote about one of my favorite Randy Travis hits, “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart,” I noted how effective he had to be as a singer to make the lousy narrator sound sympathetic.
Maybe he had this Conway Twitty masterclass in mind when he recorded that hit, because the guy in this song is flat out disgusting. No redeeming moral qualities. He’s determined to cheat and he’s going to just ask for preemptive forgiveness because it’s not really him cheating, you see. It’s the devil that’s making him do it, and he feels so bad for what the devil is doing to his woman. “How much more can she stand,” he wails, “and still stand by me?”
She shouldn’t stand another second.
But here I am, a middle-aged man with a successful professional career in 2025, and I’m ready to take Conway back like I’m a 1971 housewife who can’t legally open a bank account in my name. That’s how incredibly convincing his heartbroken vocal is on “How Much More Can She Stand.”
Another classic from one of the greatest to ever do it.
“How Much More Can She Stand” gets an A.
Every No. 1 Single of the Seventies
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