Clint Black [A] Better Man stock 45 MIA?

Clint Black's first RCA single release is a bit of a mystery.

The promo 45 is titled Better Man The album version [and
presumably the stock 45] added an "A" to the title A Better
Man

The promo 45 [2:52] is an edit of the album version
[3:03] The edit excised a repeat of the title line and brief
instrumental break near the end of the song.

I've never seen a stock 45. The Joel Whitburn Top Country
Singles books list it as A Better Man b/w Winding Down.
[RCA 8781] However on both the Billboard and Radio &
Records charts the title was listed as just Better Man

The song was also issued as the "B" side of Clint's 2nd single
Killin' Time. For that stock 45 release it was titled A Better
Man and the timing is listed as the 2:52 edited version. Do
not have a copy to confirm the timing.

To my knowledge the single edit has never been released on a
commercial CD or digital download. Released prior to the
country record industry regularly issuing promo CD singles to
country radio, the Better Man single edit was included as
the 2nd track on a 3 track RCA promo CD Cow Cow Boogie
VI [RCA 9661-2-RDJ] with Hey Bobby [single edit] by K.T.
Oslin & Paid The Price by Jo-el Sonnier.

To date no scan of the stock 45 label has been posted online but
I believe it exists for three reasons:

1) Vinyl jukeboxes were still pervasive in 1989 so I'm skeptical
that RCA would not make that single available as a stock 45.

2) Joel Whitburn's Top Country Singles books all list the stock
45. My understanding is that Joel's archive include copies of
every 45 in his books. Perhaps esteemed contributor Paul
Haney at Record Research could provide some clarity about this
record.

3) Tim Neely's Country & Western Price Guide book [2001
edition] lists the stock 45 but with this notation: Mysteriously,
this seems to be quite scarce as a stock 45..."

Neely cites it as "scarce" rather than it does not exist.

The 45cat site shows the "Better Man" promo 45 - but no stock
version is listed.

Discogs does not list a U.S. stock 45 but it does show scans for
the Canadian 45 titled "A Better Man." However the listed
time is the same as the album version 3:03 and I'll Be
Gone is the B side rather than Winding Down.

https://www.discogs.com/release/10514021-Clint-Black-A-
Better-Man

Appreciate any additional info on this 45.

Edited by CountryPD

Bill:

Many thanks for adding to the discussion. The retail component
is definitely another aspect. In mid-1989 it would be unthinkable
for a #1 country single to be unavailable for sale to the public or
jukebox operators.

RCA Nashville put on a major push to launch Clint's career and
break his first record. Joe Galante and his promotion team
traveled the country in a tour bus to play Clint's music for
programmers. My station was included on that tour. After those
extensive efforts not issuing a stock 45 for his first release
makes little sense. Unless the cassette single was intended to
replace the 45 release. But jukeboxes can't play cassettes.

That said it is also odd that no stock 45's seem to ever show up
on used vinyl sites and no collectors have added label scans to
the 45cat or Discogs sites.

I just visited the Record Research collection and we have the promo 45 (RCA 8781) simply titled "Better Man." I can't
remember who gave us info. on the (alleged) stock copy of the single, but I've also never actually seen one, so maybe it
really doesn't exist. At any rate, the song was clearly meant to be titled "A Better Man" so that is what we show in
the book.

To get the record label perspective I contacted a friend that was an
RCA Nashville promotion exec at the time of Clint's debut single.
This is his recollection concerning that release:

"....the internal feeling at RCA for marketing reasons....many
debut singles were not made available because it was felt the
sales would bastardize the potential sales of the album when it hit
retail.
Album sales were the driving revenue for our business. By the
time Clint hit the marketplace, 45's were insignificant and mainly
loss leaders."