Years later, with fences mended, Jones apologized to Killen for showing up at the “White Lightning” session in such a horrible condition. In George’s autobiography “I Lived To Tell It All,” he claims that he doesn’t remember the session at all and asked Buddy how many times they had to re-do the song. Reportedly, Killen said, “over 80 times, 83 to be exact.” Well, personally, I think Buddy was just trying to be funny and sarcastic at the same time by picking an unrealistic number. Producer Don Pierce’s remembrance of eleven takes with the third one selected is more believable.
“White Lightning” entered Billboard’s country singles chart on March 9, 1959 and ascended to the number one position on April 13th. It also provided Jones his best showing (of five appearances) on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart at #73. In country, the record remained at the top for five weeks (whereas “He Stopped Loving Her Today” held the summit for just one week).
Two years later, George Jones achieved his greatest chart success with “Tender Years,” which held the number one position for seven non-consecutive weeks beginning August 21, 1961 and set the standard for his terrific ballads that were to become the hallmark of his career.