Country Music Memories: George Jones Earns First No. 1 Single
"White Lightning" was the title track from Jones' 1959 album, White Lightning and Other Favorites. Written by Jones' good friend JP Richardson (a.k.a. the Big Bopper), the tune was recorded only one week after Richardson's tragic death in the airplane crash that also killed Buddy Holly. Buddy Killen produced the recording session for "White Lightning," which took place at Owen Bradley’s Quonset Hut Studio, and he also played upright bass on the song. As Jones recalls in his 1997 memoir, I Lived to Tell It All, it took more than 80 takes to record "White Lightning" because he had arrived...
Source: wbktfm.com