""White Lightning"" was released in February 1959, and became a #1 hit written by a close-friend of Jones', who wrote a Top 10 for Jones the previous year. The Big Bopper wrote the song and included on his only LP release. Jones asked his manager, H.W. "Pappy" Daily, if he could record it, and requested that he give it to nobody else. Jones recorded the song in September 1958 at the Bradley Film and Recording Studio in Nashville. It was released as a single three days after Richardson (The Bopper) died in a plane crash.