Recorded on This Day in 1954, George Jones’ Debut Country Song—the First of Over 900 Recordings From His Illustrious Career

George Jones recorded his debut single, “No Money in This Deal,” on this day in 1954. Though the song didn’t catapult him to national success, it did earn him name recognition around Texas. That regional buzz eventually set Jones up for international stardom. Learn more about the recording session for “No Money in This Deal,” and the other hit he recorded on the same day, below.

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[RELATED: On This Day in 2025, Country Music Said Goodbye to the George Jones Duet Partner Who Found Solo Fame in the 70s Before Penning Songs for Legendary Artists]

George Jones’ Debut Country Song

Jones recorded “No Money in This Deal” in Beaumont, Texas, for Starday Records on January 19, 1954. The song lived heavily in the honky tonk world, playing into Jones’ roots.

But you can sit down in the park / Do some lovin’ in the dark / But to me you don’t appeal / ‘Cause there ain’t no money in this deal, Jones sings in the chorus of this early ’50s hit.

Despite the success of this song, Jones later called it “junk.” He found it too common for his tastes in the latter days of his career.

“Oh, it was just one of them stupid things you write at the time,” Jones once said. “Bunch of junk. It didn’t seem like junk so much back in those days, but it would be junk today.”

He later commented elsewhere on the quality of the recordings themselves.

“Well, the first days were rough,” he once said. “You know, the early days we recorded for Starday Records, and really it was a terrible sound. We recorded in a small living room of a house on a highway near Beaumont. You could hear the trucks. We had to stop a lot of times because it wasn’t soundproof, it was just eight crates nailed on the wall, in the big old semi trucks would go by and make a lot of noise, and we’d have to start over again.”

Despite the rough quality, these songs became integral to Jones’ future success.

“Play It Cool, Man”

Jones also recorded another song in the same session: “Play It Cool, Man.” This song has a notable rockabilly flavor, indicative of the brief move in this direction Jones took at the beginning of his career.

Now, if you think she’s flipping /Round like a fish that’s out of his pool / Don’t you fret or get all wet / Play it cool, man, play it cool, the lyrics read.

Though Jones wouldn’t adopt this sonic direction in the more famous years of his career, it caught listeners’ attention in the early ’50s, helping push Jones even further into the spotlight.

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)