George Jones initially refused to record "She Thinks I Still Care," the song that would go on to become one of his signature hits and a country music standard. The episode illustrates how even accomplished artists can misjudge material that later defines their career, and underscores the persistence of producers and publishers in shaping popular music history.

Jones encountered the song while working at Gulf Coast Recording Studio in Beaumont, Texas, where studio operator Bill Hall and producer "Cowboy" Jack Clement repeatedly played him a demo written by contract songwriters Dickie Lee Lipscomb and Steve Duffy. Jones repeatedly dismissed the track, complaining about its lyrical hook and instead trying to buy the tape recorder used to play it, until Hall struck a deal offering him the recorder if he agreed to record the song. Released in April 1962 as Jones's first single after moving to United Artists Records, "She Thinks I Still Care" topped the country charts for six weeks and stayed on the chart for a further seventeen, becoming one of his biggest hits.