If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time

"If You've Got the Money (I've Got the Time)" is the 1950 country music debut single released by Lefty Frizzell on September 14, 1950. The song is the second song ever recorded by Lefty Frizzell during his very first session with Columbia Records in July 1950. The song rose to #1 and Lefty built on its success to create his very influential career.

Recording and composition

During a show there, Jim Beck, owner of a local recording studio, was starting to take notice of Frizzell. Beck had deals with several major record producing labels and maintained connections with the many publishers. Impressed with Frizzell's performance, he invited him to make a free demo at the studio. In April 1950, he cut several demos of Frizzell singing his own songs, including "If You've Got the Money (I've Got the Time)", which Beck took to Nashville where he pitched it to Little Jimmy Dickens, who disliked the song. However, Columbia Records producer Don Law heard the cut and liked it. After hearing Lefty in concert, he signed the singer and recorded him for the first time.

The first session was held on July 25, 1950 in the Jim Beck Studio in Dallas, Texas. There he recorded 4 songs, the first: I Love You a Thousand Ways, which was written by Lefty as a letter to his newly wed wife during his incarceration in 1947. The next cut was If You've Got the Money, a jumping honky-tonk tune written by Frizzell and Frizzell's then manager and studio owner, Jim Beck. The songs were released together as a double-sided single on September 14, 1950.

Personnel

• Lefty Frizzell
• Norman Stevens
• Jimmie Curtis
• Bobby Williamson
• Pee Wee Stewart
• Madge Sutee

Success

The single stayed at No. 1 for three weeks on the Most Played C&W Jukebox Records and peaked at number two on the C&W Best Seller list. The Frizzell recording spent 22 weeks on the country chart.^[1] It has since become one of Frizzell's most popular and well-known songs.

Cover versions

• In 1950, June Hutton recorded a version with the Lee Gordon Singers (Decca 27329).^[2]
• In 1976, Willie Nelson took his version to No. 1 on the country chart, where it was his second solo release to reach No. 1.^[3]
• In 2012, it appeared on The Little Willies album For the Good Times.
• In 2015, it was the first track on Jacob Tovar and the Saddle Tramps self-titled debut album.

References