This is the first recording of Buck Owens, who was playing lead guitar on this session for Forrest Lee Bibbee Sr. (Forrest Lee) and Clete Stewart.
the song was written by Forrest Lee and Clete, along with Buck.
You can see from this 1953 released 78 RPM record that the credits read 'Owens, Lee, and Stewart'.
9 years later, Buck Owens released the song as the Mexican Polka as an instrumental but removed the writer credits for Forrest Lee and Clete Stewart. The Mexican Polka aka When I Hold You was again released on the album "Instrumental Hits of Buck Owens and his Buckaroos"
and once again, Buck took all the writing credit. leaving Forrest and Clete nothing from their composition.
(For those who may not know songwriter royalty laws. Once a song is co-written, all writers split the royalties evenly. So it was illegal for Mr Owens to omit the other writers' shares.)
Forrest Lee Bibbee Sr. is the lead singer on this track. and was the primary artist. Forrest Lee had a radio show on KXLA in Pasadena, CA, from 1953-1955. You'll also notice that one picture from the radio station ptomo shot is the earliest known picture of Wynn Stewart. Wynn, along with Billy Dee, was a guest of Forrest's radio show. That picture is in the Bakersfield Exhibit at the Country Music Hall Of Fame in Nashville, TN..
After this recording, Forrest hired Eddie Cochran to play lead guitar in his band. Eddie Cochran and eventually Hank Cochran (no relation) were both playing with Forrest and Clete on shows booked by Virginia Richmond, as well as shows such as Town Hall Party. Which was a package show by KXLA radio. They played American Legion halls and shows all over California.
In late 1954, Forrest Lee decided his new guitarist needed the best professional guitar available and purchased Eddie Cochran, one of the very first Gretsch 6120 guitars made from Bell Gardens Music, in Garden Grove, CA. Eddie paid Forrest $12.50 per week, out of his weekly salary playing for Forrest Lee and Clete Stewart.
Forrest remained friends with Hank Cochran for the decades after Eddie's untimely death in an automobile accident in England on April 17th, 1960.