Goldband, 1962.
vinyl condition: G (some surface noise)
| Although Leon Ashley first performed on a local (Covington, Georgia) radio show at age nine, he didn’t released his first single until age 22 (in 1960 on Goldband Records.) Unfortunately, the song did not attract significant airplay nor did later releases on Imperial Records and Dot Records.
Four years later, Ashley founded his own label Ashley Records. The label's releases proved more successful than his releases on other labels with one Ashley Records release — LAURA (WHAT’S HE GOT THAT I AIN’T GOT) — becoming a number one country hit that year. This song made him the first country music artist "to write, record, release, distribute and publish his own material", according to Allmusic.
He had several more hit singles soon afterward, including duets with his wife Margie Singleton, as well as a duets album on the Ashley label. His chart success waned by 1969, however, and he shifted his focus to songwriting for other artists.
Leon never topped the success of LAURA. Brook Benton and Frankie Laine concurrently sent LAURA to the pop and A.C. charts in 1969, and Claude King sent a version to the lower regions of the country charts shortly after Ashley's version fell from the top of the charts. Marty Robbins also charted in 1973 with it, and Kenny Rogers sent a cover to No. 19 three years later.