Jim cut a beautiful version of "Welcome To My World" with the cascading strings but RCA wouldn't release it as a single as they thought it was too "pop." They vacillated between wanting him to be a country and a pop artist. Reeves was infuriated by their refusal to release the song on a 45, so he re-cut it and that version was definitely inferior; very lifeless.
Things came to loggerheads for Jim and RCA as 1963 came to a close, and although they released his original version of "Welcome To My World" in early 1964, and it charted all over the world, Jim boycotted sessions. He was unhappy with the label's lack of promotional support (he had to buy 1000 copies of each of his releases from them and send them to deejays himself), and he was infuriated when he saw a full page ad for John Gary (a fellow RCA artist) which the label had placed.
So he boycotted sessions for months and refused to record anymore for them. New York panicked and assigned about the only member of senior management that Jim still trusted, to deal with the recalcitrant artist. Finally, their differences were settled, and Reeves signed a 5-year renewal of his contract, guaranteeing him $50,000 a year.
He was pleased with that, so returned to the studio in late May 1964 to resume recording some singles and an album.
It was the fact that Jim was going to have an influx of money into his account that he went on a property buying spree. He found a ranch in Texas and put money down on it; he went to Arkansas to look at the possibility of acquiring some land as a hunting and fishing resort. He was killed on the way home.
As for the other songs you mentioned, Chet Atkins told me one day on the golf course that "Jim was always recording songs and then deciding he didn't like them." That's why some weren't released in his lifetime. In other instances he would re-record.
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