I Forgot to Remember to Forget

"I Forgot to Remember to Forget"
Single by Elvis Presley
from the album The Sun Sessions
B-side	"Mystery Train"
Released	August 20, 1955
Format	7" vinyl 45
Recorded	Sun Studios 1955
Genre	country[1]
Length	2:28
Label	Sun 223
Writer(s)	Charlie Feathers and Stan Kesler
Producer(s)	Sam Phillips

"I Forgot to Remember to Forget" is a country song written by Stan Kesler and Charlie Feathers. It was recorded at Sun Studio on July 11, 1955, by Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and Johnny Bernero^[2] on drums, and released on August 20, 1955, along with "Mystery Train" (Sun 223).^[3][4] It was rereleased by RCA Victor (#47-6357) in December 1955.

Moore's guitar had a Nashville steel guitar sound, and Black played a clip-clop rhythm. Elvis sang a brooding vocal. This is the closest the trio came to a traditional country song while at Sun.^[5]

The song reached the Billboard national country music chart #1 position on February 25, 1956 on the Billboard C&W Best Sellers in Stores chart, and remained there at #1 for 2 weeks, and spent 5 weeks at #1 on the Billboard C&W Most Played in Juke Boxes chart. The record reached #4 on the Billboard Most Played by Jockeys chart.^[6][7][8][9] It was the first recording to make Elvis Presley a national known country music star.^[10][11] The song remained on the country charts for 39 weeks.^[12]

The flip side of this release, "Mystery Train", peaked at the #11 position on the national Billboard Country Chart.^[13]

Jerry Lee Lewis recorded the song in 1957 and the 1960s. Composer Charlie Feathers has also recorded it. The Beatles covered this song once for the BBC radio show, From Us To You, on 1 May 1964, which was included on the Live at the BBC compilation in 1994.^[14] Johnny Cash covered and released this song in 1959 on the Sun LP Greatest! and on the album The Survivors Live in 1981. B. J. Thomas included this song on his 1972 album, B. J. Thomas Country. Chuck Jackson, Ral Donner, Robert Gordon, Johnny Hallyday, The Deighton Family, Hicksville Bombers, and Wanda Jackson recorded this song as well.^[15] Chris Isaak also covered this song on his 2011 album, Beyond the Sun. Bob Dylan and The Band recorded this song in 1967 it was released on the 2014 album, The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete.

References

1. The Blue Moon Boys – The Story of Elvis Presley's Band. Ken Burke and Dan Griffin. 2006. Chicago Review Press. page 47. ISBN 1-55652-614-8
2. "Johnny Bernero". Rockabilly.nl. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
3. Presley, Elvis (RCS Artist Discography) sample and label shot
4. The Elvis Presley Sun Collection.
5. The Blue Moon Boys – The Story of Elvis Presley's Band. Ken Burke and Dan Griffin. 2006. Chicago Review Press. page 47. ISBN 1-55652-614-8
6. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 272.
7. Elvis History Blog.
8. Billboard, February 25, 1956. Billboard listed both the Sun and RCA Victor singles in computing the chart figures, both Sun 223 and RCA Victor 20-6357.
9. elvis-tkc.com.
10. "Elvis Presley's Sun Recordings". Elvis.com.au. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
11. Collins, Ace (1996). The Stories Behind Country Music's All-time Greatest: 100 Songs. New York: The Berkeley Publishing Group. pp. 94–96. ISBN 1-57297-072-3.
12. The Blue Moon Boys – The Story of Elvis Presley's Band. Ken Burke and Dan Griffin. 2006. Chicago Review Press. page 46. ISBN 1-55652-614-8
13. "about the flip side @ Elvis Australia". Elvis.com.au. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
14. "I Forgot To Remember To Forget". The Beatles Bible. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
15. Second Hand Songs: I Forgot to Remember to Forget.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics