I Forgot to Remember to Forget

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“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 on drums, and released on August 20, 1955, along with “Mystery Train” (Sun 223). 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.

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. It was the first recording to make Elvis Presley a national known country music star. The song remained on the country charts for 39 weeks.

The flip side of this release, “Mystery Train“, peaked at the #11 position on the national Billboard Country Chart.

The Beatles version

The Beatles covered this song once for the BBC radio show, From Us To You, on 1 May 1964, with George Harrison on lead vocals. The song is notable for being the last time the Beatles performed a song for the BBC that wasn’t recorded for EMI. The song is also notable for its double-time rhythmic changes during the bridge. The band was becoming more experimental at the time; after they recorded I Call Your Name, they used that song’s ska-influenced middle section again for “I Forgot to Remember to Forget“. The song wasn’t officially released until 1994, when it was included on Live at the BBC. […]

Last updated on December 1, 2016

Lyrics