I Forgot to Remember to Forget
Encyclopedia
"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 by February 1956, and remained there for 5 weeks and on the C&W Best Sellers chart for two weeks. 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 song is referenced in the Modest Mouse
song "A Different City", on their 2000 album The Moon & Antarctica
Jerry Lee Lewis
recorded the song in 1957 and the 1960s. Johnny Cash
covered this song in The Survivors Live
on 1981. Composer Charlie Feathers
has also recorded it.
The Beatles
covered this song once for a BBC
radio
show, From Us To You, on 1 May 1964. The recording was included on the Live at the BBC
album in 1994.
Chris Isaak
also covered this song on his 2011 album, Beyond the Sun
.
The name of this song also appears as a quest in the video game Fallout: New Vegas
where the Courier and Boone defend a small settlement from a full-scale attack while dealing with Boone's regret over a massacre that took place at that same settlement.
Charlie Feathers
Charles Arthur "Charlie" Feathers was an influential American rockabilly and country music performer.-Biography:...
. It was recorded at Sun Studio
Sun Studio
Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, sharing the same building with the Sun Records label business...
on July 11, 1955, by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Scotty Moore
Scotty Moore
Winfield Scott "Scotty" Moore III is an American guitarist. He is best known for his backing of Elvis Presley in the first part of his career, between 1954 and the beginning of Elvis' Hollywood years...
, Bill Black
Bill Black
William Patton "Bill" Black, Jr. was an American musician who is noted as one of the pioneers of rockabilly music. Black was the bassist in Elvis Presley's early trio and the leader of Bill Black's Combo....
, and Johnny Bernero on drums, and released on August 20, 1955, along with "Mystery Train
Mystery Train
"Mystery Train" is a song written by Junior Parker and Sam Phillips. It was first recorded in Phillip's Memphis Recording Service and Sun Records at 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee in 1953. Raymond Hill plays tenor sax and Matt Murphy plays lead guitar with Bill Johnson on piano, Pat Hare on...
" (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
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
national country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
chart #1 position by February 1956, and remained there for 5 weeks and on the C&W Best Sellers chart for two weeks. 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
Mystery Train
"Mystery Train" is a song written by Junior Parker and Sam Phillips. It was first recorded in Phillip's Memphis Recording Service and Sun Records at 706 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee in 1953. Raymond Hill plays tenor sax and Matt Murphy plays lead guitar with Bill Johnson on piano, Pat Hare on...
", peaked at the #11 position on the national Billboard Country Chart.
The song is referenced in the Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...
song "A Different City", on their 2000 album The Moon & Antarctica
The Moon & Antarctica
-2004 re-release bonus tracks:Isaac Brock was dissatisfied with the final mix and the album artwork for The Moon & Antarctica following its original 2000 release....
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
recorded the song in 1957 and the 1960s. Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
covered this song in The Survivors Live
The Survivors Live
The Survivors Live is a live album by country musicians Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, released in 1982 on Columbia Records. It was recorded on April 23, 1981 in Böblingen, near Stuttgart, West Germany, when all three singers, who had been labelmates at Sun Records at the beginning...
on 1981. Composer Charlie Feathers
Charlie Feathers
Charles Arthur "Charlie" Feathers was an influential American rockabilly and country music performer.-Biography:...
has also recorded it.
The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
covered this song once for a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
show, From Us To You, on 1 May 1964. The recording was included on the Live at the BBC
Live at the BBC (The Beatles album)
Live at the BBC is a 1994 compilation album featuring performances by The Beatles that were originally broadcast on various BBC Light Programme radio shows from 1963 through 1965. The monaural album, available in multiple formats but most commonly as a two-CD set, consists of 56 songs and 13 tracks...
album in 1994.
Chris Isaak
Chris Isaak
Christopher Joseph "Chris" Isaak is an American rock musician and occasional actor.-Early life:Isaak was born in Stockton, California, the son of Dorothy , a potato chip factory worker, and Joe Isaak, a forklift driver. Isaak's mother is Italian American, originating from Genoa...
also covered this song on his 2011 album, Beyond the Sun
Beyond the Sun (album)
Beyond the Sun is an album by Chris Isaak, released through Vanguard Records on October 18, 2011. It is a collection of songs recorded by Sun Records artists Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Most of the songs were originally released on Sun Records...
.
The name of this song also appears as a quest in the video game Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout: New Vegas is a first person action role-playing video game in the Fallout series developed by Obsidian Entertainment, and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game is based in a post-apocalyptic environment in and around Las Vegas, Nevada...
where the Courier and Boone defend a small settlement from a full-scale attack while dealing with Boone's regret over a massacre that took place at that same settlement.