Silvertone wire recording of Elvis singing “I Forgot To Remember To Forget”

One of the feel-good Elvis stories of 2012 will have an encore after all. Audio collector amberola1b, who discovered a 1955 live recording of Elvis singing “I Forgot To Remember To Forget” on the Louisiana Hayride radio program, recently remarked that he has sold the recording to Ernst Jorgensen. Jorgensen heads up Sony Music’s Elvis team and helms their Follow That Dream collectors label. This means, at some point, there will undoubtedly be an official release of this incredible find.

Last July, amberola1b caused a sensation among Elvis fans when he briefly posted the recording on YouTube, without being aware that it was so unique. Sourced from a Silvertone wire recording, the performance had never been heard by the public since the original broadcast.

Elvis appeared on the Hayride about fifty times from 1954 to 1956. Though similar to Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, the show was more receptive to new talent – including Elvis’ groundbreaking style. Compared to most of the other Hayride recordings released in the past, the audio quality on “I Forgot To Remember To Forget” was stunning.

The discovery made headlines on the eve of the release of the Elvis masterpiece A Boy From Tupelo: The Complete 1953-1955 Recordings, Ernst Jorgensen’s book and music project covering the SUN years. A Boy From Tupelo included several other recordings from the Louisiana Hayride, but “I Forgot To Remember To Forget” was found too late for consideration. “Wow – it’s unbelievably beautiful. I’m still trying to recover from the shock,” Jorgensen said at the time.

Audio grabs of amberola1b’s YouTube video have appeared on a couple of “gray market” releases, but a professional transfer from the wire, properly mastered, should yield much more impressive sound quality.

On January 12, amberola1b posted the following comments on YouTube about his interaction with Jorgensen:

“I did sell the rights to him but the way it went was that I didn’t even know Ernst and was directed to him thru other utubers that were Elvis fans. I didn’t even know there was a big anniversary album or book being put together about The King, I just merely decided at that moment in time to do the utube video, and just happen to post it during the summer. If luck had been on my side and I had known about what was being planned […] I would have made the video months before, and it would have been included in the album that was included in the book ‘A Boy From Tupelo’. But as it turned out he sent me a copy of the book and it just blew my mind to see all the wonderful pictures that had been compiled of Elvis and the stories written about him.”

[Thank you to Greg1995 on the For Elvis CD Collectors Forum, who first posted about amberola1b’s recent confirmation of the sale.]

I only listened to the live “I Forgot To Remember To Forget” once. It was so incredible, I knew I wanted to wait for an official release. Out of respect for amberola1b, I also never posted links to the multiple copies of this video that showed up after his original post (I made an exception for the copied version in the story linked above, since that is where he chose to post his comments).

I’m thrilled that Jorgensen has acquired this fantastic discovery. So, to amberola1b: Thank you for making a deal that will allow Elvis fans to hear this recording in the best sound quality possible for generations to come.

So, the question is, what should Jorgensen do with this recording now that he has it?

Ideally, this would be a terrific opportunity for Sony to release a mainstream version of A Boy From Tupelo, which was a limited run on the FTD collectors label. Every Elvis and rock ‘n’ roll fan should have the opportunity to own A Boy From Tupelo – one of the most important Elvis releases since his death in 1977. Scooting the two interviews over to the end of Disc 2 would free up enough space for “I Forgot To Remember To Forget” to join the other Hayride performances on Disc 3.

If a full-blown re-release of A Boy From Tupelo is not possible for some reason, I think 2013 or 2014 would be the perfect time for a 2-CD set on the main Sony label covering 1953-1955. After all, 2013 marks the 60th anniversary of Elvis paying to record his first demo (“My Happiness” b/w “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin”), while 2014 marks the 60th anniversary of his first professional release (“That’s All Right” b/w “Blue Moon Of Kentucky”).

For fun, here’s how I would approach such a 2-CD set.

Elvis Begins: The 1953-1955 Recordings

Disc 1

1. That’s All Right (45 RPM SUN single version)
2. Blue Moon Of Kentucky (45 RPM SUN single version)
3. Good Rockin’ Tonight
4. I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine
5. Milkcow Blues Boogie (78 RPM SUN single version)
6. You’re A Heartbreaker (78 RPM SUN single version)
7. Baby, Let’s Play House
8. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone
9. I Forgot To Remember To Forget
10. Mystery Train
11. Harbor Lights
12. I Love You Because
13. Blue Moon
14. I’ll Never Let You Go
15. Just Because
16. Tryin’ To Get To You
17. My Happiness (Demo)
18. That’s When Your Heartaches Begin (Demo)
19. I’ll Never Stand In Your Way (Demo)
20. It Wouldn’t Be The Same Without You (Demo)
21. Harbor Lights (Take 7)
22. I Love You Because (Take 3)
23. I Love You Because (Take 5)
24. That’s All Right (Takes 1, 2)
25. That’s All Right (Take 3)
26. Blue Moon Of Kentucky (Take 3)
27. Blue Moon (Take 4)
28. Blue Moon (Take 5)
29. Blue Moon (Take 8)
30. Tomorrow Night (Undubbed/unedited version)
31. That’s All Right (Live-Shreveport, LA-October 16, 1954)
32. Blue Moon Of Kentucky (Live-Shreveport, LA-October 16, 1954)

Disc 2

1. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone (Slow version, Take 1)
2. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone (Slow version, Take 2)
3. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone (Slow version, Take 3)
4. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone (Slow version, Take 5)
5. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone (Slow version, Take 6)
6. Shake, Rattle & Roll (Demo-Lubbock, TX-January 6, 1955)
7. Fool, Fool, Fool (Demo-Lubbock, TX-January 6, 1955)
8. Hearts Of Stone (Live-Shreveport, LA-January 15, 1955)
9. That’s All Right (Live-Shreveport, LA-January 15, 1955)
10. Tweedlee Dee (Live-Shreveport, LA-January 15, 1955)
11. Money Honey (Live-Shreveport, LA-January 22, 1955)
12. Blue Moon Of Kentucky (Live-Shreveport, LA-January 22, 1955)
13. I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine (Live-Shreveport, LA-January 22, 1955)
14. That’s All Right (Live-Shreveport, LA-January 22, 1955)
15. Tweedlee Dee (Live-Shreveport, LA-March 5, 1955)
16. Money Honey (Live-Shreveport, LA-March 5, 1955)
17. Hearts Of Stone (Live-Shreveport, LA-March 5, 1955)
18. Shake, Rattle & Roll (Live-Shreveport, LA-March 5, 1955)
19. Little Mama (Live-Shreveport, LA-March 5, 1955)
20. You’re A Heartbreaker (Live-Shreveport, LA-March 5, 1955)
21. Good Rockin’ Tonight (Live-Houston, TX-March 19, 1955)
22. Baby, Let’s Play House (Live-Houston, TX-March 19, 1955)
23. Blue Moon Of Kentucky (Live-Houston, TX-March 19, 1955)
24. I Got A Woman (Live-Houston, TX-March 19, 1955)
25. That’s All Right (Live-Houston, TX-March 19, 1955)
26. How Do You Think I Feel (1955 version, Take 1)
27. Tweedlee Dee (Live-Gladewater, TX-April 30, 1955)
28. That’s All Right (Live-Meridian, MS-May 26, 1955)
29. I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone (Live-Shreveport, LA-July 2, 1955)
30. Baby, Let’s Play House (Live-Shreveport, LA-August 20, 1955)
31. Maybellene (Live-Shreveport, LA-August 20, 1955)
32. That’s All Right (Live-Shreveport, LA-August 20, 1955)
33. I Forgot To Remember To Forget (Live-Shreveport, LA-October 1, 1955)
34. When It Rains, It Really Pours (1955 version, Take 5)
35. When It Rains, It Really Pours (1955 version, Take 8)