B-side "The Lord" Format 7", 45 rpm | Released August 1969 Length 3:28 | |
Recorded 7 May 1969
IBC Studios, London Genre Country, folk, easy listening | ||
"Don't Forget to Remember" also called "Don't Forget to Remember Me" is a country ballad recorded by the Bee Gees, from the album Cucumber Castle. The song was written by Barry and Maurice Gibb. It was produced by the band with Robert Stigwood.
Contents
Recording
The song's genre is country like much of what Maurice and Barry wrote together without input from their brother Robin, but all three brothers have written in the medium at other times, most notably the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton hit "Islands in the Stream", and its parent album Eyes That See in the Dark.
The song was recorded at 7 May 1969 same day as the unreleased track "Who Knows What a Room Is". Barry Gibb's lead vocal was in a lower register than usual. Peter Mason, Robin's intended replacement in the group originally sang harmony vocals on the song, as Mason explains, "I did some harmonies, I remember doing three songs, there was 'Don't Forget to Remember' and I put the harmony down on that and two other songs. [I don't know] whether it's a tryout, although he'd said before that he wanted me, because we sat and sang together."
Mason also explained: "When I sit and listen to 'Don't Forget to Remember' I can't really tell whether it's me or not. He ran the tracks and said, 'Can you put a harmony to that?'". The song also sticks out in Mason's memory.
Structure
The song features a low voice by Barry Gibb especially on the first verse of the song:
Oh my heart, won't believe that you have left me
I keep telling myself that it's true
I can get over anything, you want my love
But i can't get myself over you.
On the song's chorus, it features on the background vocals that Maurice sing harmony with Barry: Don't forget to remember me
And the love that used to be
I still remember you, i love you
In my heart lies a memory, to tell the stars above
Don't forget, to remember me my love.
The song's lyrics follow the country-song tradition of romantic laments with its tearful first-person lyrics about a man haunted by a failed love affair he can't put out of his mind. Its melody matches the yearning quality of the lyrics, especially on the chorus, which underpins the forlorn wish Don't forget to remember me/And the love that used to be with glorious runs of ascending notes. On paper, the song seems applicable to the group's usual pop style but their recording uses country-music elements to carry it into that genre, a prominent acoustic guitar cuts through the background orchestration and Barry Gibb adds a Nashville-inspired twang to his vocal.
Release
Maurice's reaction when the song was released was "The thing is. that it is Jim Reeves-ish it's rather like 'Oh Lonesome Me' and that sort of song and you'll never forget the melody. It wasn't a deliberate dedication to Jim Reeves - it's just worked out that way". Maurice also explains, "We know we don't want to split up, maybe Colin will want to leave sometime in the future, but we all have different things we've involved in". The single covers of the song, (in all countries) features the three remaining Bee Gees after the departure of Robin Gibb.
The song was re-released in CD by RSO Records as a part in the EP of the same name (1987).