"That's Someone You Never Forget" is a song written by Elvis Presley in 1961 and published by Elvis Presley Music, which appeared as the closing track on his 1962 album Pot Luck and was released as a single in 1967.
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Song information
The song was written by Elvis Presley with his bodyguard Red West and based upon an idea and title by Presley himself. Red West recalled the songwriting collaboration with Elvis: "'That's Someone You Never Forget' was a title that came from Elvis. He said, 'How about coming up with a song with the title of "That's Someone You Never Forget"?'" West agreed to give Elvis a co-writing credit to the song because of Elvis' contributions to the creation of the song. It is believed that Elvis wrote the song about his mother Gladys Love Presley, who had died in 1958. Elvis Presley gave his recording a gospel-influenced arrangement, which added to the spiritual mood of the song.
Elvis also co-wrote the song "You'll Be Gone" with Red West and Charlie Hodge in 1961. These two songs were Elvis' rare song compositions. At the time, Elvis was trying his hand at songwriting. His input was mostly in providing ideas about creating new songs and choosing how they should sound. In his landmark, best-selling biography of Elvis, Elvis: A Biography (1971), Jerry Hopkins discussed this songwriting period in Elvis' career.
The song was recorded on June 25, 1961 at RCA Studios in Nashville and was released as the B-Side to the 1967 single, "Long Legged Girl (With the Short Dress On)" on April 28, issued as RCA 47-9115, reaching number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was also released in the UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, and Italy. The song has appeared on several of Elvis Presley's compilations including the Artist of the Century career retrospective collection in 1999. The song is notable because it was co-written by Elvis Presley.
Critical reception
Review of the RCA CD reissue of the expanded Pot Luck album in 1999:
"The 1999 remastering benefits from superior sound and a 17-song lineup, reaching back to March 1961 for its songs, including ... the haunting, gospel-like "That's Someone You Never Forget," which was co-authored by Presley and is one of his best non-hit songs of this era". --- Bruce Eder & Neal Umphred for Allmusic.