1 Elvis Presley Song Changed Chris Isaak’s Life
Elvis Presley‘s songs have been a huge influence on Chris Isaak. For example, Isaak said one of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s tunes inspired him to make music. In addition, Isaak revealed the track made him want to “surrender.”
Chris Isaak found a copy of an Elvis Presley song that changed him at a junk store
Isaak is most known for two of his songs that appeared in 1990s cult classic movies. One is “Wicked Game,” which was in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart. That movie features several references to Elvis, including Nicolas Cage covering “Love Me Tender” and “Love Me.” Isaak’s other most famous song, “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing,” was on the soundtrack of Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing” also played in the risque commercials for Eyes Wide Shut.
During a 1996 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Isaak discussed hearing Elvis’ “I Forgot to Remember to Forget.” “I was 20 and didn’t know what I was going to do with myself,” he recalled. “I was doing anything to keep from working. I went to a junk store and bought an old Elvis 45, which you never see — people don’t throw out their old Elvis records. It was the first time I heard something and went, ‘Wow. I want to do this as a job. I want to play music all the time.'”
The singer loved the guitar solo on Elvis Presley’s ‘I Forgot to Remember to Forget’
Isaak explained why “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” meant so much to him. “I loved the words — about somebody who’s lost somebody but can’t forget them,” he said. “It had this great Scotty Moore guitar solo; it was electric and biting. And it had pretty sentiment and pretty singing. It was everything I wanted.
“I picked up an acoustic guitar and I could kind of sing it and it sounded like the record,” he said. “And I went, ‘All right. I surrender. Where do I go to surrender?”‘ Isaak’s comment might be a reference to Elvis’ hit “Surrender.”
Chris Isaak covered the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s songs for a Sun Records-themed album
During a 2011 interview with Billboard, Isaak said he was more familiar with the artists on Sun Records — specifically Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash — than anything else. He was happy to record his album Beyond The Sun, which includes covers of tunes by Sun Records artists.
He recorded “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” for the set. In addition, the collection includes covers of Elvis’ “It’s Now or Never,” “My Baby Left Me,” “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You),” “Love Me,” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Notably, Elvis recorded some of these songs after he left Sun Records for RCA Victor. Notably, Isaak covered so many Sun Records songs he had enough material for three albums.
“I Forgot to Remember to Forget” changed Isaak’s life and he eventually put his spin on it.
