About The Song
“I Won’t Forget You” was written by Harlan Howard and recorded by Jim Reeves for the 1962 album *The Country Side of Jim Reeves*, issued on the RCA Camden label. The track later appeared as a single, released by RCA Victor on June 14, 1964, with “A Stranger’s Just a Friend” on the B-side. It became one of the stronger commercial performances of Reeves’ final year.
In the United Kingdom the single entered the Official Singles Chart in June 1964 and climbed to number three. It remained on the chart for twenty-six weeks, including fifteen weeks inside the top ten, and ranked among the bigger-selling singles of the entire decade in Britain. In the United States it reached number three on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and peaked at number ninety-three on the Hot 100.
The song also performed strongly in other markets. It topped the Norwegian chart for nine consecutive weeks and reached number one in Ireland. These international results continued a pattern of solid overseas success that Reeves had established with earlier releases such as “Welcome to My World” and “I Love You Because.”
The lyric is a straightforward statement of lasting attachment. The singer assures the listener that time and distance will not erase the memory of their relationship. Reeves delivers the lines in his familiar smooth, unhurried style, supported by the refined Nashville Sound arrangement typical of his RCA recordings under producer Chet Atkins.
The single was still active on the charts when Reeves died in a plane crash on July 31, 1964. Its continued presence in the weeks and months that followed contributed to the sustained interest in his catalogue. In Britain especially, the record helped maintain his visibility during the period immediately after his death.
Within Reeves’ body of work “I Won’t Forget You” stands as a clear example of the gentle ballad style that had become his hallmark by the early 1960s. It joined a sequence of mid-decade releases that confirmed his ability to reach both country and broader international audiences with material of quiet emotional directness.
Video
Lyric
I know that I won’t forget you
For I’ve loved you too much for too long
Though you don’t want me now
I’ll still love you
Till the breath in my body is gone
That’s how it is with me
And you’ll always be
The only love I ever knew
I’ll forget many things in my lifetime
But my darling, I won’t forget you
That’s how it is with me
And you’ll always be
The only love I ever knew
I’ll forget many things in my life time
But darling, I won’t forget you