The song's co-writer Dolores Fuller was a songwriter and actress who had played the role as the title character's girlfriend in
Ed Wood's 1953 surrealist film,
Glen or Glenda. The song was copyrighted on February 4, 1965, and published by Gladys Music, Inc., Elvis Presley's publishing company The B-side of the 1965 single release was "
You'll Be Gone", written by Red West, Elvis Presley, and Charlie Hodge in 1962. The B-side reached No. 121 on
Billboard and No. 35 on the Canadian charts. Both songs were on the
Girl Happy soundtrack album. "You'll Be Gone" was an attempt to create the same kind of song as
Begin the Beguine after Elvis Presley's Management Team failed to obtain the rights to cover the song. "You'll Be Gone" is one of the songs for which Elvis Presley got a co-writer credit. (Another Elvis Presley composition is "
That's Someone You Never Forget", written with Red West in 1961.) ==Chart history==