This song was written by Beverly Ross and Sam Bobrick and recorded by Elvis on April 4, 1960, at RCA's Nashville studios. The first cover version was by Eddie Wood (Ember 1064) in 1960. Ral Donner, however, had the big hit with the song. He made a demo record with his group, the Gents, in Chicago. It was later rerecorded with vocal backing by the Starfires in Orlando, Florida, in late 1960 and sold to Gone Records. Donner's release of The Girl of My Best Friend (Gone 5102) in 1961 reached #19 on the Hot 100 chart. It sounded like Elvis. Los Angeles radio station KRLA held a contest in which they played both Elvis's and Donner's versions, alternating lines. The listeners had to identify who was singing which line. Elvis first heard Ral Donner's release of The Girl of My Best Friend on the radio while cruising in his Cadillac.