Susie Q (song)
Rockabilly song by Dale Hawkins, covered by many artists.
"Susie Q" is a rockabilly song co-written and performed by Dale Hawkins, released in 1957. It became a commercial success and a classic of early rock and roll, later recorded by many other artists.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Dale Hawkins
- B-side
- Don't Treat Me This Way
- Released
- 1957
- Studio
- KWKH Radio
- Shreveport
- Louisiana
- Genre
- Rockabilly
- Label
- Checker
- Writer
- Dale Hawkins
- Robert Chaisson
- Stan Lewis
- Eleanor Broadwater
Facts from the source article.
Original version
Hawkins wrote the song with bandmate Robert Chaisson, but Stan Lewis and Eleanor Broadwater were credited as co-writers for royalty shares. The recording took place at KWKH Radio station in Shreveport, Louisiana. James Burton, who later worked with Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley, played guitar; Burton stated he composed the music as an instrumental but received no credit. Drums were played by Stan Lewis's fifteen-year-old brother Ronnie, and Sonny Trammell played electric bass, among the first on a rockabilly record. The master tape was sold to Checker Records in Chicago, which released it as a 45 RPM single in May 1957. The single reached number 7 on Billboard's Hot R&B Sides and number 27 on the Hot 100; in Canada it reached number 16 on the CHUM Charts. The original is included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll" and in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library".
Creedence Clearwater Revival version
Creedence Clearwater Revival released a version on their debut album in 1968. It was the band's only Top 40 hit not written by John Fogerty, peaking at number 11 for one week in November 1968. The album version runs 8:37; the single is split into parts one and two on its A and B sides. The jam session during the coda is omitted in part one, which fades out before the coda, while part two fades in with the coda. Fogerty plays the main riff from "Smokestack Lightning" after the second verse. The extended length was intended to get the song played on KMPX, a progressive rock radio station in San Francisco. The cover was certified Gold by the RIAA on December 13, 1990, and Platinum on May 10, 2019.
Other versions
Ronnie Hawkins, a cousin of Dale, put out a take on the song in the early 1960s with the Hawks—the group that would later become The Band—providing backup, and King Curtis played tenor sax on that recording. The Rolling Stones included a brief cover on their American release 12 x 5 from 1964, and it also turned up on their UK album The Rolling Stones No. 2, which came out in January 1965. The Trashmen performed a live version in 1965, released on the album Teen Trot: Live At Ellsworth, WI - August 22, 1965; after playing it, their singer mistakenly credited the song to The Rolling Stones during stage banter. Johnny Rivers put a four-minute version on his 1965 live album Meanwhile Back at the Whisky à Go Go. Bobby Vee included a rendition on his 1961 Liberty album Bobby Vee with Strings and Things. In 1970, Puerto Rican musician José Feliciano issued a rearranged single of "Susie Q" with altered lyrics, which reached number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Everly Brothers recorded a medley combining "Susie Q" with The Beatles' "Hey Jude" for their 1970 live album The Everly Brothers Show. Bobby McFerrin released an all-vocal version on his 1988 album Simple Pleasures, reworking every instrumental part into backing vocals he sang himself while also handling the lead. Suzi Quatro put out two different versions on the albums Oh, Suzi Q. and Unreleased Emotion. Blues band Stack Waddy recorded the song for their self-titled album on John Peel's Dandelion Records. The Chuck Fenech Band covered it on their 2011 EP Tax Free.
More in Checker Records Singles
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