Susie Q (song)
Encyclopedia
"Susie Q" is a song by Louisiana
-born singer and guitarist Dale Hawkins
(1936–2010). He wrote the song himself, but when it was released, Stan Lewis
, the owner of Jewel/Paula Records, and Eleanor Broadwater, the wife of Nashville DJ Gene Nobles
, were also credited as co-writers to give them shares of the royalties.
in Shreveport, Louisiana
. "Susie Q" was a late rockabilly
song which captured the spirit of Louisiana
and featured guitar
work by James Burton
, who also worked with Ricky Nelson
, among others.
Sometime after the recording, the master tape of "Susie Q" was sold to Checker Records
in Chicago
, which released it as a 45 RPM single
in May 1957. The single peaked at numbers 7 and 27 on Billboard magazine
's Hot R&B Sides
and Hot 100
charts, respectively.
Hawkins' original version is also included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".
on their debut album
released in 1968. This song was one of their first big hits, and was the band's only Top 40
hit that was not written by John Fogerty
, peaking at #11, but made the top ten on some charts. The album version clocks in at 8:37. The single version is split into parts one and two. One difference is that in the single version, the jam session during the coda
is omitted in part one. Instead, it fades out with the guitar solo right before the coda which fades in in part two on the B-side.
John Fogerty
stated in a 1993 interview with Rolling Stone
magazine that his purpose in recording "Susie Q" was to get the song played on KMPX
, a funky progressive-rock radio station in San Francisco, which is why the song was extended to eight minutes in length.
musician José Feliciano
released his version of "Susie Q" as a single which reached #84 on the Billboard Hot 100. His version was rearranged and features several different lyrics.
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
-born singer and guitarist Dale Hawkins
Dale Hawkins
Delmar Allen "Dale" Hawkins was a pioneer American rock singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist who was often called the architect of swamp rock boogie...
(1936–2010). He wrote the song himself, but when it was released, Stan Lewis
Jewel Records (Shreveport record label)
Jewel Records was a record label founded in 1963 by Stan Lewis and based in Shreveport, Louisiana. It had two subsidiary labels, Paula and Ronn. The first of many retail record stores, called Stan's Record Shop, was opened in 1948...
, the owner of Jewel/Paula Records, and Eleanor Broadwater, the wife of Nashville DJ Gene Nobles
Gene Nobles
Gene Nobles was an American radio disc jockey who attained fame on Nashville radio station WLAC from the 1940s through the 1970s by playing rhythm and blues music....
, were also credited as co-writers to give them shares of the royalties.
Original version
Hawkins cut "Susie Q" at the KWKH Radio stationKWKH
KWKH is a classic country music radio station serving Shreveport, Louisiana. The 50-kilowatt station broadcasts at 1130 kHz. Formerly owned by Clear Channel Communications and Gap Central Broadcasting, it is now owned by Townsquare Media....
in Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
. "Susie Q" was a late rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
song which captured the spirit of Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and featured guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
work by James Burton
James Burton
James Burton is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 , Burton has also been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame...
, who also worked with Ricky Nelson
Ricky Nelson
Eric Hilliard Nelson , better known as Ricky Nelson or Rick Nelson, was an American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, and actor...
, among others.
Sometime after the recording, the master tape of "Susie Q" was sold to Checker Records
Checker Records
Checker Records is an inactive record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary to Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded Tape in 1969, shortly before Leonard's death.The label...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, which released it as a 45 RPM single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in May 1957. The single peaked at numbers 7 and 27 on Billboard magazine
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's Hot R&B Sides
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
and Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
charts, respectively.
Hawkins' original version is also included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Perhaps the most famous cover version is by Creedence Clearwater RevivalCreedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
on their debut album
Creedence Clearwater Revival (album)
Creedence Clearwater Revival is the first album by the American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, released in 1968.The reissue liner notes state that while "Susie Q" proved to be a hit, the band had played for years as the Golliwogs in the early 1960s, releasing numerous singles before...
released in 1968. This song was one of their first big hits, and was the band's only Top 40
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
hit that was not written by John Fogerty
John Fogerty
John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...
, peaking at #11, but made the top ten on some charts. The album version clocks in at 8:37. The single version is split into parts one and two. One difference is that in the single version, the jam session during the coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
is omitted in part one. Instead, it fades out with the guitar solo right before the coda which fades in in part two on the B-side.
John Fogerty
John Fogerty
John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...
stated in a 1993 interview with Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine that his purpose in recording "Susie Q" was to get the song played on KMPX
KMPX (defunct)
KMPX was a San Francisco FM radio station which was best known in the late 1960s as the birthplace of America's freeform progressive rock format .-History:...
, a funky progressive-rock radio station in San Francisco, which is why the song was extended to eight minutes in length.
José Feliciano version
Puerto RicanPuerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
musician José Feliciano
José Feliciano
José Feliciano is a Puerto Rican singer, virtuoso guitarist and composer known for many international hits including the 1970 holiday single "Feliz Navidad".-Childhood:...
released his version of "Susie Q" as a single which reached #84 on the Billboard Hot 100. His version was rearranged and features several different lyrics.
Other cover versions
- In 1963, blues-rock guitarist Lonnie MackLonnie MackLonnie Mack is an American rock, blues and country guitarist and vocalist....
covered it, in an instrumental version released both as a single and on his debut album The Wham of that Memphis ManThe Wham of that Memphis ManThe Wham of That Memphis Man is a 1963 album by Lonnie Mack.The album is the first collection of hits from Mack, recorded between March and November, 1963. Critic Jimmy Guterman ranked this album No...
. - In 1963, "Suzie Q" appeared on the album Surfin with the Astronauts.
- Gene VincentGene VincentVincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...
covered the song in 1964 for his Columbia RecordsColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
album Shakin' up A Storm. - The Rolling StonesThe Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
covered it on their album 12 X 512 X 5-Personnel:The Rolling Stones*Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, and percussion*Keith Richards – acoustic and electric guitar, and backing vocals*Brian Jones – electric and acoustic guitar, harmonica, tambourine and backing vocals...
released in 19641964 in music-Events:*January 1 – Top of the Pops is broadcast for the first time, on BBC television.*January 3 – Footage of the Beatles performing a concert in Bournemouth, England is shown on The Jack Paar Show....
in the U.S., and The Rolling Stones No. 2The Rolling Stones No. 2-Personnel:*Mick Jagger – lead vocals, harmonica, tambourine, percussion*Keith Richards – guitars, backing vocals*Brian Jones – guitar, slide guitar, backing vocals*Charlie Watts – drums, percussion...
released in 19651965 in music-Events:*January 4 – Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is sold to CBS for $13 million.*January 12 – Hullabaloo premieres on NBC. The first show included performances by The New Christy Minstrels, comedian Woody Allen, actress Joey Heatherton and a segment from London in which Brian Epstein...
in the U.K. - Johnny RiversJohnny RiversJohnny Rivers is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. His styles include folk songs, blues, and revivals of old-time rock 'n' roll songs and some original material...
recorded it live in 1965 on his album Meanwhile Back at the Whisky à Go GoMeanwhile Back at the Whisky à Go GoMeanwhile Back at the Whisky à Go Go was Johnny Rivers's fourth official album, and like all his prior albums it was recorded live at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles...
. - Quicksilver Messenger ServiceQuicksilver Messenger ServiceQuicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band, formed in 1965 in San Francisco.-Introduction:Quicksilver Messenger Service gained wide popularity in the Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe and several of their albums ranked...
performed a cover in 1966-7. - A cover version by Flash CadillacFlash Cadillac & the Continental KidsFlash Cadillac and the Continental Kids, now known as Flash Cadillac, are an American retro rock 'n' roll band. They are best known for their portrayal of the group Herbie and the Heartbeats in the film American Graffiti, to which they contributed three songs: cover versions of "At the Hop" and...
was featured in the film Apocalypse NowApocalypse NowApocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
. - The Everly BrothersThe Everly BrothersThe Everly Brothers are country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing...
also covered the song. - Linda McCartneyLinda McCartneyLinda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
covered this song in Jamaica, leading to the name "Suzy and the Red StripesSuzy and the Red StripesThe single was first released three years later, in 1977, on Epic Records in the US, due to the efforts of Epic's Steve Popovich, who was given label credit for mastering the original single...
." - The Velvet UndergroundThe Velvet UndergroundThe Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
are also known to have covered the song on rehearsals and live at the beginning of their career. - Johnny RiversJohnny RiversJohnny Rivers is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. His styles include folk songs, blues, and revivals of old-time rock 'n' roll songs and some original material...
also covered the song in 1979. - A cover version by Gene SummersGene SummersGene Summers is an American rock/rockabilly singer and entertainer. Some of his classic recordings include "School of Rock 'n Roll", "Straight Skirt", "Nervous", "Gotta Lotta That", "Twixteen", "Alabama Shake" and his biggest-selling single "Big Blue Diamonds"...
appeared on his album The Ultimate School of Rock & RollThe Ultimate School of Rock & RollThe Ultimate School Of Rock & Roll is a 32-track CD by Gene Summers. It is a compilation of his biggest hits including out-takes and alternate tracks. The CD was released nationally in the United States by Crystal Clear Sound Records in 1997 and is still in print...
issued in 1997. - Mexican singer Luis Miguel recorded a Spanish version in 1987 for his album Tambien es rock ("It's also rock").
- PhishPhishPhish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
covered this song in their Vegas 96 show. - The Sugarman 3The Sugarman 3The Sugarman 3, sometimes titled The Sugarman Three, is a retro-funk band from New York formed in 1996 by saxophonist Neal Sugarman, Hammond organ player Adam Scone, and drummer Rudy Albin...
covered this song as "Suzy Q" on their debut 1998 album Sugar's BoogalooSugar's BoogalooSugar's Boogaloo is the debut album by The Sugarman 3. It was released by Desco in 1999 and re-released in 2006 by Daptone Records.-Track listing:# Sugar's Boogaloo - 3:07# Papa's Got a Brand New Bag - 2:58# Sock Monkey - 4:05...
. - Bobby McFerrinBobby McFerrinRobert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...
covered this song on his 1988 album Simple Pleasures. - Suzi QuatroSuzi QuatroSusan Kay "Suzi" Quatro is an American singer-songwriter, bass player, and actor.She scored a string of hit singles in the 1970s that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, and had a recurring role on the popular American sitcom Happy Days.-Music:Quatro began her...
made a techno-styled version of the song in 1990. The album it was featured on was also entitled 'Oh Suzi Q' The original version also featured as her intro music at live concerts for several years. - The Chuck Fenech Band covered this song on their 2010 Tax Free EP album.
- Dr. Tequila covered this song as part of the track "Who Dat? Bayou Medley" on their CD Dr. Tequila 2010.