Wake Up Little Susie

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Wake Up Little Susie is the title of a hit by the Everly Brothers from 1957, which became the second million seller for the singing duo.

History of origin

The brothers Donald and Phil Everly first stood in a recording studio in the country Mecca of Nashville on November 9, 1955 . The 4 tracks recorded there remained unpublished. Only from the second recording session on March 1, 1957 Bye Bye Love released as a single, was immediately ranked one of the country & western - Hit Parade reach and became the first million-seller of the singing duo with 1.3 million copies sold. The hit was also a massive crossover success, as it also made it to number two on the pop charts.

Wake Up Little Susie was based on the rhythm and chord progression of the previous hit Bye Bye Love . The text was considered risky by the head of the Cadence Records record label , Archie Bleyer, because of its allegedly lewd content . In the song is described as the protagonist of his girlfriend in the morning wakes Susie at 4 o'clock in the car after both located one - Film in - boring Autokino had looked at, now, however, outside the curfew moving (22.00) and feared for their reputation. He wondered how to explain this to his parents and friends.

Everly Brothers - Wake Up Little Susie

Despite the concerns, the song was recorded in 4 takes on August 15, 1957 at the RCA Victor recording studios in Nashville . The Everly Brothers were accompanied by Chet Atkins (guitar), Ray Edenton (guitar), Lightnin 'Chance (bass guitar), Floyd Cramer (piano) and Buddy Harman (drums). The session musicians were part of a team of established country music instrumentalists known in professional circles as the Nashville A-Team . The producer was Archie Bleyer, who ultimately gave up his concerns about a release.

The intro is dominated by the famous F-C7 chord progression and was constructed around the three-chord progression I-IV-V, which is often used in the blues , as a two-measure form in I-III-IV-III. It is played as a guitar riff ACADCA by the rhythm guitar as a quick jump over 1½ notes from the main chord to subdominant IV. Wake Up Little Susie was recorded with 2 other tracks, of which Maybe Tomorrow came out as the B-side.

The song is one of a series of top-selling hits by the Everly Brothers, which always had the same conceptual basis. Steel-string guitars play a catchy riff, close harmony tenor voices sing with parallel thirds , pop instrumentation created a broad market presence, and composers Boudleaux and Felice Bryant contributed to another hit.

Publication and Success

Wake Up Little Susie / Maybe Tomorrow (Cadence 1337) was released on September 2, 1957. It turned out that Bleyer's concerns were not entirely unjustified, because some radio stations did not allow the song to be airplayed . However, that did not hinder his enormous sales success, because by October 1958 he had sold a total of 1.8 million, over 2 million copies worldwide.

The crossover in the pop charts was easy because the piece uses rock & roll chords and the instrumentation had light pop music structures. The single became the Everly Brothers' first number one hit in all US hit parade categories when it topped the pop hit parade on October 14, 1957. She was number one for eight weeks in the country, four weeks in the pop and even one week in the rhythm and blues hit parade and received a BMI award . In Great Britain it reached number two on the charts.

Cover versions

Two of the at least 14 cover versions should be selected.

The Grateful Dead occurred on March 13-14. February 1970 at the Fillmore East , the recording of which was immortalized on the LP Bear's Choice released on July 13, 1973 . It also contains a cover version of Wake Up Little Susie .

Simon & Garfunkel , who called the Everly Brothers their musical role model, gave a concert in New York's Central Park on September 19, 1981 in front of over 500,000 visitors. The live LP was released on February 16, 1982, a single from Wake Up Little Susie from it reached number 27 in the pop charts in April 1982.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Richard J. Scott, Chord Progressions for Songwriters , 2003, p. 43
  2. Michael Hicks, Sixties Rock , 1999, p. 32
  3. Maury Dean, Rock'n Roll Gold Rush , 2003, p. 98
  4. Billboard Magazine, October 13, 1958, Smash Hits Cue Platinum Award for Artists , p. 6
  5. Everly Facts on Wake Up Little Susie