Wake Up Little Susie by The Everly Brothers

Wake Up Little Susie

1957

The Everly Brothers

Felice and Boudleaux Bryant also penned The Everly Brothers second hit of 1957, and if you hear that guitar driven up-tempo intro and can't sing the opening line without even thinking about it, you've apparently been living in a cave. Under a rock. Possibly on another planet.

The song in question, of course, chronicles the distress of a teenage couple who went to the drive-in to watch a movie, fell asleep due to the apparent epic crappiness of said movie, and woke up to find that it was 4AM, and that 'We're in trouble Deep!'. Wake Up Little Susie is arguably The Everly Brothers' best known song, and it pulled the same trick that Bye Bye Love pulled...the classic double chart climb. It was released on September 2^nd, 1957 and shot up to the top of the Billboard Pop and Country charts as well as the Cash box Best selling records chart, this despite one minor little set-back.

It appears that the good people of Boston Mass....or at least those in charge of what songs were played on that beautiful city's airwaves...were displeased by the concept of a young lady and a young man being asleep together. (Note I didn't say sleeping together. BEEEEG Diferancia!) That's right, someone in Boston decided that the very idea of Wake Up Little Susie's concept offended their sensibilities, and that it might give the young couples of The Greater Boston Metro Areas...ideas. Therefore they banned it from being played on any Boston radio station. This obviously didn't hurt the songs popularity one iota, as it went on to become a classic.

Tune in to just about any Oldies station on any given day, and it's a good bet you'll hear this one before the day's over with. It's had that kind of staying power (As do nearly all of The Everly Brothers early hits, despite the fact that they're all closer to sixty years old than fifty.) The song's just as much fun to listen to today...fifty seven years after I was recorded...as it is now. As it should be...Susie, her beau, and The Everly Brothers are just that much a part of us.

So Enjoy! 'Wake Up, Little Susie', by The Everly Brothers!

First Bonus. An all-too-brief clip of The Brothers performing Wake Up Little Susi on The Ed Sullivan Show back on October 6^th, 1957, accompanied by Ed Sullivan's orchestra. Take a closes look at their guitars, and see if you notice something...they were steel string acoustic guitars. No amplifier anywhere in sight.

Second Bonus...The Everly Brothers performing Wake Up Little Susie live in 2004...47 years after they made it a hit. It's now, of course, a classic.

Another interesting little factoid about Wake Up, Little Susie. Did ya know that this was one of George W Bush's favorite songs?? It was indeed...he said so on Oprah Winfrey in 2000, during his Presidential campaign. When asked what his all-time favorite song was, he told her it was 'Wake Up Little Susie' by...Buddy Holly???? That's right. George W blew that one. And no, Buddy Holly never recorded it.