Susie Q (song)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Susie Q" is a song by Louisiana-born singer and guitarist Dale Hawkins (1936-2010). His version reached #27 in the U.S. pop chart in 1957. 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.
A host of other musicians have covered the song (often re-titled "Suzie Q", "Suzy Q" or "Suzi Q"), most notably Creedence Clearwater Revival on their 1968 debut album.
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. There's some controversy over who sings the second stanza of this song, but many believe John Fogerty sings the first and third stanzas, and Tom Fogerty sings the second stanza. The riff that John plays during the second solo is from Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning". Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook, and Doug Clifford perform the backing vocals. 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.
