AUGUST 16, 1957 – The Everly Brothers recorded “Wake Up Little Susie” at the Methodist Television, Radio and Film Commission studios in Nashville, Tennessee with Chet Atkins playing guitar. “Wake Up Little Susie” is a popular song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant and published in 1957.The song was a labor of love for the songwriting duo. “We persevered with ‘Wake Up Little Susie’ for many hours,” Boudleaux recalled to Country Music People. “I started writing one night, kept trying to get my ideas down, but it just wouldn’t happen. Finally I woke Felice, who took one listen to what I had so far achieved and came up with the final touches that I couldn’t get. The Everlys liked the song, but like me had problems with getting it right in the studio. They worked a whole three-hour session on that one song and had to give up, they just couldn’t get it right. We all trooped back to the studio the next day and got it down first take. That’s the way it happens sometimes.”One of the “final touches” that Felice supplied was the line “The movie wasn’t so hot, it didn’t have much of a plot,” which replaced Boudreaux’s original line: “Your father’s gonna be hot, he’ll kill me like as not.” According to Felice, that line was way too risqué for the times, as it implied that the couple had slept together.Issued by Cadence Records as catalog #1337, the Everly Brothers’ record reached #1 on the Billboard Pop chart and the Cash Box Best Selling Records chart, despite having been banned from Boston radio stations for lyrics that, at the time, were considered suggestive, according to a 1986 interview with Don Everly. “Wake Up Little Susie” also went to #1 on the Country & Western charts, and spent seven weeks atop the Billboard country chart, reaching #2 on the UK Singles Chart.The song is written from the point of view of a high school boy to his girlfriend, Susie. In the song, the two go out on a date to a cinema (perhaps a drive-in), only to fall asleep during the movie. They do not wake up until 4 o’clock in the morning, well after her 10 o’clock curfew. They then contemplate the reactions of her parents and their friends. Don Everly reported that the song had been banned in Boston. The song was ranked at #318 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
LYRICS:
Wake up, little Susie, wake up
Wake up, little Susie, wake up
We’ve both been sound asleep
Wake up, little Susie, and weep
The movie’s over
It’s four o’clock
And we’re in trouble deep
Wake up, little Susie
Wake up, little Susie
Well, what are we gonna tell your mama?
What are we gonna tell your pa?
What are we gonna tell all our friends
When they say, “Ooh la la!”
Wake up, little Susie
Wake up, little Susie
Well, I told your mama that
You’d be in by ten
Well, Susie, baby
Looks like we goofed again
Wake up, little Susie
Wake up, little Susie
We gotta go home
Wake up, little Susie, wake up
Wake up, little Susie, wake up
The movie wasn’t so hot
It didn’t have much of a plot
We fell asleep
Our goose is cooked
Our reputation is shot
Wake up, little Susie
Wake up, little Susie
Well, what are we gonna tell your mama?
What are we gonna tell your pa?
What are we gonna tell our friends
When they say, “Ooh la la!”
Wake up, little Susie
Wake up, little Susie
Wake up, little Susie