The Definitive 1000 Songs Of All Time 1955 to 2005: Number 467

Number 467

Everly Brothers

"Wake Up Little Susie"

(1957)

Genre:Rock n Roll

I always say "Everyone has songs they like and everyone has dislikes. Remember music is like clothing.. there are many styles, so why on earth would all people want to wear jockey "Y" fronts?" The reason I'm re-quoting this passage is that i am not particularly fond of "Wake Up Little Susie" as a song, so i am using my own quote to remind me, just because I don't like it, doesn't mean you don't. Personally, i feel the song belongs in the film Christine by Stephen King and just leave it there. However, "Be Bop A Lula" and "Rip it Up" by the Everly Brothers are classics, pure classics and far more superior than "Susie". But that's my opinion and only mine and that's why I respect other peoples feelings towards the song .... because it might not be necessarily your opinion.

Related to the Bee Gees?

The Everly Brothers were not only among the most important and best early rock & roll stars, but also among the most influential rockers of any era. They set unmatched standards for close, two-part harmonies and infused early rock & roll with some of the best elements of country and pop music. Their legacy was and is felt enormously in all rock acts that employ harmonies as prime features, from the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, and legions of country-rockers to modern-day roots rockers like Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe (who once recorded an EP of Everlys songs together).

Get your own mic bro

"Bye Bye Love" began a phenomenal three-year string of classic hit singles for Cadence, including "Wake Up Little Susie," "All I Have to Do Is Dream," "Bird Dog," "('Til) I Kissed You," and "When Will I Be Loved." The Everlys sang of young love with a heart-rending yearning and compelling melodies. The harmonies owed audible debts to Appalachian country music, but were imbued with a keen modern pop sensibility that made them more accessible without sacrificing any power or beauty. They were not as raw as the wild rockabilly men from Sun Records, but they could rock hard when they wanted. Even their midtempo numbers and ballads were executed with a force missing in the straight country and pop tunes of the era. The duo enjoyed a top-notch support team of producer Archie Bleyer, great Nashville session players like Chet Atkins, and the brilliant songwriting team of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant. Don, and occasionally Phil, wrote excellent songs of their own as well.

Check out the hair!

Don and Phil's personal lives came under a lot of stress in the early '60s: they enlisted into the Marine Corps Reserves (together), and studied acting for six months but never made a motion picture. More seriously, Don developed an addiction to speed and almost died of an overdose in late 1962. By that time, their career as chart titans in the U.S had ended; "That's Old Fashioned" (1962) was their last Top Ten hit. Their albums became careless, erratic affairs, which was all the more frustrating because many of their flop singles of the time were fine, even near-classic efforts that demonstrated they could still deliver the goods. Virtually alone among first-generation rock & roll superstars, the Everlys stuck with no-nonsense rock & roll and remained determined to keep their sound contemporary, rather than drifting toward soft pop or country like so many others. Although their mid-'60s recordings were largely ignored in America, they contained some of their finest work, including a ferocious Top 40 single in 1964 ("Gone, Gone, Gone").

I wasnt there

The decades of enforced professional togetherness finally took their toll on the pair in the early '70s, which saw a few dispirited albums and, finally, an acrimonious breakup in 1973. They spent the next decade performing solo, which only proved -- as is so often the case in close-knit artistic partnerships -- how much each brother needed the other to sound his best. In 1983, enough water had flowed under the bridge for the two to resume performing and recording together. The tours, with a backup band led by guitarist Albert Lee, proved they could still sing well. The records (both live and studio) were fair efforts that, in the final estimation, were not in nearly the same league as their '50s and '60s classics, although Paul McCartney penned a small hit single for them ("On the Wings of a Nightingale"). One of the more successful and dignified reunions in the rock annals, the Everlys continued to perform live, although they didn't record an album since the late '80s. ~ [Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide]

For the Beatles see Number 489, #587, #894 & #947

For Simon & Garfunkel see Number 964

For Dave Edmunds see Number 616

For Nick Lowe see Number 988

For Paul McCartney see Number 583

OK ... Who's Susie?

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 drive-in movie theater, only to fall asleep during the movie. They do not wake up until 4 o'clock in the morning. They then contemplate the reactions of her parents and their friends. Although banned in such places as Boston, the song does not state that Susie and her boyfriend had sexual relations. Indeed, it strongly implies that they did not: the couple simply fell asleep because they were bored by the film. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Pop and Country charts and the Cash Box Best Selling Record charts, despite having been banned from Boston radio stations for its supposedly suggestive lyrics.It got to #2 on the United Kingdom song charts. ~ [Source:Wikipedia]

What does Rolling Gnome think about Everly Brothers?

The Everly Brothers are the most important vocal duo in rock. The enduring influence of the Everly Brothers' close, understated yet expressive harmonies is evident in the work of such British Invasion bands as the Beatles and the Hollies and of folk-oriented acts, such as Simon and Garfunkel, not to mention countless solo artists, among them Dave Edmunds, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt. Most of the Everlys' hit singles, which merged Nashville’s clean instrumental country style with innocuous teenage themes, cut a course to the right of contemporary country-rock hybrids like rockabilly. Their indisputable mastery is revealed in their ballads, among them “Let It Be Me.”

The Everlys toured internationally with a small combo over the next few years, sporting matching suits and haircuts and leaving fans to identify each brother by the color of his hair (Don’s was darker). Their heyday lasted through 1962, by which time they were at Warner Bros., with cumulative record sales of $35 million. In their three years with Cadence (which they left in a dispute over royalties) they averaged a Top 10 hit every four months, including four #1 hits: “Wake Up Little Susie,” “All I Have to Do Is Dream,” “Cathy’s Clown,” and “Bird Dog.” ~ [Source:Rolling Stone - from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)]

Are you getting the feeling that the "officials of rock everywhere" deem the Everly Brothers are important? Hmmm, me too. Anyway ..............

For Linda Ronstadt see Number 665

Rolling Stone magazine deemed their '467th Song of all Time' was "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses. Guns N' Roses has appeared in The Definitive 1000 @ Number 557 & #795

Other songs with reference to Everly Brothers #491, #519, #569, #665, #728

Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number 311 and the Album ranked at (Nah Uh!)

This song has a crowbarred rating of 76.5 out of 108