Dale Hawkins / Stan Lewis / Eleanor Broadwater / 1:51
Musicians
Mick Jagger: vocals
Keith Richards: lead guitar
Brian Jones: rhythm guitar
Bill Wyman: bass
Charlie Watts: drums
Unidentified musician(s): hand claps
Recorded
Regent Sound Studios: September 28–29, 1964
Technical Team
Producer: Andrew Loog Oldham
Sound engineer: Bill Farley
A familiar face in the clubs of Shreveport, Louisiana, from the second half of the fifties, the singer and guitarist Dale Hawkins went down in history as the musician who combined the rockabilly of Elvis Presley/Scotty Moore with the swamp blues of Slim Harpo and Lightnin’ Slim. Hence his sobriquet “the architect of swamp rock boogie.”
Hawkins owes this flattering reputation to one song in particular, Susie Q, which he recorded in 1957 at the KWKH radio station in Shreveport with the wonderful James Burton (the guitarist of Ricky Nelson and subsequently Elvis Presley) on lead guitar. Released as a single by Checker Records in May 1957, it reached number 27 on the Billboard charts on July 1, 1957, to the enormous delight of Hawkins, of course, but also of Stan Lewis (the owner of Jewel/Paula Records, whose records were at that time distributed by Chess/Checker) and Eleanor Broadwater, who had taken the precaution of having themselves credited as co-writers.
I like the way you walk/I like the way you talk: Susie Q inspired a huge number of singers and groups and went on to enter the list of 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. In addition to the Rolling Stones, these artists have included Johnny Rivers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, José Feliciano, and Suzi Quatro, to name just a few.
The Stones recorded this song during the session on September 28–29, 1964. Their version is both faster and significantly harder-edged than Dale Hawkins’s, which was already forceful enough by the standards of the day. The guitar sound is close to distortion even though the renowned fuzz tone would not make an appearance in the Stones’ world for another few months. Led in by Charlie on his Ludwig toms, the group makes its version of “Susie Q” a formidable vehicle for the great blues-rock energy that it alone truly possessed in 1964. Mick’s singing is excellent, Bill glides smoothly up and down the neck of his bass, Brian provides a rhythmic backdrop on his Vox “Teardrop,” and Keith plays superb licks on his Les Paul before concluding the number with a frenetic solo that ends all too soon. While Creedence Clearwater Revival made what is probably the definitive version of this song, the Rolling Stones need in no way be ashamed of theirs.