"Susie Q" (Dale Hawkins)

If you grew up in a household where your parents listened to a lot of Creedence Clearwater Revival (like mine did), you’re no doubt familiar with the song "Susie Q" (or "Suzie Q," or even "Suzy Q," as it's sometimes spelled).  CCR's 1968 9-minute jam version is the most famous take on the song.  But the 1957 original by Louisiana-born vocalist/rhythm guitarist Dale Hawkins has a raw charm all its own.
Although Hawkins kind of gets lumped into the "rockabilly" genre, there's a lot of Rhythm & Blues in his music, especially if you compare his stuff to contemporaries like Gene Vincent or Carl Perkins.  The influence comes through bell clear on "Susie Q" with its heavy backbeat and syncopated percussion.
Hawkins recorded "Susie Q" at a radio station in Shreveport with fellow Louisianan/session guitarist James Burton, who provides the signature riff and raunchy (for 1957) lead guitar solos after each verse.  The single initially saw local release on the small Jewel Records label.  But the moment it was a regional hit, Jewel's enterprising owner/operator, Stan Lewis, took it to Chicago's Chess Records to get a national distribution deal.  Thing was, Chess (via its subsidiary, Checker Records) had released a novelty single from Hawkins called "See You Soon, Baboon" (1956), an answer to the Bobby Charles R&B song "See Ya Later, Alligator." And it flopped.  So Chess balked at putting out another Hawkins record.  Undefeated, Lewis took it to New York's Atlantic Records, where producer Jerry Wexler decided it was destined to be a hit.  But instead of taking Wexler's deal, Lewis went back to Chess and used Atlantic as leverage, getting a better deal and distribution through Chess/Checker.
But the story isn't over yet.
In exchange for Lewis's wheeler-dealing, Hawkins relinquished his sole writing credit on the song, giving one third to Lewis and another third to Nashville-based R&B DJ Gene Nobles (under his wife's name, Eleanor Broadwater), who helped break the song to record-buying audiences.