September 2, 2026, marks 69 years since The Everly Brothers released their hit single, “Wake Up Little Susie.”
The song arrived in 1957 and quickly became a major success. It reached number one on the Billboard pop chart and the Cashbox bestselling records chart.
Boudleaux and Felice Bryant wrote the song. The husband-and-wife songwriting team also created several other major hits for The Everly Brothers.
Rolling Stone later ranked “Wake Up Little Susie” at number 318 on its list of the Greatest Songs of All Time.
Boudleaux also recalled how the pair wrote the song in an interview with 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 as to what I had so far achieved and came up with the final touches I couldn’t get.”
The Everly Brothers also struggled during the recording session. After three tiring hours in the studio, they stopped for the day.
Boudleaux later explained what happened:
“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.”
The Bryants had already written “Bye Bye Love”, the brothers’ first number one single. One year later, they would also write the classic “All I Have To Do Is Dream.”
Drive-in disaster
“Wake Up Little Susie” tells the story from the viewpoint of a high school boy.
He and his girlfriend, Susie, fall asleep at a drive-in movie. When they wake up, six hours have passed.
The pair immediately worry about Susie’s curfew. They also fear what her parents might think.
The boy wonders how they will explain the situation.
“Well, what are we gonna tell your mama; What are we gonna tell your pa?”
The song presents the situation as an innocent teenage problem. However, some listeners interpreted the lyrics differently.
That interpretation caused trouble for the song in Boston.
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Banned in Boston
The Boston Archdiocese considered “Wake Up Little Susie” suggestive. It then pushed local radio stations to remove the song from their playlists.
Don Everly later remembered the moment when he learned about the ban.
“I remember when it happened. They called and said it had been banned in Boston. I said, ‘What’. It’s what people read into it isn’t it.”
The Everly Brothers joined several other artists whose songs faced radio bans during the decade.
“Great Balls of Fire” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” also attracted controversy.
Ironically, the Bryants had already softened part of “Wake Up Little Susie” before its release.
The original lyric reportedly included “he’ll kill me like as not”. The Bryants changed it because they felt the line suggested that the teenagers had not really been sleeping.
Even the controversy could not stop the song from becoming a major hit.
Boudleaux Bryant reportedly welcomed the attention. He believed the controversy could help increase sales.
Don Everly later joked about the ban during a 1986 performance at Boston Common.
He introduced the song as “a song that was banned in this city in 1957,” with a grin.
Untarnished legacy
The controversy did the brothers no damage, with the musical duo going on to become rock and roll legends, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2017.
And it clearly did not ruin the song’s reputation either, with the 1957 hit being one of the Everly Brothers’ most recognised songs, along with ‘Cathy’s Clown’ and ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream.’
Yet, Wake Up Little Susie will always be remembered as one of the most ludicrous times an innocent, timeless song was taken off the air for being too provocative.
