Wake Up Little Susie – The Everly Brothers | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#1) and Country (#1); 1957
Story Behind The Song By Harris Sterling
In 1957, The Everly Brothers followed their breakthrough with Wake Up Little Susie, another hit written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. The song continued the duo’s run of harmony-driven rock and roll singles.
Produced by Archie Bleyer, the recording featured tight vocal harmonies supported by a rhythmic guitar-driven arrangement. Released in the fall of 1957, Wake Up Little Susie reached #1 on both the Billboard Pop and Country charts.
The lyric tells the story of two teenagers who fall asleep at a movie theater and wake up after curfew, worried about the assumptions others might make. Rather than explicit content, the song uses playful storytelling to reflect teenage anxiety.
Wake Up Little Susie became one of The Everly Brothers’ most successful early hits and remains a defining example of 1950s rock and roll storytelling.
This content was created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Harris Sterling. © 2026 Harris Sterling. All rights reserved.
Produced by:
Archie Bleyer
Lyrics Written by:
Felice Bryant
Boudleaux Bryant
Awards:
No Grammy Awards were awarded at the time of its release.
Harris Sterling
Independent music label executive Harris Sterling has worked in the music industry for most of his career.
As Executive Vice President for independent music label Madacy Entertainment, he led the strategic marketing and business development for the label, negotiating agreements with the major record labels to release custom music compilations under license with major brands, such as Ford Motor Company, Crayola, Care Bears and Elvis Presley Enterprises.
Harris also led Madacy’s strategy for the licensing of its entire music catalogue to Apple for their launch of the IPOD.
In 2011, Harris co-founded Starting Five Media, a company that specializes in recording and licensing custom renditions of popular songs as well as clearing the rights to the music composition for use by their clients in media projects.
Harris has negotiated publishing and master recording rights for many Top 40 songs for use in various media projects, TV Commercials and more.