“Fever” by Little Willie John (1956)
Detroit singer Little Willie John took this Otis Blackwell/Eddie Cooley song to the top of the R&B charts in 1956. It is carried along by moaning saxophones and John’s charged, yearning vocals. Finger snaps add to the impossibly cool vibe. That tension – a cool song about overwhelming sexual heat – would form the basis of countless rock & roll classics. And it would prove to be catnip for many other singers.
Peggy Lee eschewed the saxes but kept those snaps and took her sultry version into the top ten a couple of years after Little Willie John. Everyone from Elvis to Beyonce has taken it on. Beyonce slowed it down to a whisper. Madonna rode it to the top of the Dance Charts in 1993 with her dreamy disco version. The one thing they all had were those finger snaps… lifted straight out of Little Willie John’s original. Another Little Willie John original – “Leave My Kitten Alone” – was later recorded by the Beatles and Elvis Costello.
“Susie Q” by Dale Hawkins (1957)
Like Smiley Lewis, Dale Hawkins was born in Louisiana. There’s something in the swamps down there that imbued early rock with a voodoo soul. He co-wrote the classic early rocker “Susie Q” and released his version on his debut album in 1957. His first two verses are growled over a simple drum and bass with a little guitar motif running alongside.
Then, after that second verse, we get a genuine rock & roll guitar solo courtesy of James Burton, the same guitar player who would play on Ricky Nelson’s “Poor Little Fool” a year later. There are howls and screams, and Burton will toss in a second reverb-heavy little solo before the end, helping invent what rock & roll would become.
Eleven years later, preeminent swamp rockers Credence Clearwater Revival would take Hawkins' “Susie Q” into the Billboard chart for the very first time. It hit Number Eleven and opened the door for seven other Top Five hits (though never a Number One) for CCR over the next several years. Their rendition is very true to the original. If anything, it is a tiny bit more tame.
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