Suzie Q

“Suzie Q” was the first 45 RPM single John Fogerty, Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford recorded as Creedence Clearwater Revival. The song was originally put on vinyl by Louisiana rocker Dale Hawkins in 1957.

The new beginning of the band of John, Tom, Stu and Doug started in October 1967 when Saul Zaentz became the head of Fantasy Records. The quartet began rigorous rehearsals and changed their name.

The band performed “Suzie Q” in clubs before hitting the studio. They also rehearsed the song for weeks at the Shrine, making it longer and longer in the solos. John Fogerty made a road map on his kitchen table showing what would happen in the different parts of the song, all the way through. On January 19th, 1968, the band headed for Coast Recorders in San Francisco and recorded the Dale Hawkins original in one take. On another day, John went back and sang the vocal. After the sessions, Fogerty added dissonant chording, electronic effects, and a separate choral section (recorded as "June Moon") (John Fogerty, Fortunate S, 2015; Alec Palao in the liner notes of the Creedence Clearwater Revival box set).

The rhymes in “Suzie Q - Part 2” are just simple rhymes. John Fogerty hated it when songwriters used simple rhymes just to make things rhyme, so this was a statement against that. The rhymes were sung by the entire band (Stu Cook on “Bayou Moon” Internet Mailing List, 1996; John Fogerty, Fortunate Son, 2015).

Doug Clifford recalled the creation of the drum part: "We had just come from playing the night clubs. We had to stretch the songs out because we were doing 5 sets a night. I just started playing that groove and it worked. It had a nice back and forth thing; it was so simple. I played quarter notes on the downbeat with my right hand, quarter notes with the kick on the offbeat and the backbeat on the snare drum. I hadn’t heard anybody play that beat, except maybe the drummer in Little Richard’s band playing it in a lick, but never through a whole tune. I stuck it out there and just went with it. It worked." (Billy Jeansonne, Interview with Doug Clifford, The Classic Drummer, 2005).

John Fogerty remembers the origins of the drum part in a different way. The band was playing somewhere in Sacramento in early 1968. John asked Doug to get the feel of "doom chick, doom doom chick". Then John went on with the "Suzie Q" riff and asked the band to stay in E without change (John Fogerty, Fortunate Son, 2005).

The purpose in recording “Suzie Q” was to get the song played on KMPX, a free-form underground radio station in San Francisco, which is why the song was extended to nine minutes in length. The demo tape from January 1968 was used on the album without any changes (John Fogerty, Fortunate Son, 2015).

Interestingly, “Suzie Q” appeared first as an album track on CCR’s eponymous debut album, the single being launched later. Bill Drake's radio syndication organization heard the song and put it on all their stations. “Suzie Q” entered the US chart on September 9th 1968 and peaked at #11.

Equipment

John Fogerty used three-quarter-size Rickenbacker 325 guitars in the sessions for the first album. They had a Bigsby tremolo arm and a humbucker in each, the tremeloes being switched out. One “Rick” was black, and the other sported a Fireglo finish. As for the amplifiers, his choice was the 100-watt Kustom K200.

Differences between the single and album versions

The single version by Creedence Clearwater is split into parts one and two. One difference is that in the single version, the jam session during the coda is taken out in the first part. Instead, it fades out with the guitar solo right before the coda, which in turn then fades back in, as part two commences on the B-side.

Collector's notes

The "Suzie Q" single was released with a similar cover sleeve in Germany, France and Italy. It was different from the ones launched in the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Mexico and Singapore. 

A "Hey Tonight" b/w "Suzie Q" single with a cover photo (Metronome 31.101) was released in Germany in 1976 (Peter Koers, Green River, 1999).     

Live versions

John Fogerty, Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford performed the song live until mid-60's. The first documented concerts with the new “Suzie Q” in the setlist are from winter 1968. Creedence Clearwater played the song at Deno & Carlo's (later Keystone Korner) in San Francisco each week from February 2nd through until April 28th 1968 (John Fogerty The Long Road Home tourbook, 2006).

On 1971-1972 tours, the CCR trio played “Suzie Q” as a medley together with “Green River”.  One of the versions of the medley was added to the Live in Europe album released in 1973.

John Fogerty played “Suzie Q” in the AIDS Benefit concert in Oakland 1989 with the special guest artist Clarence Clemmons of East Street Band fame on sax.

On Blue Moon Swamp and Premonition Tours in 1997-1998, John Fogerty performed the song as a medley together with “I Put A Spell On You”. He played the song regularly until the end of the tour with John Mellencamp in summer 2005. “Suzie Q” returned to his setlists on the European Tour in summer 2010.

A live version of “Suzie Q” appeared on the 40th Anniversary CD Edition of the Creedence Clearwater's debut album in 2008.  The live cut was recorded at Fillmore West, San Francisco, on March 14th 1969.

Another live version of the song is available on the Premonition album and DVD recorded at the Warner Studios sessions in Burbank in December 1997.

John Fogerty played the Dale Hawkins original also on some legs of the fall 2013 US Tour. Sound files of the concerts were officially made available for a couple of months.

Furthermore, Fogerty performed “Suzie Q” in Stockholm, Sweden, in July 1997 in a concert that was broadcast partially by the local ZTV channel. Other live versions on TV include Farm Aid (1997) and Live By Request (2004).

Major John Fogerty radio shows with “Suzie Q” in the set list include the first Green River album concert at Beacon Theatre, New York, in November 2011. It was broadcast live by Sirius XM satellite radio.

In the  movies

Suzie Q performed by Creedence Clearwater appears in 

• '68 (1988)

• Apocalypse Now (1980)

• Frequency (2000)

• Indian Summer (1993)

Critical reception

"[John] Fogerty can't carry the load by himself, and when he does get going, as in two or three spots on "Suzie Q.," their "big" number (over eight minutes long), he has no complementation from the other members of the group. He's no Albert King, but he plays a fine guitar at times." -Barry Gifford, The Rolling Stone, 1968.

"The 8:30 album version is still the most preferred way to appreciate this long-form jam, but the two-sided rendering retains the riffing groove that proved more absorbing than most drawn-out hippie excursions from the same time frame." -Doug Simpson, The Audiophile Audition, November 9th, 2009. 

"---a still-infectious slice of swamp-rock riffing and impassioned vocals, based on Dale Hawkins’ classic original from 1956 but containing enough invention and crackling electricity to stake a fresh claim on the song." -Richard Elliott, Pop Matters, January 20th, 2010.  

Fans' views

"I like their psychedelic sound better ... I remember seeing them in 1968 when they had one album out."

"Excellant guitar work... great use of the technology of the day..."

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