Don Everly recorded the 1957 hit “Wake Up Little Susie” with his brother Phil Everly.
The Everly Brothers’ recording became one of the defining early rock-and-roll and country-influenced pop hits. Its close two-part harmony reflected the brothers’ family singing tradition and helped make their sound highly influential on later vocal groups.
Although the song is often described simply as rock and roll, the Everly Brothers emerged from country music and drew heavily on Appalachian harmony singing. Don and Phil are sometimes confused with the song’s writers, Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, who supplied many of the duo’s best-known compositions.