Chords for Origins of the song "Suzy Q."
Tempo:
114.7 bpm
Chords used:
C
F
Eb
Fm
G
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Jam Along & Learn...
[Fm] Stan, how'd that song come [G] about, Suzy Q?
let's go back to Lenny.
Leonard [C] became such a great person in my life.
first manufacturer that I met pedaling out of the back of his car.
And he had [F] the first record of any lead blues by Muddy Waters.
And about every three months he would come through here with a new Muddy Waters,
or a Low Walter, what have you.
when Lenny was born in [C] 1941,
let's go back to Lenny.
Leonard [C] became such a great person in my life.
first manufacturer that I met pedaling out of the back of his car.
And he had [F] the first record of any lead blues by Muddy Waters.
And about every three months he would come through here with a new Muddy Waters,
or a Low Walter, what have you.
when Lenny was born in [C] 1941,
100% ➙ 115BPM
C
F
Eb
Fm
G
C
F
Eb
[Fm] Stan, how'd that song come [G] about, Suzy Q?
Well, let's go back to Lenny.
Alright. _ _ _
Leonard [C] became such a _ _ great person in my life.
_ _ _ Leonard was the first manufacturer that I met pedaling out of the back of his car.
_ _ And he had _ [F] the first record of any lead blues by Muddy Waters.
_ And that's when I first met Leonard.
_ _ And about every three months he would come through here with a new Muddy Waters,
Sonny Boy Williams, a Howling Wolf, or a Low Walter, what have you.
But anyhow, _ _ when Lenny was born in [C] 1941, _
_ [Eb] _ I, oh, 51, I'm sorry.
When he was born in 1951, I named him Lenny after Leonard Chess, Leonard Chose the Fluids. _
[F] [C] So when Susan was born in 1955, [F] _
_ _ I had stayed, every time I went to Chicago, I stayed at Leonard's house.
_ Except when they had a wedding or a bar mitzvah or some big event where all the people were invited
from the [C]
various cities, Leonard's distributors and friends, and we'd go to a hotel.
But when they left, we'd move back to the house.
So anyhow, when Susan was born, _ _ I met Leonard's children naturally, and he had a daughter by the name of Susan,
so we named our daughter Susan.
So I started kidding around with Susie Q.
And so one morning, Dale Hawkins was working for me, and I came to work.
_ And as I recall, _ _ Dale had a band, and he was playing at the Diamond Head Lounge.
My brother was playing drums with him and my cousin [F] Ronnie Lewis [C] on drums, T.J. Mandini on bass,
James Burton was on guitar, and Dale.
But I came to work, and _ Dale was just a heck of a salesman, and his mind was just always, you know,
it was clicking every minute of the day.
_ And I said, oh, Susie Q, my little Susie Q.
_ And from there, we went on and just tinkered around with it and wrote some words, and it was a very simple _ record.
But it had one heck of a guitar lick that James Burton did, and the intro on the drums was good.
And it just was one of those three things that it hit _ number one in a lot of charts. _
_ But when it really got big is when Credence _ recorded it and put it out in 72.
_ And, you know, I got a nice piece of change on that from _ $700 and some odd dollars a year [Db] to two _ _ figures, two big figures _ a year.
It was a big increase.
And, of course, [F] you know, _ [Eb] _ _ [Gb] from then on, history will tell itself about Susie Q. _
But then we wrote another song with _ Thats Washington _ called I'll Be Home, which Pat Boone did,
and Sleeping at the Wheel, and oh, I don't know how many different [Gm] people recorded it.
And it's been a great song.
But I had a habit of _ listening to people talk in bars, _ and [C] I was in an airplane [F] _ bed to flight one time, and I swore I'd never fly.
So I started [E] riding the train, and we'd go in the club car, and I'd get napkins, and I'd hear punchlines that people would say that to me that would be good for a record.
And then I would get people that were recording for me or songwriters, and I would give them to them, and we'd [Eb] go over it and [Bb] come up [G] with some song.
And that's the way a lot of _ _ songs that I was involved with came about.
_ [C] _ _
Poor Peppermint Harris died before he ever finished the song, but I told Pep, I said, Pep, I said, I got an idea.
I said, how about _ _ _ seatbelts on a barstool, because I saw somebody fall off a barstool.
I said, damn, they need seatbelts.
So I gave him the idea, and he wrote it, and he sent me a demo copy of it, but Peppermint died, and Peppermint was a wonderful blues singer.
He had a big, big record called The Sun Is Shining, But It's Raining In My Heart.
_ _ _ [E]
And he recorded it for Bobby Shedd, and then he in turn [Fm] recorded it again for me.
After seven years, you can re-record the record for another record company, but you have to wait seven [N] years. _
Well, let's go back to Lenny.
Alright. _ _ _
Leonard [C] became such a _ _ great person in my life.
_ _ _ Leonard was the first manufacturer that I met pedaling out of the back of his car.
_ _ And he had _ [F] the first record of any lead blues by Muddy Waters.
_ And that's when I first met Leonard.
_ _ And about every three months he would come through here with a new Muddy Waters,
Sonny Boy Williams, a Howling Wolf, or a Low Walter, what have you.
But anyhow, _ _ when Lenny was born in [C] 1941, _
_ [Eb] _ I, oh, 51, I'm sorry.
When he was born in 1951, I named him Lenny after Leonard Chess, Leonard Chose the Fluids. _
[F] [C] So when Susan was born in 1955, [F] _
_ _ I had stayed, every time I went to Chicago, I stayed at Leonard's house.
_ Except when they had a wedding or a bar mitzvah or some big event where all the people were invited
from the [C]
various cities, Leonard's distributors and friends, and we'd go to a hotel.
But when they left, we'd move back to the house.
So anyhow, when Susan was born, _ _ I met Leonard's children naturally, and he had a daughter by the name of Susan,
so we named our daughter Susan.
So I started kidding around with Susie Q.
And so one morning, Dale Hawkins was working for me, and I came to work.
_ And as I recall, _ _ Dale had a band, and he was playing at the Diamond Head Lounge.
My brother was playing drums with him and my cousin [F] Ronnie Lewis [C] on drums, T.J. Mandini on bass,
James Burton was on guitar, and Dale.
But I came to work, and _ Dale was just a heck of a salesman, and his mind was just always, you know,
it was clicking every minute of the day.
_ And I said, oh, Susie Q, my little Susie Q.
_ And from there, we went on and just tinkered around with it and wrote some words, and it was a very simple _ record.
But it had one heck of a guitar lick that James Burton did, and the intro on the drums was good.
And it just was one of those three things that it hit _ number one in a lot of charts. _
_ But when it really got big is when Credence _ recorded it and put it out in 72.
_ And, you know, I got a nice piece of change on that from _ $700 and some odd dollars a year [Db] to two _ _ figures, two big figures _ a year.
It was a big increase.
And, of course, [F] you know, _ [Eb] _ _ [Gb] from then on, history will tell itself about Susie Q. _
But then we wrote another song with _ Thats Washington _ called I'll Be Home, which Pat Boone did,
and Sleeping at the Wheel, and oh, I don't know how many different [Gm] people recorded it.
And it's been a great song.
But I had a habit of _ listening to people talk in bars, _ and [C] I was in an airplane [F] _ bed to flight one time, and I swore I'd never fly.
So I started [E] riding the train, and we'd go in the club car, and I'd get napkins, and I'd hear punchlines that people would say that to me that would be good for a record.
And then I would get people that were recording for me or songwriters, and I would give them to them, and we'd [Eb] go over it and [Bb] come up [G] with some song.
And that's the way a lot of _ _ songs that I was involved with came about.
_ [C] _ _
Poor Peppermint Harris died before he ever finished the song, but I told Pep, I said, Pep, I said, I got an idea.
I said, how about _ _ _ seatbelts on a barstool, because I saw somebody fall off a barstool.
I said, damn, they need seatbelts.
So I gave him the idea, and he wrote it, and he sent me a demo copy of it, but Peppermint died, and Peppermint was a wonderful blues singer.
He had a big, big record called The Sun Is Shining, But It's Raining In My Heart.
_ _ _ [E]
And he recorded it for Bobby Shedd, and then he in turn [Fm] recorded it again for me.
After seven years, you can re-record the record for another record company, but you have to wait seven [N] years. _
