Late: Wake Up Little Susie

Grateful Dead: Wake Up Little Susie

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Here's a song about suddenly having to contemplate the consequences of being late. It may seem a bit out of character to hear the Grateful Dead covering it, but their influences were always larger than the general public gave them credit for.

This particular recording comes from a performance at the Filmore East on February 13, 1970, and features just two members of the Dead--Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir--in an acoustic setting. It was released three years later on the album History of the Grateful Dead, Vol. 1: Bear's Choice.

The song was written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, and of course the Everly Brothers had a big hit with it in 1957. Thirteen years later, when the Dead covered it, it was already an "oldie", and that was forty years ago! But the song is as fun to sing along to today as it was then.