This day in 1969, Johnny Cash climbed to #1 on the Billboard country chart with “A Boy Named Sue.”

“A Boy Named Sue” is a song written by humorist and poet Shel Silverstein and made popular by Johnny Cash. Cash recorded the song live in concert on February 24, 1969 at California’s San Quentin State Prison for his At San Quentin album. Cash also performed the song (with comical variations on the original performance) in December 1969 at Madison Square Garden. The live San Quentin version of the song became Cash’s biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and his only top ten single there, spending three weeks at No. 2 in 1969, held out of the top spot by “Honky Tonk Women” by The Rolling Stones. The track also topped the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts that same year and was certified Gold on August 14, 1969, by the RIAA.

Silverstein’s own recording was released the same year as “Boy Named Sue”, a single on the album Boy Named Sue (and His Other Country Songs), produced by Chet Atkins and Felton Jarvis.

The song tells the tale of a young man’s quest for revenge on a father who abandoned him at three years of age and whose only contribution to his entire life was naming him Sue, commonly a feminine name, which results in the young man suffering from ridicule and harassment by everyone he meets in his travels. Because of this, Sue grows up tough and mean, and smartens up very quickly, though he frequently relocates due to the shame his name gives him. Angered by the embarrassment and abuse that he endures in his life, he swears that he will find and kill his father for giving him “that awful name”.

Sue later locates his father at a tavern in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, during the middle of a summer season, and confronts him by saying, “My name is Sue! How do you do? Now you’re gonna die!” This results in a vicious brawl that spills outdoors into a muddy street. After the two have beaten each other almost senseless, Sue’s father admits that he is the “heartless hound” that named him Sue and explains that the name was given as an act of love. Because Sue’s father knew that he would not be there for his son, he gave him the name, believing (correctly) that the ensuing ridicule would force him to “get tough or die”. Learning this, Sue makes peace with his father and they reconcile. With his lesson learned, Sue closes the song with a promise to name his son “Bill or George, anything but Sue”.

In his autobiography, Cash wrote that he had just received the song and only read over it a couple of times. It was included in that concert to try it out—he did not know the words and on the filmed recording he can be seen regularly referring to a piece of paper. Cash was surprised at how well the song went over with the audience. The rough, spontaneous performance with sparse accompaniment was included in the Johnny Cash At San Quentin album, ultimately becoming one of Cash’s biggest hits. According to Cash biographer Robert Hilburn, neither the British TV crew filming the concert nor his band knew he planned to perform the song; he used a lyric sheet on stage while Perkins and the band improvised the backing on the spot. While another song, “San Quentin”, was expected to be the major new song featured in the concert and subsequent album (so much so the album includes two performances of “San Quentin”), “A Boy Named Sue” ended up being the concert’s major find.

Cash also performed it on his own musical variety show, ending the song with the line, “And if I ever have a son, I think I’m gonna name him… John Carter Cash”, referring to his newborn son. Cash also performed this variant at the White House in April 1970; in later years, however, he would restore the original “any name but Sue” ending, but change the wording to “if I ever have another son”. When Cash performed with The Highwaymen in the 1980s and 1990s, he would end the song by saying “if I ever have another boy, I think I’m gonna name him Waylon, or Willie, or Kris.” referring to bandmates Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson.

This day in 1968, George Jones and Tammy Wynette announced they were married, even though they didn’t actually tie the knot until the following February. They were married for six years, until their divorce, which was finalized on March 21, 1975.

This day in 1965: Waylon Jennings made his chart debut with “That’s The Chance I’ll Have To Take.” The song only peaked at #49.

This day in 1997: Alabama Governor Fob James joined the mayors of Montgomery and Georgina, Alabama in the Alabama State Capitol to dedicate a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 65 to the memory of country great Hank Williams. The section of roadway was renamed the “Hank Williams Memorial Lost Highway.”

Today in 1977, Elvis Presley died in his bathroom at Graceland Mansion in Memphis. The most significant pop artist of the 20th century, the beginning and end of his career are grounded in country. He entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1998.

Today in 1957, the Everly Brothers recorded “Wake Up Little Susie” at the Methodist Television, Radio and Film Commission studios in Nashville.

The record reached No. 1 on the Billboard Pop chart and the Cash Box Best Selling Records chart, despite having been banned from Boston radio stations for lyrics that, at the time, were considered suggestive, according to a 1986 interview with Don Everly. “Wake Up Little Susie” also spent seven weeks atop the Billboard country chart and got to No. two on the UK Singles Chart. The song was ranked at No. 318 on the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”.

In an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show during the 2000 U.S. presidential election, then-Governor George W. Bush named “Wake Up Little Susie” as his favorite song. “Wake Up Little Susie” was the first single filmmaker David Lynch bought.