"Wee Wee Hours" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry in 1955. Originally released as the B-side of his first single, "Maybellene", it went on to become a hit, reaching number 10 in the Billboard R&B chart.[2]
The song is a twelve-bar blues, described as "a slow, sensuous blues featuring some exceptional piano from Johnnie Johnson".[3]
"Wee Wee Hours" was on the audition tape submitted by Berry to Leonard Chess in hope of landing a recording contract with Chess Records.[3] Although it seemed like a good fit with the record company's blues roster,[4] Chess was more interested in the song that became "Maybellene", the song that launched Berry's career as a rock and roll star.
^ ab
Altman, Billy (1988). Chuck Berry: The Chess Box (Box set booklet). Chuck Berry. Chess/MCA Records. p. 5. CH3-80,001.
^"I wanted to play the blues... But I wasn't blue enough. We always had food on the table."
Rolling Stone (April 7, 2011). "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
