Dale Hawkins, sang 'Susie-Q'

LOS ANGELES - Dale Hawkins, a singer-guitarist best known for his 1957 hit "Susie-Q," which became a rock anthem, died Saturday in Little Rock, Ark., his family announced. He was 73.

He was diagnosed with colon cancer more than four years ago, according to his Web site.

"'Susie-Q,' with its crackling bluesy guitar and insistent cowbell, was one of the most exciting early rockabilly singles," music historian Richie Unterberger wrote on the Allmusic Internet database.

The single reached the top 30 in the U.S. in 1957 and was later covered by many artists, including the Rolling Stones and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

He was born Delmar Allen Hawkins on Aug. 22, 1936, on a plantation in Gold Mine, La., to a country musician and his wife, who was a teacher and day worker.

At 16, Hawkins lied about his age to join the Navy, he later said, and served in the Korean War.

In the 1960s, Hawkins turned to producing, creating top-10 hits for Bruce Channel ("Hey! Baby") and the Five Americans ("Western Union").

He went through a lengthy drug-rehabilitation program in the early 1980s, and opened a crisis-intervention program in the South for teens.