"Sugar Mama" or "Sugar Mama Blues" is a song that is a standard of the blues. Called a "tautly powerful slow blues" by music journalist

Charles Shaar Murray Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English music journalist and broadcaster. He has worked on the '' New Musical Express'' and many other magazines and newspapers, and has been interviewed for a number of ...

, it has been recorded by numerous artists, including early Chicago bluesmen

Tampa Red Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903March 19, 1981), known as Tampa Red, was a Chicago blues musician. His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago blues gui ...

Sonny Boy Williamson I John Lee Curtis "Sonny Boy" Williamson (March 30, 1914 – June 1, 1948) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He is often regarded as the pioneer of the blues harp as a solo instrument. He played on hundreds of rec ...

, and

Tommy McClennan Tommy McClennan (January 4, 1905 – May 9, 1961) was an American Delta blues singer and guitarist. Life and career McClennan was born in Durant, Mississippi, and grew up in the town. He played and sang blues in a rough, energetic style. He ...

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

and

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...

later adapted "Sugar Mama" for electric blues and rock group

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

reworked it during early recording sessions.

Origins

Country bluesman

Yank Rachell Yank Rachell (born James A. Rachel; March 16, 1903 or 1910 – April 9, 1997) was an American country blues musician who has been called an "elder statesman of the blues". His career as a performer spanned nearly seventy years, from the late 192 ...

recorded "Sugar Farm Blues" on February 6, 1934. Sonny Boy Williamson I, with whom "Sugar Mama" is often associated, was an early collaborator of Rachell. "Themes that Yank Rachell recorded also turn up in the blues of leepy JohnEstes, onny BoyWilliamson, and other artists from the

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Sonny Boy Williamson I song

first recorded the song three years after Tampa Red. The recording took place during his first session for

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is a record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of kids' music, blues and jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. It was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced RCA Victor subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebird became known ...

on May 5, 1937, that also produced "

Good Morning, School Girl "Good Morning, School Girl" is a blues standard that has been identified as an influential part of the blues canon. Pre-war Chicago blues vocalist and harmonica pioneer John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson first recorded it in 1937. Subsequently, a ...

", which was used as the flip side for "Sugar Mama". Williamson's song uses most of the lyrics in Tamp Red's "Sugar Mama Blues No. 1" as well as the overall arrangement. However, his version features a harmonica solo with guitar accompaniment by Robert Lee McCoy, later known as

Robert Nighthawk Robert Lee McCollum (November 30, 1909 – November 5, 1967) was an American blues musician who played and recorded under the pseudonyms Robert Lee McCoy and Robert Nighthawk. He was the father of the blues musician Sam Carr. Nighthawk was in ...

. Williamson later recorded several versions of "Sugar Mama Blues". Both Tampa Red's and Williamson's "Sugar Mama Blues" were released before ''Billboard'' magazine or a similar service began tracking such releases, so it is difficult to gauge which version was more popular, although the song has been often identified with Williamson.

Later renditions

"Sugar Mama Blues", usually called "Sugar Mama", has been recorded a by many blues and other musicians including

as "New Sugar Mama",

, and

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

. Hooker also used the song as basis for several of his own songs, such as "Sally Mae". In 1964, Howlin' Wolf recorded the song as "My Country Sugar Mama". It was performed as a Chicago blues shuffle with lyrics from the Yank Rachell, Tampa Red, and Sonny Boy Williamson songs. The song was credited to Wolf as are many subsequent versions.

Taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste (flavor). Taste is the perception produced or stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor ...

(1969 ''

''), and

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

with

Otis Spann Otis Spann (March 21, 1924 or 1930April 24, 1970) was an American blues musician, whom many consider to be the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist. Early life Sources differ over Spann's early years. Some state that he was born in Jackson, Miss ...

(1969 '' Fleetwood Mac in Chicago/Blues Jam in Chicago, Vols. 1–2'') have also recorded versions of the song.

Led Zeppelin song

Led Zeppelin recorded "Sugar Mama" (or "Sugar Mama " as listed on the album release) during early recording sessions. The song is credited to

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

and

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

, although biographer Nigel Williamson identifies it as "a cover of the Sonny Boy Williamson song". Except for bootlegs, "Sugar Mama" remained unreleased until 2015, when it was included on the reissued version (deluxe and super deluxe) of the album ''

Coda Coda or CODA may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * Movie coda, a post-credits scene * ''Coda'' (1987 film), an Australian horror film about a serial killer, made for television *''Coda'', a 2017 American experimental film from Na ...

.'' "Sugar Mama" was recorded during the same session as "

Baby Come On Home "Baby Come On Home" is a soul song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded during sessions for the band's debut album but remained unreleased until 1993, when it was included on the compilation '' Boxed Set 2''. The song was also inclu ...

References

{{Authority control Year of song unknown Tampa Red songs Sonny Boy Williamson I songs 1952 singles John Lee Hooker songs 1964 singles Howlin' Wolf songs Blues songs Vocalion Records singles Led Zeppelin songs Song recordings produced by Jimmy Page Songwriter unknown Bluebird Records singles