"Sugaree" is a

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

written by long-time

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

lyricist Robert Hunter and composed by

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

ist

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

. It was written for Jerry Garcia's first solo album '' Garcia'', which was released in January 1972. As with the songs on the rest of the album, Garcia plays every instrument himself (except drums, played by

Bill Kreutzmann William Kreutzmann Jr. ( ; born May 7, 1946) is an American drummer and founding member of the rock band Grateful Dead. He played with the band for its entire thirty-year career, usually alongside fellow drummer Mickey Hart, and has continued ...

), including acoustic guitar, bass guitar, and an electric guitar played through a

Leslie speaker The Leslie speaker is a combined amplifier and loudspeaker that projects the signal from an electric or electronic instrument and modifies the sound by rotating a baffle chamber ("drum") in front of the loudspeakers. A similar effect is provided ...

. Released as a single from the ''Garcia'' album, "Sugaree" peaked at #94 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in April 1972 and was Garcia's only single ever on that chart. The song was first performed live by the

on July 31, 1971, at the

Yale Bowl The Yale Bowl Stadium is a college football stadium in the northeast United States, located in New Haven, Connecticut, on the border of West Haven, about 1½ miles (2½ km) west of the main campus of Yale University. The home of the American footb ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, as was the song " Mr. Charlie". They played the song in numerous other concerts, including those later released as ''

Dick's Picks Volume 3 ''Dick's Picks Volume 3'' is the third live album in the Dick's Picks series by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on May 22, 1977 at the Sportatorium in Pembroke Pines, Florida. It was released in November 1995 on Grateful Dead Records. ''Di ...

'' and ''

One from the Vault ''One from the Vault'' is a live album by the Grateful Dead, recorded on August 13, 1975 at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California, and released April 15, 1991 on Grateful Dead Records, the personal record label of the band ...

''.

Predecessors

Rusty York recorded a

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and NASCAR racing driver. Robbins was one of the most popular and suc ...

-penned song in 1959 (Chess 1730) also called, "Sugaree".

Elizabeth Cotten Elizabeth "Libba" Cotten ( Nevills; January 5, 1893 – June 29, 1987) was an American folk and blues musician. She was a self-taught left-handed guitarist who played a guitar strung for a right-handed player, but played it upside down. This po ...

, a

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

folksinger, wrote and recorded a song called "Shake Sugaree" in 1966. The chorus of Cotten's song is "Oh lordie me/Didn't I shake sugaree?" Hunter was aware of this song when he wrote "Sugaree."

Fred Neil Fred Neil (March 16, 1936 – July 7, 2001) was an American folk singer-songwriter active in the 1960s and early 1970s. He did not achieve commercial success as a performer and is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material&n ...

released a song in 1966 on his eponymous album called "I've Got a Secret (Didn't We Shake Sugaree)." It can also be heard on "Echoes of My Mind - The Best of Fred Neil 1963-1971". In 1970, singer-songwriter Keith Colley released the single "Sugaree (Sugar Every Day And Night Girl)" on the Challenge label.

References in popular culture

The song is mentioned in

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

's 1981 novel ''

Cujo ''Cujo'' () is a 1981 psychological horror novel by American writer Stephen King about a rabid Saint Bernard. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1982 and was made into a film in 1983. Background Cujo's name was based on the alias of Wi ...

''.

The Persuasions The Persuasions are an American a cappella group that began singing together in Brooklyn, New York in the mid-1960s. The Persuasions were formed in Brooklyn in 1962, singing a cappella under corner streetlights and in subway corridors. Their ...

included this song on their 2000 album of Grateful Dead covers, ''Might as Well… The Persuasions Sing Grateful Dead.''

Graham Parker Graham Thomas Parker (born 18 November 1950) is an English singer-songwriter, who is best known as the lead singer of the British band Graham Parker & the Rumour. Life and career Early career (1960s–1976) Parker was born in Hackney, East L ...

covered the track on his 2004 album, ''Your Country.''

Nick Barker Nicholas Paul Barker is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist who formed a rock, power pop band, Nick Barker & the Reptiles, in March 1988. Their cover version of Cockney Rebel's "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" reached the top ...

covered this song on his album ''Black Water Blues'' released in 2009.

Jackie Greene Jackie Greene (born November 27, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He has a solo career and became a member of The Black Crowes in 2013, though the band broke up in 2015 before he could contribute any studio work. Early life ...

recorded a cover for his 2009 release ''The Grateful EP''. On the 2016 charity album ''Day of the Dead'', "Sugaree" was covered by

Jenny Lewis Jennifer Diane Lewis (born January 8, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She was the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist for the indie rock band Rilo Kiley. Lewis gained prominence in the 1980s as a child a ...

and the band

Phosphorescent Phosphorescence is a type of photoluminescence related to fluorescence. When exposed to light (radiation) of a shorter wavelength, a phosphorescent substance will glow, absorbing the light and reemitting it at a longer wavelength. Unlike fluor ...

References

External links

Dead.net
the official homepage of the Grateful Dead. {{Authority control 1972 songs American folk songs Grateful Dead songs Songs with lyrics by Robert Hunter (lyricist) Songs written by Jerry Garcia

Predecessors

References in popular culture

See also

References

External links