"Sugar Magnolia" is a song by the

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, ...

. Written by Robert Hunter and

Bob Weir Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead ...

, it is one of the most well-known songs by the band, alongside such hits as "

Truckin' "Truckin" is a song by the Grateful Dead, which first appeared on their 1970 album ''American Beauty (album), American Beauty''. It was recognized by the United States Library of Congress in 1997 as a national treasure.''Grateful Dead: The Illus ...

", "

Casey Jones John Luther "Casey" Jones (March 14, 1863 – April 30, 1900) was an American railroader who was killed when his passenger train collided with a stalled freight train at Vaughan, Mississippi. Jones was a locomotive engineer for the Illinois Ce ...

", "

Uncle John's Band "Uncle John's Band" is a song by the Grateful Dead that first appeared in their concert setlists in late 1969. The band recorded it for their 1970 album ''Workingman's Dead''. Written by guitarist Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter (lyrici ...

", "

Touch of Grey "Touch of Grey" is a 1987 single by the Grateful Dead, and is from the album '' In the Dark''. The song is known for its refrain "I will get by / I will survive". It combines dark lyrics in the verses with upbeat pop instrumentation. The music ...

", and fellow sugar-adjacent tune "

Sugaree "Sugaree" is a song written by long-time Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter (lyricist), Robert Hunter and composed by guitarist Jerry Garcia. It was written for Jerry Garcia's first solo album ''Garcia (album), Garcia'', which was released in J ...

". First released on the 1970 album '' American Beauty'', "Sugar Magnolia" made its live debut on June 7, 1970 at the

Fillmore West The Fillmore West was a historic rock and roll music venue in San Francisco, California, US which became famous under the direction of concert promoter Bill Graham from 1968 to 1971. Named after The Fillmore at the intersection of Fillmore Stre ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. When performed live, the song was often divided into two different entities: "Sugar Magnolia" proper and the "Sunshine Daydream"

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 ...

. The break between the two could be a few beats, a set, or even a few concerts. On one memorable occasion, the week of long-time friend of the band Bill Graham's death, the coda was held off for an entire week. A single edit of the live performance included on ''

Europe '72 ''Europe '72'' is a live triple album by the Grateful Dead, released in November 1972. It covers the band's tour of Western Europe in April and May that year, and showcases live favourites, extended improvisations and several new songs including ...

'' (1972) was the group's third ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Top 100 hit, peaking at #91 in 1973. According to ''Deadbase X'', "Sugar Magnolia" was the Dead's second-most played in concert song of their long career, with 596 performances, trailing only "

Me and My Uncle "Me and My Uncle", often also written as "Me & My Uncle," is a song composed by John Phillips (musician), John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas, and popularized in versions by Judy Collins and the Grateful Dead. It relates the journey of a narr ...

". It has been said that the song was written about Bob Weir's girlfriend, Frankie Weir (née Azzara), who lived with him for many years. In any case, the song's line "she don't come and I won't follow" echoes the

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

song, "

Sourwood Mountain "Sourwood Mountain" is a traditional American folk song. Like many folk songs, there are numerous lyrical versions extant; however, there are certain commonalities. The song's theme is a lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expressi ...

", which includes the line "she won't come and I won't call 'er." Aside from obvious references to several types of plants (

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

), the line "jump like a Willys in four wheel drive" refers to the

Willys Willys (pronounced , "Willis" ) was a brand name used by Willys–Overland Motors, an American automobile company, founded by John North Willys. It was best known for its design and production of World War II era and later military jeeps (MBs ...

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, which was actually "jumped" off the ground by some drivers. The semi-official 1972 Dead movie ''

Sunshine Daydream ''Sunshine Daydream'' is a music documentary film, starring the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was shot at their August 27, 1972 concert at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon. Unreleased for many years, the film was sometimes sh ...

'' has its title taken from the song's coda section as well as the popular St. Louis area "Sunshine Daydream" stores. In

Donna Tartt Donna Louise Tartt (born December 23, 1963) is an American novelist and essayist. Early life Tartt was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta, the elder of two daughters. She was raised in the nearby town of Grenada. Her fa ...

's novel, ''The Secret History'', the hippies would only allow admission to the bunker to those who could recite the second verse of "Sugar Magnolia". An interesting version with a slightly different melody line was played at Irvine Meadows on April 28, 1989. A previously unreleased version of the song was included in Duane Allman's box set (''Skydog, the Duane Allman Retrospective''). As Scott Schinder states in his liner notes, "He (Duane Allman) also sat with the Grateful Dead on multiple occasions, an association that's represented here by an exhilarating, previously unreleased performance of the Dead's 'Sugar Magnolia', on which Duane memorably trades licks with Jerry Garcia".

Appears on

* '' American Beauty'' (1970) * ''Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies'' (Warner Bros. sampler) (1970) * ''

'' (1972) * '' Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead'' (1974) * '' Dick's Picks Volume 2'' (1995) * '' Hundred Year Hall'' (1995) * '' Dick's Picks Volume 6'' (1996) * '' Dick's Picks Volume 10'' (1998) * '' Dick's Picks Volume 12'' (1998) * '' Dick's Picks Volume 14'' (1999) * ''

Dick's Picks Volume 20 ''Dick's Picks Volume 20'' is the 20th installment of the popular Grateful Dead Grateful Dead discography#Dick's Picks, archival series. It documents the majority of the concerts on September 25, 1976 at the Capital Centre (Landover, Maryland), Ca ...

'' (2000) * ''

The Closing of Winterland ''The Closing of Winterland'' is a four-CD live album by the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert performed on December 31, 1978. The concert was also released as a two-disc DVD. The title derives from the fact that it was the last c ...

'' (2003) * ''

Dick's Picks Volume 36 ''Dick's Picks Volume 36'' is the 36th and last installment of the ''Dick's Picks'' series of Grateful Dead concert recordings. It is a four-CD set. This release contains the Dead's complete show recorded on September 21, 1972 at The Spectrum ...

'' (2005) * '' Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings'' (2008) * '' Ladies and Gentlemen... the Grateful Dead'' (2000) * ''Skydog, the Duane Allman Retrospective'' (2013) * ''

'' (2013) * ''

Houston, Texas 11-18-1972 ''Houston, Texas 11-18-1972'' is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on November 18, 1972, at Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston, Texas, and includes most of the second set of the concert. It was produced as a CD, and a ...

'' (2014) * '' Dave's Picks Volume 13'' (2015) * '' Saint of Circumstance'' (2019)

References

{{Authority control Grateful Dead songs Songs written by Bob Weir 1970 songs Songs with lyrics by Robert Hunter (lyricist)