Sugaree

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

When they come to take you down
When they bring that wagon round
When they come to call on you
And drag your poor body down

Chorus
Just one thing I ask of you
Just one thing for me
Please forget you knew my name
My darling, Sugaree (note a)

Shake it, shake it, Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it, Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me

You thought you was the cool fool
And never would do no wrong
You had everything sewed up tight
How come you lay awake all night long

[chorus]

Well in spite of all you gained
You still have to stand out in the pouring rain
One last voice is calling you (note b)
And I guess it's time you go

[chorus]

Well shake it up now, Sugaree
I'll meet you at the jubilee
And if that jubilee don't come
Maybe I'll meet you on the run

[chorus]
Notes
(a) in the liner notes for the re-issue of "Garcia" in the box set "All Good Things", Robert Hunter wrote:
"Sugaree was written soon after I moved from the Garcia household to China Camp. People assume the idea was cadged from Elizabeth Cotten's Sugaree, but, in fact, the song was originally titled 'Stingaree,' which is a poisonous South Sea manta. The phrase 'just don't tell them that you know me' was prompted by something said by an associate in my pre-Dead days when my destitute circumstances found me fraternizing with a gang of minor criminals. What he said, when departing, was: 'Hold your mud and don't mention my name.'

"Why change the title to 'Sugaree'? Just thought it sounded better that way, made the addressee seem more hard-bitten to bear a sugar-coated name. The song, as I imagined it, is addressed to a pimp. And yes, I knew Libba's song, and did indeed borrow the new name from her, suggested by the 'Shake it' refrain."
(b) in the alternate take on the re-issued CD "Garcia" Jerry sings something like "Big [more] trombone is calling you".

Grateful Dead Recordings
     Date Album
      7 Aug 1971 Dick's Picks Vol 35
     23 Aug 1971 Road Trips Number 1, Volume 3
     22 Oct 1971 Dave's Picks Volume 3
     26 Oct 1971 Download Series Vol 3
     14 Nov 1971 Road Trips Number 3, Volume 2 (bonus disc)
     17 Nov 1971 Dave's Picks Volume 26
     20 Nov 1971 Dave's Picks Volume 48
      7 Dec 1971 Dave's Picks Volume 22
      9 Dec 1971 Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
     10 Dec 1971 Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
     14 Dec 1971 Dave's Picks Volume 26
     28 Mar 1972 Dick's Picks Vol 30
      7 Apr 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
     11 Apr 1972 Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead: England '72 (note 8)
     16 Apr 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
     17 Apr 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
     21 Apr 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
     29 Apr 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
      3 May 1972 Europe '72: Vol. 2 (note 8)
     11 May 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
     13 May 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
     16 May 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
     18 May 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
     23 May 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
     26 May 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
     21 Jul 1972 Download Series Vol 10
     27 Aug 1972 Sunshine Daydream (CD only)
     9 Sep 1972 Dave's Picks Volume 46
     17 Sep 1972 Dick's Picks Vol 23
     24 Sep 1972 30 Trips Around The Sun
     17 Oct 1972 Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
     19 Oct 1972 Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
     17 Nov 1972 Dave's Picks Volume 11
     28 Feb 1973 Dick's Picks Vol 28
     13 May 1973 Here Comes Sunshine
     26 May 1973 Here Comes Sunshine
      9 Jun 1973 Here Comes Sunshine
     22 Jun 1973 Pacific Northwest '73-'74
     24 Jun 1973 Pacific Northwest '73-'74
      8 Sep 1973 Dave's Picks Volume 38
     19 Oct 1973 Dick's Picks Vol 19
     11 Nov 1973 Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings
     14 Nov 1973 30 Trips Around The Sun
     21 Nov 1973 Road Trips Volume 4, Number 3
     23 Feb 1974 Dave's Picks Volume 42
     12 May 1974 From The Mars Hotel (50th anniversary bonus disc)
     17 May 1974 Pacific Northwest '73-'74
     19 May 1974 Pacific Northwest '73-'74
     29 Jul 1974 Dave's Picks Volume 2 (Bonus disc)
     18 Oct 1974 Steal Your Face (note 1)
     13 Aug 1975 One From The Vault
     10 Jun 1976 June 1976 Box Set
     11 Jun 1976 June 1976 Box Set
     15 Jun 1976 June 1976 Box Set
     18 Jun 1976 Download Series Vol 4
     23 Jun 1976 Dave's Picks Volume 28
     17 Jul 1976 Dave's Picks Volume 18
     24 Sep 1976 Dave's Picks Vol 4
     25 Sep 1976 Dick's Picks Vol 20
      3 Oct 1976 30 Trips Around The Sun
      9 Oct 1976 Dick's Picks Vol 33
     26 Feb 1977 Dave's Picks Volume 29
     29 Apr 1977 Download Series Vol 1
      3 May 1977 Dave's Picks Volume 50
      5 May 1977 May 1977: Get Shown The Light Box
     11 May 1977 May 1977 Box Set
     19 May 1977 Dick's Picks Vol 29
     22 May 1977 Dick's Picks Vol 3
     26 May 1977 Dave's Picks Volume 41
     28 May 1977 To Terrapin: Hartford '77
      8 Jun 1977 Winterland June 1977 - The Complete Recordings
     16 Oct 1977 Road Trips Volume 1, Number 2
     29 Dec 1977 Dick's Picks Vol 10
      7 Apr 1978 Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
     18 Apr 1978 Dave's Picks Vol 37
      6 May 1978 30 Days Of The Dead (2017)
      5 Jul 1978 July 1978: The Complete Recordings
     28 Dec 1979 Road Trips Vol 3, No 1
     26 Aug 1980 30 Days Of The Dead (2013)
     13 Oct 1980 30 Days Of The Dead (2010)
     26 Oct 1980 Dead Set (note 2)
      7 Aug 1982 Dick's Picks Vol 32
     17 Oct 1983 30 Days Of The Dead (2012)
     15 Oct 1984 30 Days Of The Dead (2022)
     11 Apr 1987 ONXRT: Live From The Archives, Vol. 4 (note 3)
     18 Sep 1987 30 Trips Around The Sun
      5 Apr 1988 30 Days Of The Dead (2019)
      3 Jul 1988 30 Trips Around The Sun
      1 Oct 1988 (official YouTube video only)
     12 Jul 1989 RFK Stadium 1989 Box
     15 Mar 1990 Terrapin Station (Limited Edition)
      3 Apr 1990 Spring 1990 (The Other One)
     27 Oct 1990 30 Trips Around The Sun
     17 Mar 1991 30 Days Of The Dead (2020)
     17 Jul 1998 The Strange Remain (The Other Ones)
 
Jerry Garcia Recordings
     Date Album Recorded By
     studio 1972 Garcia Jerry Garcia (note 4)
     studio 1972 Garcia (alternate take) Jerry Garcia (note 5)
     18 Nov 1975 Jerry Garcia Collection, Volume 2: Let It Rock Jerry Garcia Band
     21 May 1976 Don't Let Go Jerry Garcia Band
     13 Nov 1976 Garcia Live Volume 17 Jerry Garcia Band
     28 Feb 1980 After Midnight Jerry Garcia Band
      1 Mar 1980 Garcia Live Volume 1 Jerry Garcia Band
 
(Plus live recordings by The Dead, Furthur, Dead & Company, Ratdog, Phil Lesh & Friends etc not listed here. See Grateful Dead Family Discography for a full list.)
 
Other Recordings
     Date Album Recorded By
     22 Oct 1990 Save The Planet Merl Saunders
     1995 Still Having Fun Merl Saunders
     1996 Long Live The Dead Billy And Terry Smith
     1997 Fire On The Mountain Vol 2 Reggae Celebrates The Grateful Dead (Gregory Isaacs)
     Aug 1999 Gathering On The Mountain, Live Part 1 Merl Saunders
     2000 Picking On The Grateful Dead Vol 2 David West et al
     2000 The Grass Is Dead Crazy Fingers
     2000 Wake The Dead Danny Carnahan et al
     2000 Might As Well The Persuasions (note 9)
     2000 Live At The Wetlands Soulfarm
     2001 Pickin' On Jerry Garcia David West et al
     2001 Live From Berkeley Wake The Dead (note 6)
     2001 Live At Twenty North Jake's Leg
     2002 It Was Hot Greta Gaines
     24 Jul 2002 Live: Westbury, NY Bruce Hornsby (note 11)
     2003 Grateful Guitar David Cullen
     2004 Live From Austin, TX Susan Tedeschi (note 10)
     2004 Your Country Graham Parker (note 7)
     2005 Jerry Jams, Jerry Cares Soulfarm
     20 May 2005 Live At The Sweetwater Saloon Mark Karan's Buds
      8 Oct 2005 Live: Suede, Park City, UT Gov't Mule (note 11)
      1 Aug 2006 Jerry Jams for Rex The Black Crowes
     15 Dec 2006 Live Butter, Petaluma, CA Hot Buttered Rum (note 11)
      2 Nov 2007 IMAC, Huntingdon, NY Moonalice
      5 Jul 2008 Owsley's Golden Road, Denver, CO Puja
     2008 Fennario: Songs by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter Emory Joseph
     2009 Katie Wilson Katie Wilson
     28 Mar 2009 Live, Beacon Theater Allman Brothers Band (with Bob Weir and Phil Lesh)
     2011 Dirty Old World Saints & Sinners
     2011 Iron Shore Gene Clemetson
     2012 In The Middle Of Somewhere Eliot Chamberlain
     2012 Live At The Red Parka Pub The Gravel Project
      12 Jul 2012 Live At The Iridium Donna Jean Godchaux Band
     2011 Live At The 2011 Wanee Music Festival Melvin Seals and JGB
     17 Apr 2011 Live: Visalia, CA Chris Robinson Brotherhood (note 11)
     2013 The Grateful EP Jackie Greene
      7 Dec 2013 Dos Grateful Grass
      7 Feb 2014 The Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY moe.
     2015 Twangin' The Dead Matt Rae
     14 May 2015 Dear Jerry: Celebrating The Music Of Jerry Garcia Jorma Kaukonen
     20 Jun 2015 Live: San Rafael, CA Reid Genauer
     26 Sep 2015 Live: Woodstock, NY Jackie Greene (note 11)
     2015 The Promised Land Sagol 59 & Ami Yares
     2015 Songs Of Their Own Jackie Greene
     2016 Day Of The Dead Phosphorescent, Jenny Lewis & Friends
     2016 Dead Giveaway Be Gulls
     2018 Grateful Dub Roots of Creation
     2018 How Long Steven Graves
     31 Dec 2018 Rising Up To Paradise Big Swell
     2024 Grateful: The Music Plays The Band Brown Eyed Women
Notes
(1) also on the additional DVD footage of the Grateful Dead Movie.
(2) issued as a bonus track in the box set Beyond Description (1973-1990)
(3) This is a compilation of previously unreleased live material from broadcasts on WXRT Chicago, issued in 1998. It was sold only in the Chicago area to launch a local charity, the 93XRTree Fund. This fund was established by WXRT in association with Friends of the Parks to be to replant trees destroyed by the Asian long-horned beetle infestation in the Chicago area (thanks to Matt Schofield for this information)
(4) also on the compilation The Best Of Jerry Garcia
(5) bonus track on the version of the album reissued in the box set All Good Things.
(6) a live CD from KPFA featuring performances on "Dead To The World" issued as a fund-raiser
(7) Graham Parker's account of how he came to record Sugaree includes the following:
After "Your Country" (my new CD which contains said Garcia cover) was released, a friend who happens to be a Deadhead pointed out in barely concealed disgruntlement that I had sung the word "raygun" in the first verse when the word is actually "wagon," thus pretty much destroying the entire meaning of the number! Oh well, happens with most of the covers of my stuff, so I guess it was my turn screw with the writers' heads, one of whom - a bloke named Hunter I believe - may well be still alive (although Jerry most certainly is not).
(8) also on the box set Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
(9) re-released in 2011 on "Persuasions of the Dead"
(10) Susan Tedeschi sings a fragment of Sugaree during "Angel From Montgomery"
(11) The list above includes only one illustrative example of the series of live recordings by these artists. For a full list see the Grateful Dead Family Discography.


Further Information
For an online discussion of the lyrics to this song see the deadsongs.vue conference on The Well.
For more information on recordings see Matt Schofield's Grateful Dead Family Discography
For information on references in the lyrics see David Dodd's Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics
For David Dodd's discussion of this song on dead.net see Greatest Stories Ever Told
For online chords and TAB see www.rukind.com
For sheet music, see:
          Grateful Dead Anthology Volume 1 (piano arrangement)
          Grateful Dead Authentic Guitar Classics Volume 2 (guitar TAB)
          Garcia Songbook (piano arrangement)
          Jerry Garcia Songbook (vocal line and chords)
          Garcia/Hunter Songbook (vocal line and chords/TAB)

 


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