Song · Jerry Garcia
“Sugaree” by Jerry Garcia
From the album Garcia (1972)
“Sugaree” by Jerry Garcia appears on 9 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1996 and 2026. It was first released in 1972 on the album Garcia. Its best result is #157 on the WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #4,195 indie & aaa song of all time.
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Jerry Garcia made his first solo album, Garcia, in 1972 as close to a one-man band as he could get, and "Sugaree" came out of those sessions. Robert Hunter, the Grateful Dead's longtime wordsmith, wrote the lyrics and Garcia wrote the tune, then played everything but the drums himself, from acoustic guitar and bass to an electric guitar pushed through a Leslie speaker, with Bill Kreutzmann behind the kit. Betty Cantor-Jackson and Bob Matthews produced it, and it rolls along with an easy, loping, back-porch ache.
Put out as a single, it crept to #94 on the Hot 100 in April 1972, the only time Garcia ever showed up on that chart. The Dead had already debuted it live at the Yale Bowl on July 31, 1971, and kept on playing it, as Dick's Picks Volume 3 and One from the Vault attest.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 157 | WNEW-FM | WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996) | 500 |
| 1997 | 305 | 102.3 WBAB | WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) | 1023 |
| 2011 | 920 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1100 Countdown (2011) | 1100 |
| 2012 | 964 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1200 Countdown (2012) | 1200 |
| 2012 | 638 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) | 885 |
| 2013 | 979 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Grand Jam 1000 (2013) | 1000 |
| 2014 | 808 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX 1K Countdown (2014) | 1000 |
| 2015 | 988 | 100.7 WZLX | 100.7 WZLX Top 1007 Classic Rock Countdown (2015) | 1007 |
| 2026 | 331 | KXT | KXT 917 Song Countdown | 917 |
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