“Sugaree” by The Grateful Dead

"Sugaree" belongs to the Grateful Dead the way so much of their best material does: on stage. Jerry Garcia wrote the music and the band's long-time lyricist Robert Hunter the words, and the studio version was cut for Garcia's 1972 solo album Garcia, but the Dead had already given it its live debut on July 31, 1971, at the Yale Bowl, the same night they first played "Mr. Charlie".

From there it turned up at show after show, including the ones later released as Dick's Picks Volume 3 and One from the Vault, and it's the kind of folk-rock tune that lets a band breathe differently every night. Betty Cantor-Jackson is credited with the recording here.

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