Friday, June 8, 2012

Rockin' Friday: Sugar Magnolia

As Paul McCartney sang in Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, “It was 20 years ago today…”.  No, Sgt. Pepper is not this week’s Rockin’ Friday song, but it is kind of tangentially related.  Twenty years ago today my friend Rick took me to my first Grateful Dead concert.  As those in the loop would say, that’s the day I got “on the bus”.

Now two decades later the music’s never stopped for me.  I’ve been to roughly 60 or 70 Dead-related shows since then. I felt it was apropos that this week’s Rockin Friday tune is one that I heard at my first show: Sugar Magnolia.

Sugar Magnolia is a great rock song about the cool things the singer’s loving girlfriend does for him. Basically he says that she is awesome and lists the reasons why. The song was inspired by guitarist Bob Weir’s then-girlfriend, Frankie. 

The chorus gives a little insight into just how sweet Bob’s lady friend was:


She's got everything delightful
She's got everything I need
Takes the wheel when I'm seeing double
Pays my ticket when I speed

Sounds like a keeper to me.


Sugar Magnolia was the Dead’s second most played song in their 30-year touring career. It's an upbeat tune with fun lyrics and one that my Little Dude definitely enjoys rocking along to while we cruise down the road in my four-wheel drive SUV, (which is unfortunately not the Willys Jeep that Bob sings about).



Did you ever see the Grateful Dead live? If so, how many times?  
Have any good stories to share? Leave a comment below...

3 comments:

  1. Ha ha now I have Sgt Peppers stuck in my head. I have never seen any famous rock band's concert everytime a good one has been in South Africa I have not been able to go.

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    1. That's what makes YouTube so great, Vivian. You can pull up just about any artist you want. Check it out.

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  2. I'm a huge Grateful dead fan and this song is one of my all time favourite! I never got the chance to watch them live but I absolutely love all their performances. Very well written post, looking forward to more!

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