Sugar Shack

Album

Breach

Label

Dot Records

Genre

Pop rock

Duration

0:00

Composer(s)

Beulah Faye Voss;Keith McCormack

Entered Chart

Sep 21, 1963

Peak Date

Oct 12, 1963

Released

1963, Norman Petty Studios, Clovis, N.M.

Recorded

1963

Catalog #

Dot 45-16487

B-Side

My Heart Is Free

Before the Temptations "Psychedelic Shack" and the B-52s "Love Shack" were where it was at, the Sugar Shack was where you want to get back. This shack is a coffeehouse, where the singer successfully courts the cute girl who works there. They get married and spend a lot of time thinking about those good times at the Sugar Shack. In America, this was the biggest hit of 1963, spending five weeks at #1. It was also the first Hot 100 chart topper with "sugar" in the title. There were two more: "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies (1969) and "Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones. The Fireballs were a New Mexico band that had some success with instrumental tracks like "Torquay" (#39, 1959) and "Bulldog" (#24, 1960). Their recordings were all instrumental, but they used a vocalist when they played concerts in order to fill the sets. Until the summer of 1960, Chuck Tharp served as their frontman, replaced by Jimmy Gilmer, who led his own rockabilly band before joining The Fireballs. On the road, the band played "Sugar Shack," which got a great response. They urged their producer, Norman Petty, to record the song, and he did so at his studio in Clovis, New Mexico. Released in May 1963, the song took off, climbing to #1 in October. The song was written by Keith McCormack and his aunt, Faye Voss. McCormack had a band called the String-a-Longs that also recorded with Norman Petty; their song "Wheels" went to #3 in 1961. When the Fireballs were looking for songs, McCormack supplied him with a few, including "Sugar Shack." According to an interview with he did with the Plainview Herald, McCormack and his aunt wrote the song over breakfast, which explains why coffee shows up in the lyric. They traded lines back and forth until they had the whole story. The distinctive whistling riff was made with a 1940s Hammond Solovox organ, which producer Norman Petty played on the record. The instrument was not practical to take on the road, so when the band played it live, they simulated it on guitar. Report this ad The Fireballs lineup when this song was released was: Gilmer - vocals George Tomsco - guitar Doug Roberts - drums Stan Lark - bass In 1964, the group hit #15 with "Daisy Petal Pickin'," a song musically similar to "Sugar Shack" that also used a Solovox lick. Their next hit came in 1967 with a very different song: "Bottle of Wine," a drinking tune written by Tom Paxton that reached #9. They never again cracked the Top 40. No other version of the song ever charted, possibly because that vintage organ riff was too difficult to emulate. In 1963, the Surfaris recorded the song, as did Lawrence Welk, with an instrumental version. Marcia Griffiths of "Electric Boogie" fame recorded it in 1990, altering the lyrics so she's scoping out a cute dreadlocked guy at the Sugar Shack. Later in 1963, a singer named Georgia Lynn recorded "Sugar Shack Queen," an answer song sung from the perspective of the girl in the song. The single was credited to Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs.

There's a crazy little shack beyond the tracks
And everybody calls it the sugar shack
Well, it's just a coffeehouse and it's made out of wood
Espresso coffee tastes mighty good
That's not the reason why I've got to get back
To that sugar shack, whoa, baby
To that sugar shack

There's a cute little girlie, she's a-workin' there
Black leotards and her feet are bare
I'm gonna drink a little coffee, spend a little cash
Make that girl love me when I put on some trash
You can understand why I've gotta get back
To that sugar shack, whoa, baby
To that sugar shack

And now that sugar shack queen is a-married to me, yeah
We just sit around and dream of those old memories
Ah, but one of these days, I'm gonna lay down tracks
In the direction of that sugar shack
Just me and her, yes, we're gonna go back
To that sugar shack, whoa-oh
To that sugar shack, yeah, honey
To our sugar shack, yeah, yeah, yeah
Our sugar shack, whoa, baby