{{For|the 1995 crime film|Sugartime (film)}} {{Refimprove|date=October 2008}} {{Infobox song | name = Sugartime | cover = Sugartime_-_The_McGuire_Sisters.jpg | alt = | type = single | artist = the McGuire Sisters | album = Sugartime | B-side = Banana Split | released = December 1957<ref>"[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/50s/1957/Billboard%201957-12-23.pdf This Week's Best Buys]", ''Billboard'', December 23, 1957. p. 34. Retrieved January 19, 2018.</ref> | format = | recorded = | studio = | venue = | genre = Vocal pop | length = 2:31 | label = Coral | writer = Charlie Phillips<br>Odis "Pop" Echols | producer = | prev_title = Santa Claus is Comin' to Town | prev_year = 1957 | next_title = Ding Dong | next_year = 1958 }}
"'''Sugartime'''" is a popular song written by Charlie Phillips and Odis "Pop" Echols, and published in 1957. The biggest hit version was by the McGuire Sisters, whose recording of it topped the Most Played chart in February 1958.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |edition=8th|publisher=Record Research |page=414}}</ref> It was also the second number 1 ''Billboard'' single for the trio after 1954's "Sincerely". The song refers to the Jimmie Rodgers tune "Honeycomb", which had been recorded a few months earlier in 1957.
==Background and recording== The song was co-written in 1956 by Clovis, New Mexico, residents Charlie Phillips and musician and KCLV radio station owner Odis "Pop" Echols.<ref>{{cite web|title=Odis "Pop" Echols - An Exhibit at the Southwest Collection|url=https://southwestcollection.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/odis-pop-echols-an-exhibit-at-the-southwest-collection/|website=Southwest Collection|publisher=Texas Tech University|date=March 23, 2015|access-date=October 3, 2025}}</ref> Phillips took the song to Norman Petty, who scheduled a recording session at his Clovis recording studio that included Buddy Holly on guitar and Jerry Allison on drums. This country version of the song was released on Coral Records and was a hit in Texas and Mexico.<ref name="VnukPSep2025">{{cite magazine|last=Vnuk|first=Paul|title=Norman Petty Recording Studios|magazine=Recording|date=September 2025|pages=22-31}}</ref>
Petty suggested to Coral that they should do a pop version of the song with the McGuire Sisters, resulting in a number one hit for the singing trio in 1957 and one of the most successful singles of their career.<ref name="VnukPSep2025"/>
A version by Johnny Cash, culled from his Sun Records catalogue, briefly returned to the ''Cashbox'' country chart in 1961.
The chorus was sampled for the title song of the Bollywood movie ''Dil Deke Dekho''.
The melody is remarkably similar to that of "I'm Daffy Over You", written by Chico Marx and Sol Violinsky, and performed by Marx in several films.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=15156|title="Unknown" Marx Brothers Music|website=Nitrateville.com|access-date=28 April 2021}}</ref> The main melody is also reminiscent of Saint-Saens' Havanaise.{{quotation needed|date=April 2020}}
== Cover versions == *A recording by British singer Alma Cogan was a hit later in 1958. *The McGuire Sisters themselves covered it in a twist arrangement in 1960. It was their last chart hit as a trio, bubbling under the ''Billboard Hot 100'' at number 107. *Alice Babs (Swedish lyrics by Eric Sandström) *Lily Berglund, another Swedish version *Linda McCartney, Reggae-version produced by Lee Perry *Johnny Cash (on ''Now Here's Johnny Cash'') *Shigga Shay sampled it in "Shigga Morning", featuring Inch Chua. *Bagel Bites co-opted the song for a jingle in a 1996 commercial titled "Pizza in the Morning". *The Wilburn Brothers on the album ''Side by Side'' (Decca, 1958)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{YouTube|pIaWfLoHe8Y|The McGuire Sisters - Sugartime}} * {{YouTube|xe_OOyi7uR8|Linda McCartney - Sugartime}}
{{McGuire Sisters}}
Category:1957 singles Category:1957 songs Category:The McGuire Sisters songs Category:Johnny Cash songs Category:Coral Records singles Category:Sun Records singles
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