From Hunter's liner notes for the re-issue of "Garcia" in the box set
"All Good Things":
"Sugaree was written soon after I moved from the Garcia household to
China Camp. People assume the idea was cadged from Elizabeth Cotten's
Sugaree, but, in fact, the song was originally titled 'Stingaree,'
which is a poisonous South Sea manta. The phrase 'just don't tell them
that you know me' was prompted by something said by an associate in my
pre-Dead days when my destitute circumstances found me fraternizing
with a gang of minor criminals. What he said, when departing, was:
'Hold your mud and don't mention my name.'
"Why change the title to 'Sugaree'? Just thought it sounded better
that way, made the addressee seem more hard-bitten to bear a
sugar-coated name. The song, as I imagined it, is addressed to a pimp.
And yes, I knew Libba's song, and did indeed borrow the new name from
her, suggested by the 'Shake it' refrain."
Wrong
From Hunter's liner notes for the re-issue of "Garcia" in the box set "All Good Things":
"Sugaree was written soon after I moved from the Garcia household to China Camp. People assume the idea was cadged from Elizabeth Cotten's Sugaree, but, in fact, the song was originally titled 'Stingaree,' which is a poisonous South Sea manta. The phrase 'just don't tell them that you know me' was prompted by something said by an associate in my pre-Dead days when my destitute circumstances found me fraternizing with a gang of minor criminals. What he said, when departing, was: 'Hold your mud and don't mention my name.'
"Why change the title to 'Sugaree'? Just thought it sounded better that way, made the addressee seem more hard-bitten to bear a sugar-coated name. The song, as I imagined it, is addressed to a pimp. And yes, I knew Libba's song, and did indeed borrow the new name from her, suggested by the 'Shake it' refrain."