"Shake the Sugar Tree" is the title of a country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 song written by Chapin Hartord. It was recorded by American singer Pam Tillis

Pam Tillis

Pamela Yvonne "Pam" Tillis is an American country music singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of country music singer Mel Tillis....

 on her 1992 album Homeward Looking Angel

Homeward Looking Angel

Homeward Looking Angel is the third album from American country music artist Pam Tillis. The album was a #23 album on the Billboard charts. This album produced four singles for Tillis on the Hot Country Songs charts: the Top Five hits "Shake the Sugar Tree" and "Let That Pony Run" , as well as the...

, from which it was released in 1992 as the album's lead-off single. "Shake the Sugar Tree" became Tillis' fourth Top Ten country hit, peaking at #3 on Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

).

Content

In the song, a wife admonishes her husband for taking her and their relationship for granted too often, only responding when she complains ("You're like fruit from a fickle vine, 'you turn sweet in the nick of time / Love, you only come alive when you're losin' me") and concluding that sometimes she has to "shake the sugar tree" in order to "feel his love come falling all around [her]".

Singer-songwriter Stephanie Bentley

Stephanie Bentley

Stephanie Kay Bentley is an American country music artist. She made her debut in 1996 as a duet partner on Ty Herndon's single "Heart Half Empty", which peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts...

 sang the demo

Demo (music)

A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

 version of the song, and Tillis' producer, Paul Worley

Paul Worley

Paul Worley is an American record producer and session guitarist, known primarily for his work in country music. Formerly a vice president at Sony BMG, he later joined the staff of Warner Bros. Records' Nashville division as chief creative officer...

, incorporated Bentley's demo vocals as harmony vocals in the final recording.

Reception

Roch Parisien and Thom Jurek, who reviewed Homeward Looking Angel for Allmusic, cited the song as a standout on the album, calling it "sultry and sexy."

Chart positions

Chart (1992)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	3
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	3