Peg (song)

"Peg"
Single by Steely Dan
from the album Aja
B-side "I Got the News"
Released November 1977
Format Single
Recorded 1977
Genre Disco , Soft rock[1]
Length 3:57
Label ABC
Writer(s) Walter Becker, Donald Fagen
Producer(s) Gary Katz
Steely Dan singles chronology
"Haitian Divorce"
(1976)		 "Peg"
(1977)		 "Deacon Blues"
(1977)
Aja track listing
"Deacon Blues"
(3)		 "Peg"
(4)		 "Home at Last"
(5)

"Peg" is a song by American rock group Steely Dan, first released on the band's 1977 album titled Aja. The track was released as single in 1977 and reached number 11 on the US Billboard chart in 1978 and number eight on the Cash Box chart.[2] In Canada, "Peg" spent three weeks at number seven during March 1978.[3]

The song's guitar solo was attempted by seven top studio session guitarists ‒ including Robben Ford and recurring guitarist Larry Carlton (who wrote Room 335 because of the solo played by Graydon)[4]‒ before Jay Graydon's version became the "keeper".[5][6] He worked on the song for about six hours before the band was satisfied.[7]

Jay Graydon spoke about his famous guitar solo in a 2014 interview:

“ Fortunately, I had no problems on sessions as to nailing a part, but know this—every first call studio guitarist that has played solos has been replaced by another guitarist at least once. It's just part of being a studio musician.[8] ”

Michael McDonald can be heard providing multi-tracked backup vocals in the choruses, and keyboardist Paul Griffin can also be heard improvising background vocals in the final chorus and fadeout.[5]

Legacy

Pitchfork rated "Peg" as its 87th best song of the 1970s, describing it as the "perfect Steely Dan song, and one of the strangest hits to ever grace the mainstream."[6] Drummer Rick Marotta calls "Peg" one of the greatest tracks he has ever played on.[9]

"Peg" was heavily sampled on the 1989 De La Soul song, "Eye Know". In 2007, the song was covered by Nerina Pallot.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1977–78) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[10] 11
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 30
U.S. Cashbox Top 100[11] 8
Canadian RPM[3] 7

Year-end charts

Chart (1978) Rank
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[12] 62
Canada[13] 67

Personnel[14]

References

  1. ↑ Fontenot, Robert. "Soft Rock Music and Songs - Oldies Music". Oldies.about.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  2. ↑ Steely Dan USA chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  4. ↑ Gress, Jess. "10 Things You Gotta Do To Play Like Larry Carlton". GuitarPlayer. GuitarPlayer.com.
  5. 1 2 Classic Albums DVD: Aja
  6. 1 2 "The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s - Page 6 | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  7. ↑ ""Peg" by Steely Dan". Songfacts. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
  8. ↑ 2014 interview with guitarist Jay Graydon on .
  9. ↑ Russ Harris (2008-08-04), Peg - Steely Dan - The Making Of, retrieved 2016-09-09
  10. ↑ "Music lyrics, charts, Games, & more". Top40db.net. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  13. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
  14. ↑ Original 1977 Album liner notes

External links

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