"Peg" is a song by American rock group Steely Dan, first released on the band's 1977 album Aja. The track was released as single in 1977 and reached number 11 on the USBillboard chart in 1978 and number eight on the Cash Box chart. With a chart run of 19 weeks, "Peg" is tied with "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" and "Hey Nineteen" for being their longest-running chart hit. In Canada, "Peg" spent three weeks at number seven during March 1978.
Music and lyrics
"Peg" has been described by AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine as a "sunny pop" song with "layers of jazzy vocal harmonies", while music scholar Stephen K. Valdez said it features a fusion of jazz and rock elements. In the opinion of jazz musician and academic Andy LaVerne, the song "has the blues at its core, though it might not be apparent at first listen". The song's guitar solo was attempted by seven top studio session guitarists‒including Robben Ford and recurring guitarist Larry Carlton‒before Jay Graydon's version became the "keeper". He worked on the song for about six hours before the band was satisfied. Jay Graydon spoke about his famous guitar solo in a 2014 interview: Michael McDonald provides multi-tracked backup vocals in the choruses, and keyboardist Paul Griffin can be heard talking and improvising background vocals in the final chorus and fadeout. Although there was speculation that the name was a reference to Broadway star and one-time Hollywood actress Peg Entwistle, in 2000 the band said the song was written about a real person but not Entwistle. In 2020 Donald Fagen said "There's no hidden meaning. We just wanted a dotted half note for that spot and Peg was short enough to fit with the music." Fagen added that the song "takes place at a seedy photo shoot in L.A...from the perspective of jilted boyfriend."
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." Drummer Rick Marotta calls "Peg" one of the greatest tracks he has ever played on. Billboard praised the "sarcastic" lyrics, the " stinging instrumental break" and the "chilling" piano playing. The song became famous as the theme music used for a celebrity paparazzi segment for the syndicated news magazineEntertainment Tonight from 1981 to 1985. "Peg" was heavily sampled on the 1989 De La Soul song, "Eye Know". In 2007, the song was covered by Nerina Pallot and in 2014 by Donny Osmond.
