Steely Dan – ‘Peg’

‘Peg’ is from Aja, the sixth album from Steely Dan. The song was released as a single in November 1977 and reached #11 on the US Billboard chart. The song is notable for the dense layers of harmonised background vocals during the chorus (performed by Michael McDonald). It’s also known for its guitar solo, for which several top session guitarists performed, with the final version being Jay Graydon’s. The song also has an excellent bass part, which was performed by the one and only Chuck Rainey.

This song features an ear-grabbing fingerstyle bass part during the verse sections, the use of double stop tenths, and a slapped line during the chorus. Band leaders Donald Fagen and Walter Becker famously didn’t want a slapped line, but Chuck recorded it anyway, confident that it was the right part for the section. You can hear Chuck’s isolated bass part HERE.

To download the transcription (with TAB and without), please visit the Free Stuff page.