Bob Dylan / 2:05
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Charlie Daniels: guitar
Norman Blake: guitar, dobro
Kelton D. Herston: guitar (?)
Pete Drake: pedal steel guitar
Bob Wilson: piano (?)
Hargus Robbins: piano (?)
Charlie McCoy: bass
Kenneth Buttrey: drums
Recording Studio
Columbia Recording Studios, Nashville: February 14, 1969
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Johnston
Sound Engineers: Charlie Bragg and Neil Wilburn
Bob Dylan wrote “Peggy Day” just before or possibly during the Nashville Skyline sessions. The songwriter said he wrote it while thinking of the Mills Brothers, an African-American vocal jazz and pop group that was famous during the 1940s for their sumptuous vocal harmonies. The mood of the song is light, revealing the state of mind of the composer at this time. “Peggy Day” or “Peggy Night,” whatever… The narrator wants to spend his days and nights with this young woman, gifted in the art of love, even though she stole his heart. Dylan was amusing himself, giving the impression of taking a break after all the years of intense creation.
“Peggy Day” was the first song to be recorded on February 14, 1969. After a jazzy introduction on acoustic guitar by Charlie Daniels, Dylan launches into this pleasant, middle-of-the-road ballad that is halfway between doo-wop and country. A Mills Brothers reply on the choruses would have been great, but instead it is Norman Blake on his dobro. Dylan’s singing is relaxed and he delivers a good vocal, especially at the end of the song. The rhythm section is provided by the guitars of Dylan, Blake, Herston (?), the bass of McCoy, Buttrey on drums, and the very efficient but spare piano part by Wilson. Dylan doesn’t avoid the clichés of this genre, with a pedal steel guitar solo and a rhythm break at the end of the piece—in other words, the group is having fun. While the music is simple and light, the songwriter surprises with a new writing style.
Dylan has never performed this song in concert. On the other hand, there is a version with Johnny Cash on the bootleg Dylan-Cash sessions.