View source for Peg O' My Heart

[[File:Peg O My Heart Cover 2.jpg|thumb|Sheet music cover, 1913 with image of [[Laurette Taylor]] in her title role in the  [[Peg o' My Heart (play)|play]].]]
"'''Peg o' My Heart'''" is a popular song written by [[Alfred Bryan]] (words) and [[Fred Fisher]] (music). It was published on March 15, 1913 and it featured in the 1913 musical ''[[Ziegfeld Follies]]''.

The song was first performed publicly by Irving Kaufman in 1912 at The College Inn in New York City after he had stumbled across a draft of sheet music on a shelf at the Leo Feist offices. {{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

The song was inspired by the main character in the very successful [[musical comedy]] of the time, [[Peg o' My Heart (play)|Peg O’ My Heart]] by [[J. Hartley Manners]], which starred [[Laurette Taylor]] in the title role. Taylor appeared on the cover of early published sheet music.

The song, performed by [[Max Harris (composer)|Max Harris]] and his Novelty Trio (based on a version by [[The Harmonicats]]), was used as the theme of the [[BBC]] miniseries ''[[The Singing Detective]]'' (1986).  When recording engineer [[Bill Putnam]] recorded [[The Harmonicats]] version of the song, he became the first person to use artificial reverberation creatively on a pop recording, with the use of the first reverb chamber, which had been set up in the studio's bathroom.{{citation needed|date=April 2013}}

[[Celtic punk]] band [[Dropkick Murphys]] covered the song on their 2011 album, [[Going Out In Style]]. Their version features a guest appearance by [[Bruce Springsteen]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/News/dropkick-murphys-0124-2011/ |title=Bruce Springsteen Guests on Dropkick Murphys Album |publisher=Gibson.com |date=2011-01-24 |accessdate=2013-05-20}}</ref>

==Notable recordings==
Notable recordings of the song include:

*[[Charles W. Harrison]]
**Label: [[Victor Records|Victor]] 17412 (matrix: 13628-2)
**Recorded: July 24, 1913
*[[Henry Burr]]
**Label: [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] A-1404 (matrix: 38980-2)
**Recorded: August 1, 1913
*[[Walter Van Brunt]]
**[[Edison Records|Edison]], [[Blue Amberol Records|Blue Amberol]] 2036
**Released: September 1913
*[[Bunny Berigan]] & his Orchestra
**Label: [[Victor Records|Victor]] 27258 (matrix: 043925)
**Recorded: [[New York City]] November 28, 1939
*[[Lester Young Trio]]
**Label: [[Clef Records|Clef]] MGC 135 (matrix: 353-1)
**Released: 1953
**Recorded: [[Hollywood]] April 1946
*[[The Harmonicats]]
**Label: [[Vitacoustic Records|Vitacoustic]] 1
**Released: March 1947
**First entered the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine chart on April 18, on charts 21 weeks, peaking at #1
*[[Buddy Clark]] with orchestra directed by [[Mitchell Ayres]]
**Label: [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] 37392 (matrix: CO 37671)
**Recorded: New York City April 25, 1947
**First entered the ''Billboard'' magazine chart on June 27, on charts 7 weeks, peaking at #4
*[[Art Lund]] with orchestra conducted by Johnny Thompson
**Label: [[MGM Records|MGM]] 10037 (matrix: 47-S-3077-3)
**Recorded: in [[Los Angeles, California]] May 12, 1947
**First entered the ''Billboard'' magazine chart on June 20, on charts 10 weeks, peaking at #6
*Clark Dennis
**Label: [[Capitol Records|Capitol]] 346
**First entered the ''Billboard'' magazine chart on July 4, 1947, on charts 1 week, at #10
*[[The Three Suns]]
**Label: [[RCA Victor Records|RCA Victor]] 20-2272
**First entered the ''Billboard'' magazine chart on June 20, 1947, on charts 16 weeks, peaking at #2
*[[Joe Loss]] and his Orchestra
**Label: [[His Master's Voice]] BD&nbsp;5987
**Recorded: London on October 13, 1947
*[[Andy Williams]]
**Album: ''[[The Shadow of Your Smile (Andy Williams album)|The Shadow of Your Smile]]'' (1966)
*[[Dropkick Murphys]] featuring [[Bruce Springsteen]]
**Label: [[Born & Bred Records]]
**Recorded: in [[Boston, Massachusetts]] 2010/2011

==In other media==
In the 2010 ITV drama ''[[Downton Abbey]]'', episode 4 season 1 features William, the second footman, playing "'''Peg o' My Heart'''" on the piano in the servants' hall.

Peg O' My Heart is performed in the 2017 novel <i>Never Split Tens</i> by [[Les Golden]] of Oak Park, Illinois, published by Springer Nature.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
  | before = "[[Mam'selle]]" by [[Art Lund]]
  | title  = U.S. ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Best Sellers in Stores]] [[List of number-one hits (United States)|number-one single]]
  | years  = June 21, 1947 ([[The Harmonicats]])
  | after  = "[[Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go to Sleep)]]" by [[Perry Como]]
}}
{{succession box
  | before = "[[Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go to Sleep)]]" by [[Perry Como]]
  | title  = U.S. ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Best Sellers in Stores]] [[List of number-one hits (United States)|number-one single]]
  | years  = July 19–August 2, 1947 ([[The Harmonicats]])
  | after  = "[[Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)]]" by [[Tex Williams]]
}}
{{s-end}}

[[Category:1913 songs]]
[[Category:Andy Williams songs]]
[[Category:Bruce Springsteen songs]]
[[Category:Dropkick Murphys songs]]
[[Category:Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients]]
[[Category:Number-one singles in the United States]]
[[Category:Songs with lyrics by Alfred Bryan]]
[[Category:Songs written by Fred Fisher]]