"Peg o' My Heart" is a popular song written by Alfred Bryan (words) and

Fred Fisher Fred Fisher (born Alfred Breitenbach; September 30, 1875 – January 14, 1942) was a German-born American songwriter and Tin Pan Alley music publisher. Biography Fisher was born in Cologne, Germany. His parents were Max and Theodora Breitenbach ...

(music). It was published on March 15, 1913 and it featured in the 1913 musical ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Foll ...

''. The song was first performed publicly by

Irving Kaufman Irving Robert Kaufman (June 24, 1910 – February 1, 1992) was a United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and a United States district judge of the United States Distri ...

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. The song was inspired by the main character in the very successful Broadway play of the time, ''Peg o' My Heart'', that debuted December 20, 1912 at the

Cort Theatre The James Earl Jones Theatre, originally the Cort Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 138 48th Street (Manhattan), West 48th Street, between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater ...

in NYC. The play was written by J. Hartley Manners and starred

Laurette Taylor Laurette Taylor (born Loretta Helen Cooney; April 1, 1883Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Manhattan, New York, New York; Roll: 1119; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 859; FHL microfilm: 1241119. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1900 Un ...

in the title role. Taylor appeared on the cover of early published sheet music.

Notable recordings

Notable recordings of the song include: * Charles W. Harrison **Label: Victor 17412 (matrix: 13628-2) **Recorded: July 24, 1913 *

Henry Burr Henry Burr (January 15, 1882 – April 6, 1941) was a Canadian singer, radio performer and producer. He was born Harry Haley McClaskey and used Henry Burr as one of his many pseudonyms, in addition to Irving Gillette, Henry Gillette, Alfred Ale ...

**Label: Columbia A-1404 (matrix: 38980-2) **Recorded: August 1, 1913 *

Walter Van Brunt Walter Van Brunt (22 April 1892 – 11 April 1971) was an American tenor known initially for his recordings on Thomas Alva Edison's Blue Amberol Records and later for his role in a scandal involving a stage name and case of adultery. Biograph ...

** Edison,

Blue Amberol Blue Amberol Records was the trademark name for cylinder records manufactured by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in the US from 1912 to 1929. They replaced the 4-minute black wax Amberol cylinders introduced in 1908, which had replaced the 2-minute wa ...

2036 **Released: September 1913 *

Bunny Berigan Roland Bernard "Bunny" Berigan (November 2, 1908 – June 2, 1942) was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader who rose to fame during the swing era. His career and influence were shortened by alcoholism, and ended with his early demise at the ...

& his Orchestra **Label: Victor 27258 (matrix: 043925) **Recorded:

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

November 28, 1939 * Lester Young Trio **Label:

Clef A clef (from French: 'key') is a musical symbol used to indicate which notes are represented by the lines and spaces on a musical staff. Placing a clef on a staff assigns a particular pitch to one of the five lines or four spaces, whic ...

MGC 135 (matrix: 353-1) **Released: 1953 **Recorded:

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

April 1946 *

The Harmonicats Jerry Murad's Harmonicats were an American harmonica-based group. Background The earliest iteration of The Harmonicats was known as the Harmonica Madcaps, later renamed The Quintones by Jimmy Mulcay, who promoted and produced the group until 1 ...

**Label: Vitacoustic Records 1 **Released: March 1947 **First entered the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine chart on April 18, on charts 21 weeks, peaking at #1 *

Buddy Clark Buddy Clark (born Samuel Goldberg, July 26, 1912 – October 1, 1949) was an American popular singer of the Big Band era. He had some success in the 1930s, but his career truly blossomed in the late 1940s, after his return from service in Worl ...

with orchestra directed by

Mitchell Ayres Mitchell Ayres (December 24, 1909 – September 5, 1969) was an orchestra leader, music arranger, composer and performer. He is best known for his many years of work with Perry Como on radio, records, and television and as the musical condu ...

**Label: 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 Arthur Lund (April 1, 1915 – May 31, 1990) was an American baritone singer, initially with bandleaders Benny Goodman and Harry James, and was also a television and theatre, stage actor. Biography Arthur Lund was a graduate of Eastern Kent ...

with orchestra conducted by Johnny Thompson **Label:

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

10037 (matrix: 47-S-3077-3) **Recorded: in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

May 12, 1947 **First entered the ''Billboard'' magazine chart on June 20, on charts 10 weeks, peaking at #6 *Clark Dennis **Label:

Capitol Capitol, capitols or The Capitol may refer to: Places and buildings Legislative building * United States Capitol, in Washington, D.C. * National Capitol of Colombia, in Bogotá * Palacio Federal Legislativo, in Caracas, Venezuela * National Ca ...

346 **First entered the ''Billboard'' magazine chart on July 4, 1947, on charts 1 week, at #10 *

The Three Suns The Three Suns were an American pop group, most popular during the 1940s and 1950s. Career history The group was formed in 1939 by brothers Al Nevins (guitar) and Morty Nevins (accordion) and their cousin, radio and vaudeville veteran Artie Du ...

**Label:

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

20-2272 **First entered the ''Billboard'' magazine chart on June 20, 1947, on charts 16 weeks, peaking at #2 *

Joe Loss Joshua Alexander "Joe" Loss (22 June 1909 – 6 June 1990) was a British dance band leader and musician who founded his own eponymous orchestra. Life Loss was born in Spitalfields, London, the youngest of four children. His parents, Israel an ...

and his Orchestra **Label:

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

BD 5987 **Recorded: London on October 13, 1947 *

Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American rock and roll musician who pioneered the style of rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-a-Lula", is ...

and His Bluecaps **Album: ''

Bluejean Bop! ''Bluejean Bop!'' is the debut studio album by American rockabilly singer and his backing band Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps, featuring rock and roll music as well as covers of pop standards. It was released in 1956 on the Capitol label. ''Blu ...

'' **Label:

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

**Released: 13 August 1956 *

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, politician and fraudster. After escaping the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, ...

His Harp and Orchestra **Released 1964: #64 on the US,

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...

**Album: ''

The Shadow of Your Smile "The Shadow of Your Smile", also known as "Love Theme from ''The Sandpiper''", is a popular song. The music was written by Johnny Mandel with the lyrics written by Paul Francis Webster. The song was introduced in the 1965 film ''The Sandpiper' ...

'' (1966) *

Celtic punk Celtic punk is punk rock mixed with traditional Celtic music. Celtic punk bands often play traditional Celtic folk songs, contemporary/political folk songs, and original compositions.P. Buckley, ''The Rough Guide to Rock'' (London: Rough Guides, 2 ...

band

Dropkick Murphys Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The current lineup consists of co-lead vocalist and bassist Ken Casey, drummer Matt Kelly, co-lead vocalist Al Barr (on hiatus from the band since 202 ...

covered the song on their 2011 album, Going Out in Style. Their version features a guest appearance by

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

In other media

"Peg o' My Heart" featured in the 1959 film ''

Oh, You Beautiful Doll "Oh, You Beautiful Doll" is a ragtime love song published in 1911 with words by Seymour Brown and music by Nat D. Ayer. The song was one of the first with a twelve-bar opening. The first was a decade earlier. The tune has been recorded hundr ...

'', a fictionalized biography of Fred Fisher, a German-born American writer of Tin Pan Alley songs. ( Mark Stevens) turns serious composer Fred Breitenbach ( S. Z. Sakall) into songwriter Fred Fisher. Fred Fisher is his assumed name in real life and Breitenbach is his birth surname. In the film, many Fisher songs were given a symphonic arrangement that was performed at Aeolian Hall. Among the other Fisher songs heard were "

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

," "

Dardanella "Dardanella" is a popular song published in 1919 by McCarthy & Fisher, Inc., a firm owned by Fred Fisher, lyricist, for music composed by Felix Bernard and Johnny S. Black. Bandleader Ben Selvin (1898–1980) recorded "Dardanella" for several ...

," and "Who Paid the Rent for Mrs. Rip Van Winkle". Mark Stevens (dubbed by Bill Shirley) and

June Haver June Haver (born Beverly June Stovenour; June 10, 1926 – July 4, 2005) was an American film actress, singer and dancer. Once groomed by 20th Century Fox to be "the next Betty Grable," Haver appeared in a string of Musical film, musicals, but sh ...

(dubbed by Bonnie Lou Williams) sing "Peg o' My Heart" as a duet. The film was released on November 11, 1949. The song, performed by Max Harris and his Novelty Trio (based on the Harmonicats' 1947 version), was used as the theme of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

miniseries ''

The Singing Detective ''The Singing Detective'' is a six-part BBC television serial drama, written by Dennis Potter, starring Michael Gambon and directed by Jon Amiel. Its six episodes are "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It". ...

'' (1986). When recording engineer

Bill Putnam Milton Tasker "Bill" Putnam (February 20, 1920 – April 13, 1989) was an American audio engineer, songwriter, producer, studio designer, and businessman. He has been described as "the father of modern recording". He was the inventor of the modern ...

recorded the Harmonicats' version of the song, he utilized the bathroom of

Universal Recording Universal Recording Corporation was a recording studio in Chicago founded by Bill Putnam, Sr. for the purpose of investigating new recording techniques and the development of specialized recording equipment. Universal Recording was seminal i ...

as an

echo chamber Echo chamber of the Dresden University of Technology Hamilton Mausoleum has a long-lasting unplanned echo An echo chamber is a hollow enclosure used to produce reverberation, usually for recording purposes. A traditional echo chamber is cove ...

and became the first person to use artificial reverberation creatively on a pop recording. In the 2010 ITV drama ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. It first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV (TV network), ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United St ...

'', episode 4 season 1 features William, the second footman, playing "Peg o' My Heart" on the piano in the servants' hall.

References

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