I never realized how impressive of a run Peggy-O had. As a traditional folk song and a story song it’s pretty obvious that I’m a fan. Peggy-O is a fun song to play, too. When I lived in Chicago I played it with a band I was in there, and I also played it with my buddy Dave, with whom I’d get together to jam and drink beer. We played a few open mice too, which were always a good time.

But back to the original point. I always associate Peggy-O with 1977, but when I looked up the song’s performance history I was surprised to see it first appeared in late 1973 (One of, if not the first versions is on the Download Series, Vol. 8). An occasional airing in 1973 and 1974 gave way to a few more in 1976. By 1977 Peggy-O seems to have come into its own and was a mainstay from there on out. Even though I have 3 pre-1977 Peggy-Os in my collection I’m still surprised by pre-1977 versions. That just goes to show how strong some songs are associated with some eras for people, including me.

One thing I will say about this Road Trips release: It really makes me wish that bands would tour colleges more these days. When I was in grad school I think Loyola brought in one or two current artists during my six years there. I don’t think my undergraduate institution every brought anyone in, and none of the universities I’ve worked at in the past 4 years have either. Nowadays everyone is probably worried about liability and law suits, but how cool it must have been for college kids to amble across campus and be treated to an awesome show.

Brent taps out a nice little counter melody before Jerry starts singing. I never noticed that before. It’s quite pleasant. The rhythm section is down in the mix here, but for a song like Peggy-O the strength is on the melody instruments and vocal so I’m not complaining. Bob certainly keeps things interesting, shifting between jangly chords and percussive playing. Jerry’s solo is methodic and focused. Phil digs in a bit more, at first just root-five stuff, but that doesn’t last long and he takes the bass for a little walk. During the Sweet William verse the band pulls things back and then jumps back in at the very end for a repeat of the first verse. Phil nails a couple big notes signaling the end of the tune and they wrap it up and move on to the next one.

Complete Setlist 5/6/80