American Songwriter
3 Songs You Didn’t Know ‘Married With Children’ and ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Star Katey Sagal Wrote as a Recording Artist
By Tina Benitez-Eves
November 14, 2024
Before her breakout role in 1987 as Peg Bundy, the bouffant-topped matriarch on Married With Children, the voice of Leela on Futurama by the late 1990s, and transitioning into more dramatic roles like Sons of Anarchy—which earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress, Television Series Drama in 2011 for her portrayal as den mother Gemma Teller Morrow—actress, singer, and songwriter Katey Sagal was singing backing vocals for Bob Dylan, Etta James, and Tanya Tucker in the early ’70s and later performed on albums by KISS‘ Gene Simmons and Debbie Harry.
In the mid-’70s, Sagal started her music career in The Group With No Name, which released the album Moon Over Brooklyn and the singles “Baby Love (How Could You Leave Me)” and “Roll on Brother” before disbanding in 1978. That year, Sagal sang backing vocals on Simmons’ self-titled debut solo album and joined Bette Midler‘s backup singing group, the Harlettes, which she rejoined again from 1982 through 1983.
During the ’80s, Sagal also sang backing vocals on the 1981 Molly Hatchet album Take No Prisoners (1981), Olivia Newton-John‘s 1985 single “Soul Kiss,” and appeared in the music video for Harry’s “French Kissin (in the USA)” in 1986.
Sagal later sang the Rolling Stones‘ “Ruby Tuesday” and Leonard Cohen‘s “Bird on the Wire” on the 2009 Sons of Anarchy soundtrack and released an album of covers in 2013, Covered, which featured a duet with Jackson Browne on Steve Earle’s “Goodbye.”
Within a career spanning more than 50 years, Sagal also wrote a majority of the songs from her solo recordings, including her 1994 debut Well… and Room from 2004. “If you’re a writer, you have to write all the time and if you’re a player, you have to play and you have to play all the time,” said Sagal in 2013. “I don’t care if that’s in your room or wherever. I come from a background of this sort of business.”
Here’s a look at three songs Sagal wrote during her music career.
“September Rain” (1994)
Written by Katey Sagal, Phil Roy, and Bob Thiele Jr.
On her 1994 debut Well… Sagal co-wrote nine of the 12 tracks, including “Can’t Hurry the Harvest,” “Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid,” “That’s How Love Goes,” “Peace,” “Act of Faith,” “I Don’t Wanna Know,” “Don’t Know How to Let You Go,” and the closing “Dignity.” Working with producer Bob Thiele Jr., who also co-wrote several tracks, Sagal also penned the soaring ballad “September Rain” a deep dive into reviving hope and gratefulness.
If everything happens for the best
If fate is never second-guessed
Then why does right feel so wrong
I have my life it’s a lovely world
People think I’m a lucky girl
Then why does right feel so wrong
Whose life is this
Which voice is mine
I’m stealing I have got to stop pretending
Over and over and over again
I blow like a leaf in the autumn wind
I am alone inside my skin
In the cold September rain
“Life Goes Round”
Written by Katey Sagal and David Ricketts
A decade after releasing her debut album, Sagal returned with a second, Room, featuring a cover of Stevie Wonder‘s 1974 song “Heaven Is Ten Zillion Light Years Away,” Donovan’s “Catch the Wind,” and “I’ll Be Long Gone” by Boz Scaggs. Produced by Bob Thiele Jr. and mixed by Ray Kennedy, the album also features three more personal songs co-written by Sagal, including “Daddy’s Girl,” “Wish I Was a Kid,” and the nostalgic opener “Life Goes Round.”
Little Maryann
Did you think that the earth was flat
Did you think that the prince would come
Or don’t you think about things like that
Did you think that the cradle be rockin’
Just after the church bell rang
Oh sister it’s so shockin’
How did things get so out of hand
Oh, life goes round
And what you dreamed about is not what you found
Oh, you ask why
There’s a crack in the mirror and time goes by
And it’s gone in the blink of an eye
“Daddy’s Girl”
Written by Katey Sagal and Mark Goldenberg
On Room, Sagal also wrote a song about the bond between a father and mother and their daughter. “This CD began during a transitional time in my life,” said Sagal of Room. “I phoned my friend, Bob [Thiele Jr.], and we began in one room to put it together. We picked songs that gave voice to where I was. I wrote a few and borrowed a few and together they built this room.”
My old man
I’m a chip off the old block
My old man
Is still living here
Not in flesh and bone, he’s never far from home
I’m forever walkin’ in my daddy’s shoes
I’ve got his misery, I got good company
Guess I’ll always be
My daddy’s girl
My momma sang
Call it inspiration
And she’s comin’ on through me
I can feel her now
Though she walks on the other side
To me she’s still quite alive
I’m forever rockin’ in my mommas arms
Mom had a broken heart
From a world just too damn hard
Mine breaks often cause I’m a momma’s girl
Sagal debuted “Daddy’s Girl” on an episode of 8 Simple Rules…., an ABC sitcom she starred in with late comedian and actor John Ritter.
