1971 single by Rod Stewart
"Maggie May" is a song co-written by singer Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton, and performed by Rod Stewart on his album Every Picture Tells a Story, released in 1971.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the song number 130 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[3]
In 2017, the 1971 release of "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart on Mercury Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[4]
Background
"Maggie May" expresses the ambivalence and contradictory emotions of a boy involved in a relationship with an older woman and was written from Stewart's own experience. In the January 2007 issue of Q magazine, Stewart recalled: "Maggie May was more or less a true story, about the first woman I had sex with, at the 1961 Beaulieu Jazz Festival."[5][6] The woman's name was not "Maggie May"; Stewart has stated that the name was taken from "an old Liverpudlian song about a prostitute."[6]
The song was recorded in just two takes in one session. Drummer Micky Waller often arrived at recording sessions with the expectation that a drum kit would be provided and, for "Maggie May", it was – except that no cymbals could be found. The cymbal crashes had to be overdubbed separately some days later.[7][6]
The song was released as the B-side of the single "Reason to Believe", but soon radio stations began playing the B-side and "Maggie May" became the more popular side. The song was Stewart's first substantial hit as a solo performer and launched his solo career. It remains one of his best-known songs. A 1971 performance of the song on Top of the Pops saw the Faces joined onstage by DJ John Peel, who pretended to play the mandolin.[8] The mandolin player on the actual recording was Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne.
The album version of "Maggie May" incorporates a 30-second solo guitar intro, "Henry", composed by Martin Quittenton.[6]
The original recording has appeared on almost all of Rod Stewart's compilations, and even appeared on the Ronnie Wood retrospective Ronnie Wood Anthology: The Essential Crossexion. A version by the Faces recorded for BBC Radio appeared on the four-disc box set Five Guys Walk into a Bar.... A live version recorded in 1993 by Stewart joined by Wood for a session of MTV Unplugged is included on the album Unplugged...and Seated.
Chart performance
In October 1971, the song went to number one on the UK Singles Chart (for five weeks),[9] and simultaneously topped the charts in Australia (four weeks), Canada (one week), and the United States (five weeks). It was the No. 2 record for 1971 on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and UK singles charts.
The song re-entered the UK chart in December 1976, but only reached number 31.
At first, I didn't think much of "Maggie May." I guess that's because the record company didn't believe in the song. I didn't have much confidence then. I figured it was best to listen to the guys who knew better. What I learned is sometimes they do and sometimes they don't.
Weekly charts[edit]
| Chart (1976)
|
Peak
position
|
| Ireland
|
13
|
| UK
|
31
|
|
Year-end charts[edit]
| Chart (1971)
|
Rank
|
| Canada[17]
|
19
|
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[18]
|
21
|
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[19]
|
13
|
| UK
|
2
|
| US Billboard Hot 100[20]
|
2
|
| US Cash Box Top 100[21]
|
23
|
All-time charts[edit]
|
Blur cover
The English alternative rock band Blur released a cover of Maggie May on their 1993 album Modern Life Is Rubbish.
