Maggie May
Encyclopedia
"Maggie May" is a song written by singer Rod Stewart
and Martin Quittenton
and recorded by Stewart in 1971
for his album Every Picture Tells a Story
.
"Maggie May" expresses the ambivalence and contradictory emotions of a young man 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 Beaulieu Jazz Festival." The reference to returning to "school" in "late September" does not refer, as US listeners may assume, to university, as in British English
the word does not carry this meaning.
It was initially released in the United Kingdom
as the B-side of the single
"Reason to Believe
," but DJs became fonder of the B-side and, after two weeks on the charts, the song was reclassified, with "Maggie May" becoming the A-side. However, the single continued to be pressed with "Maggie May" as the B-side.
In October 1971, the song went to number one in the UK and simultaneously topped the charts in the United States
. Every Picture Tells a Story
achieved the same status at the same time, a feat achieved by only a handful of performers, most notably The Beatles
and Simon and Garfunkel
. The song also topped the charts in Australia
for four weeks at the same time.
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 famous live performance of the song on Top of the Pops
saw The Faces joined onstage by DJ John Peel
, who pretended to play the mandolin
(the mandolin player on the recording was Ray Jackson
of Lindisfarne
). Stewart himself was amused by the song's success, saying, "I still can't see how the single is such a big hit. It has no melody. Plenty of character and nice chords, but no melody."
The song re-entered the UK charts in December 1976
, but only reached number 31.
Oddly, in the days of Top-40 Hit Radio, when songs were released for airplay and to the public on 45RPM singles, "Maggie May" was not edited in any way or fashion. The full 5:15 version was pressed to single, even though its multiple refrains & 5-bar mandolin solo could have been easily taken to edit. Perhaps it was because "Maggie May" was initially only meant to be a B-side single, and many B-sides are left intact without editing.
Most versions of "Maggie May" (especially on some Rod Stewart compilations) incorporate a 30-second solo guitar intro, "Henry", composed by Martin Quittenton
.
In 2004, Rolling Stone
ranked the song #130 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
.
, a film composer from South India, for the film Aasai.
Edwin McCain
, Blur
, Wet Wet Wet
, The Pogues
, The Pietasters
and Ben Mills
have recorded versions of "Maggie May"; Melissa Etheridge
, The Pogues
, The Dirty Three and Counting Crows
have performed it in concert.
The Spanish rock band M-Clan
recorded a translated version of the song, called Maggie despierta, on their Sin enchufe (Unplugged) album. The French singer Richard Anthony
sang "Maggie May" in French.
Canadian pianist and singer Burton Cummings
has recorded a humorous variant on the song, titled "Gordon Lightfoot
does 'Maggie May'".
The song is covered by Matthew Sweet
& Susanna Hoffs
on their album "Under the Covers, Vol. 2
."
Paul McDonald
performed it on American Idol
after his elimination was announced on April 14, 2011. Jennifer Lopez
personally requested it.
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
and Martin Quittenton
Martin Quittenton
Martin Quittenton is a British guitarist and composer. He played in the blues rock band Steamhammer, formed in 1968. Their debut album Steamhammer was released in 1969 with keyboardist Pete Sears as a special guest....
and recorded by Stewart in 1971
1971 in music
-Events:*February 1 – after months of feuding in the press, Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones hold a "drum battle" at The Lyceum.*February 8 – Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New York's Academy of Music...
for his album Every Picture Tells a Story
Every Picture Tells a Story
Every Picture Tells a Story is the third album by Rod Stewart, released in the middle of 1971. It went to number one on both the UK and U.S. charts and finished third in the Pazz & Jop critics' poll for best album of 1971...
.
"Maggie May" expresses the ambivalence and contradictory emotions of a young man involved in a relationship with an older woman, and was written from Stewart's own experience. In the January, 2007 issue of Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine, Stewart recalled: "Maggie May was more or less a true story, about the first woman I had sex with, at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival." The reference to returning to "school" in "late September" does not refer, as US listeners may assume, to university, as in British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
the word does not carry this meaning.
It was initially released in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as the B-side of the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Reason to Believe
Reason to Believe
"Reason to Believe" is a song written and first recorded by American folk singer Tim Hardin in 1965, which has since been recorded by a number of other artists, the most known of which is by Rod Stewart in 1971 and 1993...
," but DJs became fonder of the B-side and, after two weeks on the charts, the song was reclassified, with "Maggie May" becoming the A-side. However, the single continued to be pressed with "Maggie May" as the B-side.
In October 1971, the song went to number one in the UK and simultaneously topped the charts in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Every Picture Tells a Story
Every Picture Tells a Story
Every Picture Tells a Story is the third album by Rod Stewart, released in the middle of 1971. It went to number one on both the UK and U.S. charts and finished third in the Pazz & Jop critics' poll for best album of 1971...
achieved the same status at the same time, a feat achieved by only a handful of performers, most notably The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and Simon and Garfunkel
Simon and Garfunkel
Simon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...
. The song also topped the charts in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
for four weeks at the same time.
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 famous live performance of the song on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
saw The Faces joined onstage by DJ John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
, who pretended to play the mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
(the mandolin player on the recording was Ray Jackson
Lindsay Raymond Jackson
Ray Jackson was a mandolin and harmonica player, and joint lead vocalist with Alan Hull, of the folk-rock group Lindisfarne from their original formation in 1970 until his departure in 1990...
of Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne (band)
Lindisfarne were a British folk/rock group from Newcastle upon Tyne established in 1970 and fronted by singer/songwriter Alan Hull. Their music combined a strong sense of yearning with an even stronger sense of fun...
). Stewart himself was amused by the song's success, saying, "I still can't see how the single is such a big hit. It has no melody. Plenty of character and nice chords, but no melody."
The song re-entered the UK charts in December 1976
1976 in music
-January–February:*January 5 – Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot dead by Los Angeles police after refusing to drop what police only later determine is an air rifle....
, but only reached number 31.
Oddly, in the days of Top-40 Hit Radio, when songs were released for airplay and to the public on 45RPM singles, "Maggie May" was not edited in any way or fashion. The full 5:15 version was pressed to single, even though its multiple refrains & 5-bar mandolin solo could have been easily taken to edit. Perhaps it was because "Maggie May" was initially only meant to be a B-side single, and many B-sides are left intact without editing.
Most versions of "Maggie May" (especially on some Rod Stewart compilations) incorporate a 30-second solo guitar intro, "Henry", composed by Martin Quittenton
Martin Quittenton
Martin Quittenton is a British guitarist and composer. He played in the blues rock band Steamhammer, formed in 1968. Their debut album Steamhammer was released in 1969 with keyboardist Pete Sears as a special guest....
.
In 2004, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
ranked the song #130 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone, issue number 963, published December 9, 2004, a year after the magazine published its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time"....
.
Cover versions
No other act has released the song as a single. The guitar-solo picking halfway through the song, though, was lifted by DevaDeva (music director)
Deva is an Indian film composer and singer. He has composed songs and provided background music for Tamil films in a career spanning about 20 years. Many know his gaana songs, written mostly using Madras Tamil. He is known as the "Father of Gaana Genre" in the Tamil film industry.Deva has composed...
, a film composer from South India, for the film Aasai.
Edwin McCain
Edwin McCain
Edwin McCain is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Career:While his albums are released under his name, he does have a permanent band, referred to as the Edwin McCain Band...
, Blur
Blur (band)
Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
, Wet Wet Wet
Wet Wet Wet
Wet Wet Wet are a Scottish pop rock band that formed in the 1980s. They scored a number of hits in the British charts and around the world. The band is composed of Marti Pellow , Tommy Cunningham , Graeme Clark and Neil Mitchell...
, The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
, The Pietasters
The Pietasters
The Pietasters are a seven-piece ska/soul band hailing from Washington, D.C., with additional members from Maryland and Virginia.- History :In 1990, a group of friends were attending college at Virginia Tech in the mountains of Virginia...
and Ben Mills
Ben Mills
Benjamin Collett Mills is a British singer who finished in third place in the third UK series of TV talent show The X Factor in 2006. He signed a five-album record deal with Sony BMG. His album, Picture of You, was released on 12 March 2007, the same date as the debut album from The X Factor...
have recorded versions of "Maggie May"; Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Etheridge
Melissa Lou Etheridge is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals...
, The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
, The Dirty Three and Counting Crows
Counting Crows
Counting Crows is an American rock band originating from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1991, the group gained popularity following the release of its debut album in 1993, August and Everything After, which featured the hit single "Mr. Jones"...
have performed it in concert.
The Spanish rock band M-Clan
M-Clan
M Clan is a Spanish rock band. The band, initially named Murciélagos Clan, was formed in Murcia, in 1992 by Carlos Tarque and Ricardo Ruipérez....
recorded a translated version of the song, called Maggie despierta, on their Sin enchufe (Unplugged) album. The French singer Richard Anthony
Richard Anthony (French singer)
Richard Anthony is a French singer, born 13 January 1938 in Cairo, Egypt, as Ricardo Btesh.-Biography:Richard's father was an industrialist, and his mother was the daughter of an English diplomat...
sang "Maggie May" in French.
Canadian pianist and singer Burton Cummings
Burton Cummings
Burton L. Cummings, OC, OM is a Canadian musician and songwriter.He was the lead singer and frequent keyboardist for the Canadian rock band The Guess Who...
has recorded a humorous variant on the song, titled "Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...
does 'Maggie May'".
The song is covered by Matthew Sweet
Matthew Sweet
Sidney Matthew Sweet is an American alternative rock/power pop musician. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s...
& Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Lee Hoffs is an American vocalist, guitarist and actress. She is best known as a member of the all-female pop band The Bangles.-Early life:...
on their album "Under the Covers, Vol. 2
Under the Covers, Vol. 2
Under the Covers, Vol. 2 is the second collaboration between alternative rock artist Matthew Sweet and Bangles singer Susanna Hoffs. Released by Shout! Factory on July 21, 2009, it contains 16 cover versions of favorite songs from the 1970s....
."
Paul McDonald
Paul McDonald (musician)
Paul McDonald is an American singer-songwriter from Huntsville, Alabama, who as of 2011 resides in Nashville, Tennessee...
performed it on American Idol
American Idol (season 10)
The tenth season of American Idol premiered on January 19, 2011 and concluded on May 25, 2011, on Fox. The show underwent a number of changes from season nine, including the reduction of the judging panel to its original number of just three judges , a returning executive producer, a new music...
after his elimination was announced on April 14, 2011. Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
personally requested it.