"Maggie May" is a song co-written by singer

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

and

Martin Quittenton Martin Quittenton (22 April 1945 – 16 April 2015) was a British guitarist and composer. He played in the blues rock band Steamhammer, formed in 1968. Their debut album '' Steamhammer'' was released in 1969. Quittenton also worked with Rod Stew ...

, and performed by Rod Stewart on his album ''

Every Picture Tells a Story ''Every Picture Tells a Story'' is the third studio album by Rod Stewart. It was released on 28 May 1971. It incorporates hard rock, folk, and blues styles. It went to number one on both the UK and US charts and finished third in the Jazz & Pop ...

'', released in 1971. In 2004, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' ranked the song number 130 on its list of

The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...

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 Beaulieu ( ) is a small village located on the southeastern edge of the New Forest national park in Hampshire, England, and home to both Palace House and the British National Motor Museum. History The name Beaulieu comes etymological ...

." The woman's name was not "Maggie May"; Stewart has stated that the name was taken from " an old Liverpudlian song about a prostitute." The song was recorded in just two takes in one session. Drummer

Micky Waller Michael Waller (6 September 1941 – 29 April 2008) was an English drummer, who played with many of the biggest names on the UK rock and blues scene, after he became a professional musician in 1960. In addition to being a member, albeit sometim ...

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. The song was released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the single "

Reason to Believe "Reason to Believe" is a song written, composed, and first recorded by American folk singer Tim Hardin in 1965. It has since been recorded by artists including Bobby Darin in 1966, Karen Dalton also in 1966, Glen Campbell in 1968, the Nitty Gritty ...

", 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 ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' saw

the Faces Faces are an English rock band formed in 1969 by members of Small Faces after lead singer and guitarist Steve Marriott left to form Humble Pie. The remaining Small Faces—Ian McLagan (keyboards), Ronnie Lane (electric bass, vocals), and Kenne ...

joined onstage by DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

, who pretended to play the

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

. The mandolin player on the actual recording was Ray Jackson of

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...

. The album version of "Maggie May" incorporates a 30-second solo guitar intro, "Henry", composed by Martin Quittenton. The original recording has appeared on almost all of Rod Stewart's compilations, and even appeared on the

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as an official member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, as well as a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing guitar with a nu ...

retrospective '' Ronnie Wood Anthology: The Essential Crossexion''. A version by the Faces recorded for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

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 ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...

'' is included on the album '' Unplugged...and Seated''.

Chart performance

In October 1971, the song went to number one on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

(for five weeks), and simultaneously topped the charts in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

(four weeks),

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

(one week), and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

(six 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.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– electric guitar,

twelve-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

, bass guitar *

– acoustic guitar *

– drums,

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

s *

Ian McLagan Ian Patrick McLagan (; 12 May 1945 – 3 December 2014) was an English keyboardist, best known as a member of the rock bands Small Faces and Faces. He also collaborated with the Rolling Stones and led his own band from the late 1970s. He was in ...

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

* Ray Jackson –

(listed on the album as "The mandolin was played by the mandolin player in

. The name slips my mind.") *

Pete Sears Peter Roy Sears (born 27 May 1948) is an English rock musician. In a career spanning more than six decades, he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock o ...

–

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

References

External links

* * {{authority control 1971 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia Rod Stewart songs Song recordings produced by Rod Stewart Songs written by Martin Quittenton Songs written by Rod Stewart The Pogues songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles 1971 songs Mercury Records singles British folk rock songs Sexuality and age in fiction