Maggie May

Template:Infobox song "Maggie May" is a song co-written by singer Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton, performed by Stewart for his album Every Picture Tells a Story, released in 1971. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked it number 130 in The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2017, the Mercury Records single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The song is regarded as Stewart's signature song.

Background

Written from Stewart's personal experience, "Maggie May" expresses the ambivalence and contradictory emotions of a boy involved in a relationship with an older woman. In the January 2007 issue of Q magazine, Stewart recalled: "Maggie May was a true story, about the first woman I had sex with, at the 1961 Beaulieu Jazz Festival."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="MM">Template:Cite news</ref> The woman's name was not "Maggie May"; Stewart has stated that the name was taken from "an old Liverpudlian song about a prostitute".<ref name="MM"/>

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.<ref>Rod – The Autobiography Template:ISBN</ref><ref name="MM"/>

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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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.<ref name="MM"/>

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),<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">Template:Cite book</ref> 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.

Weekly charts

Template:SinglechartTemplate:Singlechart

Chart (1971)	Peak position
Australia Go-Set National Top 40<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1
Canada<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1
Germany	11
Ireland	2
New Zealand	3
Switzerland	5
UK Singles Chart<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/>	1
US Billboard Hot 100<ref>[Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2002]</ref>	1
US Cash Box Top 100<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	1
Zimbabwe (ZIMA)<ref>* Zimbabwe. Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: singles chart book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000</ref>	8

Chart (1976)	Peak position
Ireland	13
UK	31

Year-end charts

Chart (1971)	Rank
Canada<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	19
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	21
Netherlands (Single Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	13
UK	2
US Billboard Hot 100<ref>"Top Pop 100 Singles" Billboard 25 December 1971: TA-36</ref>	2
US Cash Box Top 100<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	23

All-time charts

Chart (1958–2018)	Position
US Billboard Hot 100<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	182

Personnel

• Rod Stewart – lead vocals
• Ronnie Wood – electric guitar, twelve-string guitar, bass guitar
• Martin Quittenton – acoustic guitar
• Micky Waller – drums, cymbals
• Ian McLagan – Hammond organ
• Ray Jackson – mandolin (listed on the album as "The mandolin was played by the mandolin player in Lindisfarne. The name slips my mind.")<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Pete Sears – celesta

Blur cover

The English alternative rock band Blur released a cover of "Maggie May" in 1993, for a CD given away with UK rock magazine Q.

See also

• Maggie May (folk song)

External links

• Template:Discogs master
• Template:YouTube