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About This Track
“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.”
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, notably The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and Beyoncé.
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.
“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.”
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, notably The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and Beyoncé.
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.
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Albums featuring this track
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Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod Stewart
Buy- Download Album
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- 7digital $9.99
- iTunes $7.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $5.85
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Greatest Hits
Rod Stewart Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon $38.81
- eBay Search
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Best Of Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $9.49
- 7digital $9.99
- iTunes $9.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $2.41
- eBay Search
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Maggie May & Other Stories: The Rod Stewart…
Rod Stewart Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
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- Buy Album
- Amazon $17.77
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Shouts
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lauraftima wrote:
¡SIEMPRE VIGENTE ROD!!! MUY BUENO!!!
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mannequinchaos wrote:
<3 I love this :333
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escarabat94 wrote:
(:-))
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susan-j- wrote:
wow! memories of my youth..
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ravenclaw94 wrote:
This is a lovely tune.
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danc6433 wrote:
"This song was played so much over the radio that now when I hear it, I want to veer my car off the road and into a 12 foot styro foam cup. Well, I don't want to get hurt. " LOL, true! But there are probably 2-3 songs I could listen to over and over, and just never get sick of them. This is one. Struck a nerve, I guess.
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lordcthulhu wrote:
One of the most wonderful rock songs ever!
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wordsmiths wrote:
Faces!!!
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dieHexIstTot wrote:
I miss the magic of youth
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Mactele52 wrote:
This song was played so much over the radio that now when I hear it, I want to veer my car off the road and into a 12 foot styro foam cup. Well, I don't want to get hurt.
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fordelphus wrote:
Classic.
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oblivion0 wrote:
They sure don't make music like this anymore. Stewart's voice is so distinct, great timbre.
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arwenselvenligh wrote:
Maggie, you led me away from home, cause you didn't want to be alone.. great song!
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rg1157 wrote:
Love this song!! One of my favorites of Rod Stewart's, and he's still going strong!!
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Gardengate0987 wrote:
Ripped the house apart looking for the album (remember those?) EVery Picture Tells A Story. I long to hear that album this morning. I'll have to try Pandora.
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Celary_Stalker wrote:
No no no - Rod Stewart is not "similar to" barry Manilo
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farfafarf wrote:
The only Rod Stewert song I like.
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moehrenfee wrote:
lieg mit 18 stinkeifersüchtig im bett: ER hört auf der treppe maggie - wieder u wieder vom band ...danach war's unser hochzeitssong
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conni-pe wrote:
ein richtig schöner Titel kann Icke-Bernd nur zustimmen
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Icke-Bernd wrote:
gut--besser-am besten----am allerbesten !!!!
Track Stats
1,109,544 Scrobbles
315,413 Listeners
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Recent Activity
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pieri95, layla324, sdclearwater and 1 other person loved Rod Stewart – Maggie May. 6 minutes ago
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