I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now...I'm (only six days?) late again....
My introduction to this week's tune is probably the fact that I was born. It's one of rock's most iconic songs, and beyond a shadow of a doubt the signature song of this week's artist. And it's probably somewhere on just about every list of the greatest rock songs ever, and most deservedly so....
Though I really love (early) Rod Stewart, I probably wouldn't put him in my top ten favorite artists ever, but oddly enough, no one is even close when it comes to appearances here on Friday Night Jukebox. Thus far, Stewart has had three posts on singles of his (Vol. III--going back a a long way! Vol. XXXVI, and Vol. CCCLIV), one post on my album of the year writings (amazingly enough, this week's tune is from that very album--Vol. CCXXXII), three posts as the lead singer of the Faces (Vol. CCXXVI, Vol. CDVII, and Vol. DXXXVI), and one as the lead vocalist on a Jeff Beck single (Vol. CCCXXXI). Which means this is the ninth time his work has been featured here, which is really saying something (to steal a song title). And somehow, through all of those, I managed to never post a link to Stewart's discography, which I'll rectify here. Stewart released his last studio album in 2024 and was on tour this year at the ripe old age of eighty until illness forced him to cancel dates.
"Maggie May" was released in 1971 on the definitive--and one of my five favorite albums of all time--Rod Stewart album, Every Picture Tells a Story. The single hit #1 (with a bullet in America!) in both the U.S. and the U.K., while reaching the top five in nine other countries, somehow hitting only #11 in Germany (what the fuck, Germany? It hit number 8 in fucking Zimbabwe for Christ's sake....). It's listed at #130 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time, and at #182 on Billboard's
list of their All-Time charts.
Fun Fact: "Maggie May" was originally released as the B-side of "Reason to Believe." Radio stations quickly picked up on the brilliance of the B-side and turned it into a hit. Good call radio stations!
This week's tune is kind of a cheat, as I wrote about it when I wrote about Every Picture Tells a Story:
"Maggie May": The song that made Stewart a star--and rightfully so. A #1 hit here and in the U.K., it's smart pop for the masses as Stewart spins the tale of a young man in love with an older woman who's making a fool of him, but he just can't leave her even though he knows he should. Great drumming again from Waller, great guitar from Wood, stunning mandolin work from Lindsay Jackson, and an impassioned performance from Stewart. Little known fact: there's an instrumental intro to the song called "Henry" that in some versions is treated as an intro and in others as a separate (though at 32 seconds, very short) song. Favorite line: "I suppose I could collect my books and get on back to school/Or steal my Daddy's cue and make a living out of playing pool/ Or find myself a rock and roll band that needs a helpin' hand..."
Not much I can add to that, other than that the song is actually autobiographical)--I just felt the song was so good that it deserved its very own post. I have a hunch there's a couple of other songs featured on album posts that will get this very same treatment someday....
Lyric Sheet: [Blogger's Note: Going to use a different line than the one above because it's my prerogative, to steal another song title....] "Maggie, I wished I'd never seen your face/I'll get on back home one of these days/[Another Blogger's Note: One of the truly great "ooh-oohs of all-time] Ooh, ooh..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
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