Why Rod Stewart’s Record Label Almost Kept Him From Releasing This No. 1 Signature Song From 1971

There have been countless moments throughout rock ‘n’ roll history that were one split-second decision away from never happening. Bands that almost never formed. Musicians that almost called it quits. Songs almost left on the cutting room floor. For Rod Stewart, he encountered one of his most fortuitous brushes with fate when he decided—against his record label’s judgment, and indeed, partially his own—to include “Maggie May” on his third album.

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As Stewart explained during a 2013 appearance on the Howard Stern Show, he was in the process of making Every Picture Tells A Story, but he needed one more track to complete the album. Mercury, his label, asked if he had any songs on the back burner he could possibly use. Stewart did: “Maggie May”, a song he wrote about losing his virginity to an older woman at the Beaulieu Jazz Festival.

“I didn’t think it was much good,” Stewart admitted. “It was just so rambling. It didn’t have a catch chorus like you needed.” Neither Stewart nor Mercury were ready to find out just how wrong they both were.

“Maggie May” Became Rod Stewart’s Signature, Career-Defining Song

Rod Stewart drew from several influences—in varying degrees of sordidness—while writing his future hit single. First, he began singing an old Liverpudlian folk tune about a prostitute named Maggie Mae. (He had heard The Beatles reference the song in “Let It Be” the previous year.) “As I sang, the idea of a hooker popped into my head, then the jazz festival when I was sixteen, and then losing my virginity. It all flooded back, and I started coming up with words,” he explained during a 2015 interview with The Wall Street Journal. 

Through Mercury, Stewart released “Maggie May” as the B-side to the lead single off Every Picture Tells A Story, “Reason To Believe”, in July 1971. The A-side didn’t perform especially well in the United States, peaking at No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, once radio DJs started playing the B-side, “Maggie May” took off, topping the charts in the States. (In Stewart’s native United Kingdom, “Reason To Believe” and “Maggie May” topped the charts as a double A-side, à la The Beatles and, later, Queen.)

Despite trepidations from both the artist and his label, “Maggie May” was a smash hit. Stewart later recalled, “At first, I didn’t think much of [it]. I guess that’s because the record company didn’t believe in the song. I didn’t have much confidence then; I figured it was best to listen to the guys who knew better. What I learned is that sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t.”

“Maggie May” was certainly one of the latter times. The song became synonymous with Stewart’s musical legacy, becoming a signature song and earning a double-platinum certification in the U.S.

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns