Rod Stewart “Maggie May” Song Analysis
I haven’t done a song analysis for a while, so here’s one from my Deconstructed Hits: Classic Rock book – Rod Stewart’s big hit “Maggie May.” As with all song analysis, it’s broken down into the song, the arrangement, the sound and the production.
“The breakout song from Rod Stewart’s third solo album Every Picture Tells A Story was “Maggie May,” which eventually topped the charts in both the US and the UK and launched his solo career. The song was originally released as a B-side of another song from the album, âReason To Believe,â but after DJâs began playing âMaggie Mayâ instead, the song was re-categorized as the A-side.
The mandolin part featured on the intro of the song was played by Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne, who sued Stewart for back royalties in 2003 even though he was paid as a session player. Supposedly drummer Micky Waller broke his bass drum pedal and had to play it with a stick, which is the reason why it doesnât have much punch. Ironically, the song was almost left off the album because the record label didnât feel it had a strong enough melody, but had to be included in the end as Rod ran out of time to replace it.
THE SONG
âMaggie Mayâ only has three sections, verse, chorus and solos, but the distinction between the verse and chorus isnât very strong. The song form looks like this:
intro â verse â chorus â verse â chorus â verse â chorus â solo â verse â chorus â solo â interlude â outro
Rodâs record label didnât feel that the melody was strong enough, and while that might not be true, the fact that thereâs not much of a difference between the verse and chorus melody and thereâs really not a hook letâs you understand their trepidation.
The lyrics tell a supposedly true story of a jilted young lover, and while the story line is strong, Rod makes not effort to rhyme, especially in the chorus. Thatâs never bothered record buyers though, as millions of women everywhere suddenly felt they had some Maggie May in them. Interestingly enough, although Stewart sings âMaggieâ in a number of places, he never actually sings âMaggie Mayâ in the entire song.
THE ARRANGEMENT
Much of the playing in âMaggie Mayâ is very loose, and you get the feeling that they didnât do many takes to figure out each playerâs part. That said, there is a specific arrangement that works well. Here’s what the arrangement elements look like:
Arrangement Elements
The Foundation: drums, bass
The Rhythm: 12 string acoustic guitar, electric piano
The Pad: organ
The Lead: lead vocal, mandolin, guitar solo
The Fills: electric piano in fourth verse
The song begins with an intro of a mandolin and an acoustic 12 string along with the bass playing a counter line. When the verse begins, the lead vocal enters as does the drums. While the drums, organ and the 12 string play fairly straight, the bass never plays the same thing twice and is generally ad libbed throughout except for the intro and interlude. During the chorus (âYou led me away from homeâŚ..â), the chord pattern changes but all the instruments as they were during the verse.
The next two verses and choruses have exactly the same instrumentation, but the chord pattern does change slightly during the guitar solo. During the fourth verse and chorus, an electric piano is added playing random arpeggiated chords.
The next solo is the same as the first one, except that itâs six bars long and plays bars seven and eight over the first two measures of the interlude. The interlude is the most different thing in the song as the 12 string drops out and is replaced by two mandolins that play similar (but not identical) melody lines, which is probably the signature line of the song. The bass also plays a more or less written line, imitating what he did on the intro. Thereâs also a high organ pedal note thatâs doubled with an electric piano playing eighth notes. This continues for 20 measures (which is an odd number), and then the drums return as everything plays as they did in the section prior to the outro.
THE SOUND
The sound of âMaggie Mayâ is fairly thin, especially the bass and kick drum, which have virtually no bottom end to them. Although not all of Rodâs band The Faces played on the album, this was generally the sound of the band throughout its life.
The panning is odd, with the drums panned hard to the left and the bass hard to the right. The intro and interlude has two mandolins that are spread slightly left and right, while everything else is panned to the center.
The song is bone dry, proving that hit records can be made without any effects whatsoever. Rod Stewart’s vocal is clear and not overly compressed.
Listen Up:
To the drums panned hard to the left and the bass panned hard to the right.
To the doubled mandolins playing slightly different lines in the interlude.
To the mistake in the bass at :38 as it fails to follow the chord change.
THE PRODUCTION
Rod was the producer of the album, but as was many the case back then, that probably meant more selecting the take and setting the songâs feel rather than directing the band like it is today. Plus, you canât really say that he had a vision, since both he, his co-writer, and the record label didnât think of âMaggie Mayâ in the first place. That said, history has proven so many times that what artists, producers and record companies may not be in love with is just the thing that the public wants.”
Rod Stewart “I’m Losing You” Song Analysis
Chris Benedetto requested an oldie but a goodie, a song from Rod Stewart’s third solo album Every Picture Tells A Story in 1971 called “I’m Losing You.” The song featured all of the members of The Faces, Rod’s, band at the time, but the credits were vaguely listed because of contractual reasons. “(I Know) I’m Losing You” was actually a hit for The Temptations in 1966, but Rod and The Faces version is a much more energetic, rockin’ cut. Like all song analysis, we’ll look at the song form, the arrangement, the sound and the production.
The Song
You can tell that “I’m Losing You” is basically a live cut in the studio due to it’s looseness and the fact that not everyone hits the cues on time, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have an interesting form. The song looks like this:
Guitar/Bass Intro, Song Intro, Verse, B Section, Chorus, Bridge, Solos, Drums, Guitar/Bass Intro, Verse
The song is basically a jam based around a song and very much in the spirit of be bop jam where the head of the song is played, there’s a lot of soloing, then the head is played again at the end. In this case, the basic sections of the song are stated at the beginning, but only the very intro is returned to at the end.
The Arrangement
There’s not much of an arrangement, since there are no real set parts and everyone is playing more or less free form. Here’s what the arrangement elements look like:
The Foundation: The drums, tambourine during the drum solo
The Rhythm: Bass, guitar, piano
The Pad: None
The Lead: Lead vocal
The Fills: Piano, guitar
The Sound
The Faces were known for some pretty thin-sounding recordings, but this is not one of them. The drums are very full sounding and recorded in stereo, as is the piano (something not found much in 1971 recordings).
Ron Wood’s guitar was always kinda thin sounding until he joined The Stones. Here’s it’s panned to the left a big with a nice long reverb wash. Ronnie Lane’s bass does sound very thin and distorted and is panned slightly to the right, and instantly disappears in the mix when all the instruments enter. Rod Stewart’s vocal is clear and not overly compressed, with a touch of the same reverb as on the guitar. Ian McLagan’s piano is very dry and in your face, which adds a nice layering element to the recording.
The Production
Rod was the producer of the album, but as was many the case back then, that probably meant more of selecting the take and getting the feel rather than directing the show like it is today. That’s pretty much what happens when the recording is built around a jam.
Read more: https://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.com/2014/05/rod-stewart-maggie-mae-song-analysis.html#ixzz32irr3NjU
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
Read more: https://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.com/2012/01/rod-stewart-im-losing-you-song-analysis.html#ixzz32itiM2gC
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution