The abiding image that 'Maggie May' conjures up is of Rod and The Faces kicking footballs into the audience of Top Of The Pops, grinning wildly, fuelled up on 'Blue Nun' (so I am led to believe) while an embarrassed looking John Peel mimed the mandolin part (played on the record by Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne) while seated on a stool at the side of the stage.
'Maggie May' was one of those records that started out as the B/side of the single (a cover of Tim Hardin's 'Reason To Believe' was the original A/side). 'Maggie May' was a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching #1 in the singles charts while the album from which it came, 'Every Picture Tells A Story', also made the #1 spot in both the UK and American charts. Not even The Beatles had managed a simultaneous UK/US single/album #1.
The tousle-haired Rod the Mod and side kick Ronnie Wood were to inspire a generation of 'lad bands', Johnny Thunders, Dogs D'Amour, The Quireboys and The Black Crowes all owe a nod to Rod and The Faces.
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