Maggie May (traditional song)
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"Maggie May" is a traditional Liverpool folk song about a prostitute who robbed a sailor. It has been the informal anthem of the city of Liverpool for about 150 years. It is not spelt Maggie Mae in Liverpool nor it seems, anywhere else.
John Manifold, in his Penguin Australian Song Book, writes:
- "A foc'sle song of Liverpool origin apparently, but immensely popular among seamen all over the world...". - see [1].
Stan Hugill in his Shanties from the Seven Seas writes of an early reference to the song in the diary of Charles Picknell, a sailor on the convict ship Kains which sailed to Van Diemen's Land in 1830.
"Maggie May" has some similarities with the American song "Nellie Gray" which was written in 1856. "Maggie" is coarse and cheerful. "Nellie" is a sad criticism of slavery which went on to become a favourite tune among bluegrass performers.
This song should not be confused with Rod Stewart's song of the same name, "Maggie May", which topped the US and UK charts in 1971.
[edit] The Beatles' version
| "Maggie Mae" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Song by The Beatles | ||
| from the album Let It Be | ||
| Released | May 8, 1970 | |
| Recorded | January 24, 1969 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 0:40 | |
| Label | Apple, EMI | |
| Writer(s) | Traditional arr. Lennon-McCartney-Harrison-Starkey | |
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |
| Let It Be track listing | ||
| "Let It Be" (6) |
"Maggie Mae" (7) |
"I've Got a Feeling" (8) |
"Maggie May" was recorded in the studio by the Beatles during their Get Back sessions in early 1969. They spelt it "Maggie Mae", perhaps so they could copyright their arrangement. It was included on the resultant 1970 album Let It Be, appearing immediately after the title song.
This song and "Dig It" appear on the Let It Be album, but are not included on the Let It Be... Naked album.
At 40 seconds, it is the second shortest song The Beatles ever recorded. (The shortest being Her Majesty at 23 seconds)
[edit] External links
- Maggie May — one version of the song
- [2] Darling Nellie Gray
