Maggie May mando?

[Verne Andru]

Isn't this the type of mandolin used on Rod Stewart's "Maggie May"?



https://losangeles.craigslist.org/ws...041071086.html

NFI

[MikeEdgerton]

Yes, except the one Ray Jackson played on the record was labeled Columbus and had a slightly different headstock shape. They were imported into countries all over the world with different brand names. I have one around here someplace.

https://www.mandolincafe.com/news/pu...ns_00938.shtml

[Verne Andru]

A very big reason he's been a mystery player all these years is that Stewart didn't care enough about the mandolin player to let the world know who he was. Even though it was likely Jackson's extended mandolin solo at the end that gave the song a distinctive lilt and lifted it to Number One on the pop charts in both the U.K. and the U.S.

The liner notes by Stewart on the LP album cover say: "The mandolin was played by the mandolin player in Lindisfarne. The name slips my mind."

A buddy of mine says he was in the studio at the time the recording happened. It was apparently one of those - "we need something here, what can we do to spice things up?" Lindisfarne was recording in another room and Jackson, who really didn't play well enough to be taken seriously as I recall the story, gave it a try and the rest is history. Apparently nobody thought much of what was going on, which probably accounts for the lack of recognition. Everybody was running by the seat of their pants and it was pretty much first takes on everything.

Next time I talk to Brian I'll see if I can get a bit more info.

[Jeff Mando]

Would Maggie May be the best selling mandolin song ever? Led Zep? Or something I've missed?

[rcc56]

It's amazing how half of a major scale could sell so many records.

[Mandolin Cafe]

Would Maggie May be the best selling mandolin song ever? Led Zep? Or something I've missed?

Wouldn't you know we have an article on the very subject, published September 7, 2008: The Man With The World's Most-Heard Mandolin Solo.

[MikeEdgerton]

Wouldn't you know we have an article on the very subject, published September 7, 2008: The Man With The World's Most-Heard Mandolin Solo.

Yup, nobody reads my links

[Mandolin Cafe]

Yup, nobody reads my links

It's true.

[Verne Andru]

Just got off the phone with my buddy Brian. He's from Whitley Bay, which he says is where Lindisfarne is from although they claim to be from Newcastle.

He wasn't at the studio during the recording [my bad] but remembers Rod Stewart telling him it was actually Rod Clements who did the mandolin solo, not Ray Jackson. Clements was apparently the bass and [mediocre] mandolin player, Jackson was lead singer and harmonica.

When I read him part of the page linked above he said that didn't sound right. The musicians from that area are somewhat notorious in rewriting history as to who did what and when, so he wasn't horribly surprised. Brian went through a pretty tough few years over a couple of Iron Maiden songs he co-wrote over the same sort of nonsense and only recently got a settlement for back royalties. The only reason Maiden settled was Brian refused to sign a release on "Hallowed Be Thy Name," Maiden's big encore song, so they couldn't play it in concert until it was settled.

The upshot on Maggie May is that Brian said he would send an email to Barry, Lindisfarne's manager at the time, to see what he remembers. Could be something, could be nothing, but my curiosity is piqued. I'll let you know what I discover.

[jimmy powells]

I heard from a very good source that Ray Jackson got £75 session fee. Many years later I heard he tried to claim more but not certain if 100% true or if he even took it further.

[MikeEdgerton]

OK, I went back and found the mention. There was a Fretboard Journal article that mentioned the legal action that Ray stopped for unknown reasons. I would, as others did, assume they reached a settlement of some sort. He did ask for more money in that suit.

[journeybear]

He wasn't at the studio during the recording [my bad] but remembers Rod Stewart telling him it was actually Rod Clements who did the mandolin solo, not Ray Jackson. Clements was apparently the bass and [mediocre] mandolin player, Jackson was lead singer and harmonica.

I'm much more inclined to believe Rod Stewart misremembered this than that Ray Jackson didn't play it. He has spent decades claiming he had played the solo, taking his claim as far as bringing a suit.

Yup, nobody reads my links

That ain't no part of nothing. And I am one such nobody, having read not only the link but the article. AFAIC, that is the best and perhaps even most definitive take on this fascinating piece of rock and roll - and mandolin - history.

[Verne Andru]

I'm much more inclined to believe Rod Stewart misremembered this than that Ray Jackson didn't play it. He has spent decades claiming he had played the solo, taking his claim as far as bringing a suit.

Perhaps. The big red flag for me is the mention in the Cafe article that Stewart only remembered "someone from the band" played the part, not the particular band member. That smacks more like "oh darn, this is a mess so how do I keep out of it" than misremembering. According to Brian...

<part of this comment is inappropriate and has no place on this forum>

... so there's some legitimate band politics that may be at play as well.

In Brian's case - just to point out what's been going on over there - he was credited on Beckett's album as being co-writer of the 2 Iron Maiden songs and those credits were duly recorded in the UK's version of BMI/ASCAP/SOCAN. The other writer ran into financial difficulties so he went to the the society and unilaterally changed the credits, got a payout from Iron Maiden THEN he approached Brian to sign away his rights. That's when Barry got involved and tore everyone a new rectal orifice; the records have been changed back, Brian got his settlement and Iron Maiden did their world tour.

Barry, Beckett's and Lindisfarne's (among others) manager is very well off and using his retirement to set some records straight. He has the records so if anybody knows it should be him. He has no ego or financial interest in it - he's just trying to help out a bunch of musicians that have gotten a raw deal over the years. I would not want to be at the sharp end of his stick.

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that anyone that had the stones to go after more money years later in a lawsuit probably played the part. If you consider the ramifications of somebody getting paid years later for their contributions to your songs I think I'd quietly settle it out of court with a non-disclosure agreement. I think Ray Jackson played it and got something to drop the suit. The rest is pretty much noise. I think the credit on the album was a straight out nobody knew his name.

[Verne Andru]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that anyone that had the stones to go after more money years later in a lawsuit probably played the part.

Great, there's a bridge for sale you might also be interested in buying...

[MikeEdgerton]

I don't think I'm the one buying the bridge.

[Verne Andru]

Unless we've had the direct experience of the type that uses bravado backed by threat of litigation as a means to force reality to their making, it's really hard to think people can actually be like that. I'm not saying Jackson is, I'm saying that I've seen enough of that type of behavior to not dismiss it. Very few people are knowledgeable enough in law to know the baffle from the bs. Fewer are willing to throw potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees to fight the matter through the courts, which can span into decades and the lawyers the only winners. I'm waiting to hear back from people who were actually involved.

[Martin Jonas]

For what it's worth, Ray Jackson also told the story to the BBC in 2011 if you want actual TV interview footage:



Lindisfarne themselves had their own No. 1 album and two top ten hits in the UK charts in 1972 (the year after Maggie May), so they weren't quite as obscure as all that.

Martin

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm waiting to hear back from people who were actually involved.

Well, one of the only two people that would actually know has spoken (several times publicly), the other guy is still alive, why not ask him? I would think that after all these years of Ray saying he played it the other band member would have said something, right? He's the only one that's gonna know if he did or didn't. If the manager wasn't playing the mandolin it's just another third party.

[allenhopkins]

Well, I didn't play the mando part on Maggie May; I've never been to England, know nothing about rock'n'roll, and have limited studio experience anyway. I also don't own one of the butt-ugly mandolins pictured above, and wouldn't have one if offered.

However, that fact that I didn't play on the recording probably is the reason that it sold millions of copies, went to the top of the charts, and has knowledgeable mandolin types interested in what kinda cheap Asian instrument was used.

Therefore, I plan to bring a multi-million-£ lawsuit to establish my claim to part of the royalties from Maggie May's success. My non-contribution to the recording undoubtedly ensured that success, and I want my piece of the pie.

Assume that it's steak-and-kidney pie, right-o, old chaps?