# Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" and its intro "Henry" - why is latter omitted on radio?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** music
**Created:** [February 8, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153 "2012-02-08T02:55:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/1 "2012-02-08T02:55:30Z")
I think it should be a fucking crime against humanity to play “Maggie May” without the guitar intro, “Henry.” [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXuN_3GQ0t8) is the proper version of the song.
As a kid, in the early and mid 90s, I always used to hear this song on the radio WITH the intro. The two were inseparable to me. I couldn’t conceive of the song without the intro.
Yet, seemingly, EVERY time I hear the song on the radio nowadays, it’s the song alone, without the amazing “Henry.” A totally castrated and cheapened version of the song.
Why?
---
### Author:  [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/2 "2012-02-08T03:13:36Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#):
>
> Yet, seemingly, EVERY time I hear the song on the radio nowadays, it’s the song alone, without the amazing “Henry.” A totally castrated and cheapened version of the song.
>
> Why?
That’s the way it was when it first came out on the radio in the '70s. IIRC the 45 didn’t have the Henry intro either. First time I’ve heard it actually, so thanks (although I don’t find it particularly amazing or integral to the song).
---
### Author:  [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/3 "2012-02-08T03:15:32Z")
I don’t remember every hearing it before. And it doesn’t seem to fit with the song. And I listened to it on the radio back in the 70’s, though I never bought the album. I think I have it on a 45, but don’t remember the intro at all.
---
### Author:  [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/4 "2012-02-08T03:41:01Z")
What radio stations did you listen to? I listened to it on both oldies and classic rock radio in the 90s in the Northwest, and they never played “Henry”. I didn’t even know it was part of the song until I bought the album.
BTW, “Henry” opens side two of “Every Picture Tells A Story”. The title track, which opens the album, also starts with a little bit of acoustic guitar that doesn’t have much to do with the rest of the song.
---
### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/5 "2012-02-08T03:47:25Z")
The [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_May) has the full story.
The short version is that “Maggie May” never had a guitar intro. The album had “Henry” as track 1 and “Maggie May” as track 2. The single version - originally the B-side! - was the same as the album version. Only later was “Henry” added.
Nobody old enough to remember the original thinks of them as one song. Kids, today. They don’t know from nothing.
---
### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/6 "2012-02-08T04:04:46Z")
I just checked my original 1971-vintage copy of the album _Every Picture Tells a Story_.
There is no selection listed as “Henry.” Maggie May is the first song on the second side. It’s length is listed as 5:46, which would be the right length to include the Henry guitar solo.
However, I was a certified Radio DJ in 1971, and I can attest that the single version indeed did NOT have the instrumental opening. If you think that’s totally castrated and cheapened, blame Mercury Records for releasing it that way.
---
### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/7 "2012-02-08T04:39:22Z")
You’re right that no “Henry” appears on the U.S. original album. I have it too.
But what I don’t know is if the U.K. album version had it listed. Wiki says:
> [@](#):
>
> “Henry” was only printed on the center label of the original vinyl LP release, not on the sleeve. It is also omitted in the track listing of some CD versions, as in some pressings of the album and most Stewart compilations, the “Henry” intro is incorporated into the full “Maggie May” track.
Tiny differences like this drive the collector’s market. But I just don’t know for sure.
---
### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/8 "2012-02-08T04:42:47Z")
OK, I stand quite corrected (as far as the Henry version being the “proper” version." I still maintain that it vastly improves the song as an introduction, but I guess that’s a matter of taste.
I’m surprised, though, by the verdict here. As a kid, the local classic hits station (WNAP - “The Buzzard” - sadly no longer in existence) would _always_ play _Henry_ before _Maggie May._ I always loved the “medieval” sound of the intro and I grew up associating those two songs.
---
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/9 "2012-02-08T05:15:20Z")
I love the mandolin solo in Maggie May. It’s short but oh, so effective.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RqcL4QlAKA)
---
### Author:  [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/10 "2012-02-08T07:10:38Z")
Not a Stewart fan, and this was the first time I heard the intro, and I see the OP’s point. It is very nice and sweet to lead into MM.
---
### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/11 "2012-02-08T07:58:37Z")
Henry seems to be nice enough, but it just doesn’t seem to be connected to Maggie May at all, other than being the track in front of MM. I have a few Stewart albums, so I’d heard it before, but I’ve never considered it an intro, just a little snippet that happened to come before MM.
---
### Author:  [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/12 "2012-02-08T12:06:41Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#):
>
> As a kid, the local classic hits station (WNAP - “The Buzzard” - sadly no longer in existence) would _always_ play _Henry_ before _Maggie May._
Well if the station played songs correctly, perhaps it’d still be a going concern :D.
That song has so many interesting touches - The chiming guitar intro, the mandolins, the tinkly keyboard (rhodes?) during "I suppose I should collect my books…), the organ playing, the way the drums just kind of shamble steadily through the whole thing. Quite an arrangement.
---
### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/13 "2012-02-08T12:16:52Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#):
>
> As a kid, in the early and mid 90s, I always used to hear this song on the radio WITH the intro. The two were inseparable to me. I couldn’t conceive of the song without the intro.
>
> Yet, seemingly, EVERY time I hear the song on the radio nowadays, it’s the song alone, without the amazing “Henry.” A totally castrated and cheapened version of the song.
FWIW, my experience is the exact opposite of yours: back in the '90s, I only ever heard the song without the intro – but as far as I can tell, the local “classic rock” station only ever plays it with the intro, these days.
---
### Author:  [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/14 "2012-02-08T14:44:26Z")
I’ve heard _Maggie May_ a million times on the radio and on two different Greatest Hits compilations. I’ve never heard _Henry_ before clicking the OP’s link.
Nice enough piece, but it seems too disconnected from _Maggie May_, both stylistically and in the amount of dead air between between them.
---
### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/15 "2012-02-09T01:28:54Z")
As a point of comparison, check out You Wear It Well from Stewart’s album _Never a Dull Moment._ [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsqKdZ3JZ2k), you’ll hear an intro, but [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcDwL3pQ-ZY&feature=related) you don’t.
On the album, the intro is listed as a separate, 40-second track, called Interludings. I guess Stewart, or to be exact, Martin Quittenton, had a thing for detachable introductions.
---
### Author:  [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/16 "2012-02-09T04:34:21Z")
I don’t ever recall hearing _Henry_ before. I haven’t heard the song nearly as many times of as **Hal Briston** but I have heard it enough to know all the lyrics by heart.
---
### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2012, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/17 "2012-02-09T07:49:19Z")
Kinda off-topic, but related… this is why I hate the unplugged version of Eric Clapton’s Layla. That song is \*nothing \*without the piano interlude in the second half. _NOTHING!_ As far as I’m concerned, the three minutes of guitar riffs and singing before the interlude is a mere introduction to the real song. :mad:
---
### Author:  [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2012, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/18 "2012-02-09T11:04:42Z")
> [@kunilou](#):
>
> I just checked my original 1971-vintage copy of the album _Every Picture Tells a Story_.
>
> There is no selection listed as “Henry.” Maggie May is the first song on the second side. It’s length is listed as 5:46, which would be the right length to include the Henry guitar solo.
>
> However, I was a certified Radio DJ in 1971, and I can attest that the single version indeed did NOT have the instrumental opening. If you think that’s totally castrated and cheapened, blame Mercury Records for releasing it that way.
The minutiae of songs, when it’s in your posts, really shows your age.
---
### Author:  [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/19 "2012-02-09T18:40:49Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#):
>
> FWIW, my experience is the exact opposite of yours: back in the '90s, I only ever heard the song without the intro – but as far as I can tell, the local “classic rock” station only ever plays it with the intro, these days.
This is my experience too- listening to Classic Rock radio while coming of age in the 90s. The moment “Henry” instrumental comes on I could strum with it and knew exactly when “Maggie Mae” would take over. I just assumed they were the same song. My 3 Napstered versions (literally) all have “Henry” as well. So I am guessing that the combining of the two occurred in the 90s and onward.
---
### Author:  [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153/20 "2012-02-10T21:58:05Z")
They play it on my classic rock station. Every. Single. Day. I’m sick of it. Classic rock is more than 200 songs, but that’s another topic.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rod-stewarts-maggie-may-and-its-intro-henry-why-is-latter-omitted-on-radio/612153.md?page=2)