# Song and Tune Projects > Song and Tune Projects >  10 most popular mandolin songs

## lespaul_79

What are the most mainstream, popular Mandolin songs? I'm thinking of songs that nonmusical people would recognize that have mando. 

I guess the "Godfather Theme" could be #1. There's a;sp beginning of "It's Now of Never" by Elvis? Going to California by Led Zep. What else is there?
-c[B][B]

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ahad0001

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## Mike Bunting

I know that those 3 songs exist, but don't know if I ever heard them more than once. Guess I'm waaay out of the mainstream. I like it like that. (Give me shelter from the norm).  :Cool:

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jshane

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## cooper4205

Copperhead Road maybe? And Rocky Top.

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ahad0001, 

apple

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## Brandon Flynn

The only song I think I knew before I started was probably "Losing My Religion" by REM. Zeppelin would also be recognized. Not much that non-musical people would know with mandolin. Most would probably know none, at least with the people I know.

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## finhlaven

Rod Stewart's "Maggie Mae"

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## Gutbucket

I second Maggie Mae. That song got a lot of universal air time on a lot of radio stations back then. More then any bluegrass song before or since.

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## allenhopkins

_Never On Sunday,_ though I think it was a bouzouki rather than a mandolin.

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## JeffD

Play the theme from that movie about Captain Corelli.

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## lespaul_79

Anything else? There's got to be more famous mandolin songs that could be considered "mainstream".

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## Clyde Clevenger

Less than half the people I meet outside of the mandolin world even know what it is. I don't think we are in any danger of becoming popular.

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## Joel Spaulding

My wife's nephew (I won't claim him as MY nephew)assures me that the "Silent Hill" (SH)video game soundtrack is rife with mandolin. i'll take his word since he saw me playing mando one day and proclaimed : " hey, THAT's the instrument that sounds really cool on the #SH soundtrack! I wondered what instrument it was." 

Glad the young (22) guitar player could at least be introduced to highest itteration of fretted instruments.

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## Mandolusional

You know, now that you mention it, I think Silent Hill does have mandolin. Is there mandolin in "Fields of Gold," by Sting?

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## JEStanek

Scroll through this thread on mando in rock songs...

Jamie

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## a12

There's a nice mando intro to Jones and Wynette's "We're Not the Jet Set"
and Dean Martin's "Amore"

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## Alex of the North

What about "Santa Lucia" or "Come Back to Sorrento?" While they may not be popular favorites, surely they're some of the more recognizable mandolin tunes out there...

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## Gutbucket

> You know, now that you mention it, I think Silent Hill does have mandolin. #Is there mandolin in "Fields of Gold," by Sting?


I'm not sure about Fields of Gold, but he has collaborated with a famous lute player from Italy recentlly. Sting is a novice lute player in his own right. Lute strings are like numbers. There's like, to many of them.

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## JEStanek

Lutenist Eden Karamazov collaborated with Sting on Songs From The Labyrinth and was discussed here. Eden is from Bosnia (according to Wiki on Sting).

Jamie

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## Millsg48

Atlantic City by the band

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## Treblemaker

The latter half of Piano Man by Billy Joel has some melodic Mandolin intertwining with Billy's Piano.

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## Eddie Sheehy

Jimi Hendrix once broke a mandolin on stage when he ran out of Strats...

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## barney 59

It's hard to pick it out with all the overdubbing but on some of the Beach Boy stuff Barney Kessel played that mandolin guitar thing he played. Maggie May, The Theme from the Godfather. Lots of people saw "All The Pretty Horses" with Marty Stuart's soundtrack, does that count? Led Zeppelin did something with a mandolin didn't they? I'm not sure I never got past "Creme". All that Union Station stuff from that other movie kind of hit mainstream. But the all time most popular mandolin tunes of all time are "Rawhide" and "Bluegrass Stomp" that and maybe Vivaldi---

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## Benjamin T

my two cents regarding the most popular mandolin songs based on world wide populairty are in this order:
O Sole Mio- Italian
Blue Moon of Kentucky- Bill Monroe
Concerto in C Major- Vivaldi
Die Zufriedenheit (KV 349)- Mozart
Ripple- The Grateful Dead
Battle of Evermore- Led Zeppelin
Rocky Top- The Osborne Brothers
Uncle Penn- Bill Monroe
Losing my Religion- R.E.M.
Maggie May- Rod Stewart

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## Eddie Sheehy

Oh My!  I've never heard six of those... so I'd better get my 10 in.

Speak Softly Love - movie theme,
Maggie May - Rod Stewart/Ray Jackson,
O Sole Mio - Italian,
Santa Lucia - Italian,
The Blacksmith - Irish (Andy Irvine),
My Lagan Love - Irish (Derek Warfield),
Uncle Noddy's Steamboat - Irish (Derek Warfield),
Pelagia's Song/Theme (Cap'n Corelli),
Losing My Religion (R.E.M),
Mandolin Wind - Rod Stewart/Ray Jackson

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## Jim MacDaniel

Here are 5 pages of rock songs with mandolin; you should be able to find _at least_ 10 that your non-musical friends would recognize  -- assuming that they grew up in the Western world, or at least grew up listening to Western popular music.  :Mandosmiley:

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## JeffD

OK folks. The original criteria was the most popular songs that 



> nonmusical people would recognize that have mando.


If that means that nonmusical people would recognize the tune and recognize that there is a mandolin in it - the answer is none. I can't think of one.

There are lots of popular tunes that have a mandolin in them to one extent or another, but I think nonmusical people would not recognize it.

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ahad0001

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## Jim MacDaniel

> ...If that means that nonmusical people would recognize the tune and recognize that there is a mandolin in it - the answer is none. I can't think of one.


Can't deny the logic in that: if you aren't familiar with mandolins, it's unlikely that you can recognize the sounds it makes  :Wink:

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## EdSherry

As I see it, lots of people are familiar with the sound of a mandolin, but they don't know that the instrument making the sound they're hearing is called a mandolin, or what the instrument looks like.  

If your question is "what are well-known songs/tunes featuring the sound of a mandolin for which most people know that what they're listening to is a mandolin," my reaction is much the same as others' responses given above:  I can't think of any off the top of my head, other than generic "Italian" instrumentals.

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## tobinhobbs

Mandolin Rain - Bruce Hornsby.

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## RsmySC

There's a great song by Blue Rodeo called "Hasn't Hit me Yet," that is full of the mandolin from beginning to end.  Try listening to different versions by the same band.  I love this song!

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journeybear

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## RsmySC

Also please check out "Torno a Surriento in concerto di mandolini," on YouTube for a treat.  I can't even count how many musicians are playing the mandolin for this song, maybe 2 dozen...?!  Italian music is rich in this sound.  Look up "tarantellas" for more.

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## journeybear

> What are the most mainstream, popular Mandolin songs? I'm thinking of songs that nonmusical people would recognize that have mando.


OK. Collecting, collating, correcting for criteria (in other words, having a bit of fun on a slow day), I cane up with a list of entries so far. JeffD addressed the issue with the proper amount of cynicism, but I think his response pertains more to criterion #1 (which would indeed leave us with almost nothing) than criterion #2. That is, songs that you could mention to the uninitiated and they would know the song, and you could tell them that is a mandolin they are hearing there. 

Some songs had to go, as they are just not that well-known to non-mandolinists. I left in the two Led Zep songs, even though they are hardly their best-known songs. Of course there are a lot of bluegrass and Italian songs that could be included, but probably not that many that a mainstream listener would recognize by name. Rocky Top is an exception, but even that is probably better known for its vocal aspects than instrumental.

So, in some sort of proposed order reflecting my estimation of recognizability:

Pop/Rock/Country

Maggie May - Rod Stewart
Losing My Religion - R.E.M.
Copperhead Road - Steve Earle
That's Amore - Dean Martin
Friend of The Devil - Grateful Dead
Ripple - Grateful Dead
Paul McCartney - Dance Tonight
Summer Breeze - Seals And Crofts
Diamond Girl - Seals And Crofts
Mandolin Rain - Bruce Hornsby
Piano Man - Billy Joel
Rag Mama Rag - The Band
Fat Man - Jethro Tull
Mandolin Wind - Rod Stewart
Battle of Evermore - Led Zeppelin
Going to California - Led Zeppelin 
And We Danced - The Hooters
Love In Vain - The Rolling Stones
Saint Teresa - Joan Osborne
We're Not the Jet Set - George Jones and Tammy Wynette

It pains me to exclude such fine songs as Atlantic City - The Band and It Hasn't Hit Me Yet - Blue Rodeo, because though they are indeed wonderful examples of mandolin usage, they are not that well-known. By my estimation. YMMV. And off the list - It's Now Or Never - Elvis Presley - tremoloed guitar

Bluegrass

Rocky Top - The Osborne Brothers
Blue Moon of Kentucky- Bill Monroe

Italian

Santa Lucia
O Sole Mio
Tarantella
Torn' a Sorrento

Movies

The Godfather Theme
Love Theme From The Godfather

off the list:
Never On Sunday - bouzouki 
Somewhere My Love - balalaika
the theme from that movie about Captain Corelli - is a joke, yes? If you can't come up with the name of the movie, let alone the song, fuggedaboutit!  :Laughing:

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## JeffD

Perhaps you all know something I don't, but I never met any non-musician general public type who knew who Bill Monroe was or that kind of music he played.

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## journeybear

Never? Any? Well, well, well ... How sad.  :Frown:  Well, you do see I have only two bluegrass songs, and removed Uncle Pen. Too inside. But I think some people might have heard Blue Moon Of Kentucky, some time in their lives, and you could see if mentioning it rang a bell. Anyway, this is by _song_ not _musician,_ so ... Besides, if out of the whole history of recorded music, there are all of 28 songs that might serve as an example of what a person unfamiliar with mandolins might recognize as having one ... well, it's just too sad to contemplate. I'm sorry, I can't go on. I'm a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves ...  :Crying: 

It ain't rocket science. Never was, never will be. Ain't no scholarly treatise, either. Just fun. Maybe.  :Grin:

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## Barry Wilson

first time I heard Blue Moon of Kentucky was Boomhower singing it on King of the Hill. ok well I'd heard it before but I heard it on that show after getting a mandolin hehe

I have to google many songs to see if i'd heard them before. I guess it depends on the genre of music those "unmusical people" listen to.

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## journeybear

I dunno .. I guess my line of thinking this time around is this is a pretty unscientific subject which is probably not going to respond well to scientific analysis, and is probably going to be served best by keeping it pretty unscientific. All I really wanted to do was organize what little had been presented so far. This is more of a chit-chat thread than a real analytical one, by my reckoning. I did go through the rock song thread and pulled out a few that I thought might ring a bell in a non-mandolinist's head, plus a few more, but that's about as far as I felt was worth doing. Even some of what we have here are pushing it a bit. But there may well be some others that have been overlooked. I know this thread is going to get a "So what?" from a bunch of people, but here we go anyway. As far as _that_ goes, I say, "so what?"  :Grin:

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## Ed Goist

> What are the most mainstream, popular Mandolin songs? *I'm thinking of songs that nonmusical people would recognize that have mando.* 
> ...snip...


JeffD is probably correct...In the US, there might not be ANY songs that fit this criteria.
Among the more musically astute folks in the US, the list might have two songs on it:
1. _Maggie May_
2. _Losing My Religion_
...end of list.

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## journeybear

Well, yeah, I mean, there's a reason why I put them on the top of the list.  :Whistling:  I am choosing to interpret that sentence to mean songs that, if a nonmusical person asked you for an example of a song with mandolin on it, they would recognize. To that end, some songs have been in the soundtrack of our lives that have mandolin, and people have probably heard it unknowingly. Otherwise, it IS a real short list.  :Frown:

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## RsmySC

This is a good point you bring up about the difference between popularity of a song, (ie how mainstream and recognized it is by a large majority of folks),  compared to other really good mandolin rock songs that are every bit as well written, ( possibly even exceptional rock songs),  that just haven't got either that much of a wide audience (yet), or that much acclaim, appreciation or recognition to this point.  I say yet for all cases.  I think some of this is regional and cultural differences too.   We have laws in Canada that promote Canadian musicians so regular Canadian content is played on the radio.  A lot of people know Blue Rodeo in Canada, and particularly the Toronto area, but that sound might not (yet!) translate to different countries, etc.  I think when they went on Letterman that exposed them to a wider audience, but there is a lot of music out there in this world to choose from.  I do love "Hasn't Hit me Yet,"  (ha ha yet, I just realized that), and find that the mandolin adds so much tonal quality and depth to that song and am starting to learn to play it.  I can't imagine that song without the mandolin.  I thought the starting chord was a D, but my instructor says it's an E.  Oh, well, I'll know it one day!

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## JeffD

> first time I heard Blue Moon of Kentucky was Boomhower singing it on King of the Hill.


And consider that for a minute. They put that in Boomhower's character because they were making fun of folks who like that tune enought to sing it or play it. 

I think I first heard the version Elvis did. I seem to have always known it, so probably my Dad sang it when I was a kid.




> I guess it depends on the genre of music those "unmusical people" listen to.


Well unmusical people, to my experience, do not strive to listen to anything in particular. They strive to avoid listening to things, or at least enjoying things that their peirs think uncool. They strive to avoid being Boomhower.

"Hey, thats Rod Stuart, isn't it?"

"Yea, Maggie May, thats one of Rod Stuarts tunes. You know that part at the end? Thats a mandolin. Listen, right here..."

"Yea, cool."

"Thats a mandolin."

"A what?"

"A mandolin, that part is played on a mandolin."

"Cool. Hey do you like Styx? You know that song about a boat or something?"

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## Barry Wilson

Nah Jeff, they weren't dissing bluegrass at all. the funny part was you never can understand boomhower (other than Bob Dylan, who he chats with a few times) but he sings crystal clear and actually nails the song. it was more about grabbing the neighbour's classical trained violin player to become a fiddle star

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## JeffD

Well if that is the case, then King of the Hill rises a notch in my estimation.

I don't have television at home, so the only things I see are by accident when I travel.

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## Ed Goist

Love me some Boomhauer!  :Mandosmiley:

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## ian s

Another Rod Stewart track is    I was only joking 
Ian

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## justkaron

Ed...I so enjoyed watching that King of the Hill bit and Boomhauer singing 'Blue Moon of Kentucky'.   I saw it as a reverent nod to the song and being presented with respect!

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Ed Goist

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## JeffD

> Ed...I so enjoyed watching that King of the Hill bit and Boomhauer singing 'Blue Moon of Kentucky'.   I saw it as a reverent nod to the song and being presented with respect!


Very nice.

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Ed Goist

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## Sergeant

> Less than half the people I meet outside of the mandolin world even know what it is. I don't think we are in any danger of becoming popular.


for sure! I had to explain to everyone what it was when I first started. :Smile:

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## briankeen

What about "When I'm dead & Gone" ny McGuinness Flint!

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## Bernie Daniel

> And consider that for a minute. They put that in Boomhower's character because they were making fun of folks who like that tune enought to sing it [Blue Moon of Kentucky] or play it...


Gee I did not have a clue who "Boomhower" was but I do know about mandolins and Blue Moon of Kentucky!  BTW you are getting close to 15,000 posts -- just saying.  I think a party is in order?

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## fatt-dad

Ripple?

When I read the word, "song," I assume we are talking about music with lyrics.  So, that would rule out some of the longhair music that's been listed.

Not to be too pedantic. . .

f-d

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## nrsmac

Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles is probably one of the most well-known popular songs with the Mandolin.

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## nrsmac

Quote Originally Posted by Sergeant:
for sure! I had to explain to everyone what it was when I first started.
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I went to school once with my mandolin for a folk music club. There was only one person who even knew what it was! Everyone else thought it was a banjo  :-D.

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## Larry S Sherman

> Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles is probably one of the most well-known popular songs with the Mandolin.


AFAIK there is no mandolin on "_Here Comes The Sun_". 

Larry

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## Mike Bunting

> Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles is probably one of the most well-known popular songs with the Mandolin.


Huh?

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## Philaspill

Gotta' be 'Here Comes The Sun'

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## DavidKOS

> I second Maggie Mae. That song got a lot of universal air time on a lot of radio stations back then. More then any bluegrass song before or since.


That's the first lick I ever learned on mandolin!




> What about "Santa Lucia" or "Come Back to Sorrento?" While they may not be popular favorites, surely they're some of the more recognizable mandolin tunes out there...


All those Italian tunes are in the public's consciousness - and like y'all said, the Godfather themes.




> Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles is probably one of the most well-known popular songs with the Mandolin.


Sorry, not mandolin, acoustic guitar capo'd at the 7th fret.

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## journeybear

Yes, no mandolin on any Beatles songs.  :Frown:  One thing about them that shows they weren't perfect.  :Wink:  George Harrison and Paul McCartney have used mandolin on a few recordings, and George was very much taken with the ukulele.  :Mandosmiley:

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## LongBlackVeil

Definitley purple haze by Jimi hendrix.

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MikeEdgerton

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## Ben Cooper

I can thiink of one that is heard by 100's of thousands of people every week.  Maybe even millions.  Everyone who listens to Car Talk on NPR knows the theme song by David Grisman.  Talk about well known!   :Laughing:  :Laughing:  :Laughing:

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## DavidKOS

> Yes, no mandolin on any Beatles songs.  One thing about them that shows they weren't perfect.  George Harrison and Paul McCartney have used mandolin on a few recordings, and George was very much taken with the ukulele.


That was one instrument they missed using.

I guess the sitar makes up for it.

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## MikeEdgerton

Today we are resurrecting some old threads, not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm always happy to see it.

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## DavidKOS

> Today we are resurrecting some old threads, not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm always happy to see it.


It's us new members' fault.

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## journeybear

> That was one instrument they missed using.
> 
> I guess the sitar makes up for it.


I'm afraid not. Nothing can, and nothing will.   :Crying:  But I'm holding up under the strain.  :Cool:

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## spufman

> It's us new members' fault.


Thank you for using correct grammar through a difficult sentence!

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## Ken Waltham

I think beyond a shadow of a doubt, if you are talking well known in the public's consciousness, it would have to be Rod Stewart's Maggie May.
99.5% of North Americans wouldn't have a clue who Bill Monroe was, but, millions would immediately recognize Maggie May, in Europe as well.

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