“Life always holds strange and quirky twists of fate that you can never predict or think will happen,” Don McLean told me back in 1973. However, the overall theme of the song is the loss of innocence of the early rock and roll generation as symbolized by the plane crash that claimed the lives of three of its heroes. The meaning of the other lyrics has long been debated, and for decades, McLean declined to explain the symbolism behind the many characters and events mentioned. He also played the song with his guitar alone at the BBC studio live in 1972. I can go anywhere I want with American music and come home to that. Complete biography of Don McLean ». Required fields are marked *. So, I ended up bringing back all those memories of 1959 and the things that happened later. Seek out other versions. I didn’t listen to the radio and I didn’t care. It was covered by The Cat and Owl, Tyrone Wells, Harald Winkler, Roger Hernandez with Marty Gassner and other … (The crash was not known by that name until after McLean's song became a hit.) Somebody there heard the song and immediately cut all the slow parts out and made it chorus and two verses and chorus over and over at the end and put it on the radio, and I went to #1, just like a rocket. I said, “I’ve got to write this down.” I ran home. One of the Koreas - north or south ? Got the message this morningThe one that was sent to meAbout the madness of becomingWhat one was never meant to be, A middle-class Catholic boy from the suburbs, Don McLean took the same cries of “Judas” (probably from the same purists) for daring to have a hit record, more to heart than most. He’s a songwriter’s songwriting, beloved by fans but also by fellow songwriters the world over. The repeatedly mentioned phrase "the day the music died" refers to the plane crash in 1959 that killed early rock and roll performers Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. When that whole crash happened, it was a real ache in my heart. Don McLean is more than “American Pie” – his second hit – “Vincent” - in 1972 reached #1 in the UK and #12 in the US. 1 in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Test your MusicIQ here! High resolution images added today. This release has none of this. Well, that threw The Weavers into a tailspin, because that was a message that I am not on your team. "All roads lead to American Pie," said Don McLean of the song that made him famous. [3]The RollingStone reported the BBC live, too. Others say "the quartet in the park" is the Beatles. At 8:33, it was a second coming of “Like A Rolling Stone,” a long and winding anthem for its generation. Get instant explanation for any lyrics that hits you anywhere on the web! I got advice at the time from all of The Weavers. That album was turned down by lots of record companies, as many as there were out there. I hope people will have fun finding new songs.”. Subscribe for the latest music industry news, reviews, podcasts, and more. That’s now how I work. 5 song on the RIAA project Songs of the Century. In what all people seem to agree are uncertain times, and with social distancing a season of sad isolation and worse for many, these albums will provide just the right amount of musical healing and comfort that the world needs now more than ever. To most casual listeners and purists alike, “American Pie” was a massive hit record. In 2015, one of his four handwritten manuscripts of the lyrics to “American Pie” was auctioned by Christie’s; it sold for over $1.2 million.In 2019, he was honored with a star on the Las Vegas Walkway of Stars. “My expectations were that I would be looking for a record company.” “There I was, you know, racked with self-doubt,” he told me. Update this biography » And now in 2020, in addition to his new deal with Time Life to release his catalog of recordings, he is also going to release with them the much anticipated new album Still Playin’ Favorites this fall. "As American as apple pie was the saying. Test your MusicIQ here! About American Pie "American Pie" is a song by American singer and songwriter Don McLean. I was on the road with Ten Wheel Drive, the James Gang, Steppenwolf. 3: The 70's - Silver Anniversary Edition, WODS Oldies 103 Boston, Vol. An unnecessary rite of passage. So I spent 10 years collecting songs for my first album, which came out in 1970. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent". _g1.setAttribute('src', _g1.getAttribute('data-src') ); Best of the Best: 70's Pop & Rock, Vol. The ’60s were very exciting for me. However, the overall theme of the song is the loss of innocence of the early rock and roll generation as symbolized by the plane crash that claimed the lives of three of its heroes. Mine does not have the stereo "logo" and the two circles around the 33 1/2 on the labels. And all at once you confront the emptiness of youand there’s no one near enough to tell you what to do, Even today, nearly 50 years later, having been the words and the voice behind 20 albums and six Top 40 songs (10 on the Adult Contemporary chart), with a new one called Still Playin’ Favorites due out (containing ancient and creaky country, blues, rock and folk odes like “Tell Old Bill,” “Backwater Blues,” and “Six White Horses,” ie. It is quite possible that this was indeed done in North Korea as an unofficial and illegal pressing. } catch(e) {}, try { While Don McLean was recording “American Pie,” the eight-minute-plus song that brought him stardom in late 1971, his label, Media Arts Records, went under. I was on the road all the time, doing one-nighters and meeting with independent promo men. I played Carnegie Hall, but I didn’t do too well there at first. if ( localStorage.getItem(skinItemId ) ) {   [McLean’s first album, released in 1970 on Livingston’s label, Mediarts. McLean's combined version is the fourth longest song to enter the Billboard Hot 100 (at the time of release it was the longest), in addition to being the longest song to reach number one. : At the Dominion Theater, Dick Clark's #1's: 50's to 70's "When AM Radio Was King", American Pie, Pt. It was used as the theme song for for Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s wedding. So, I came up with the chorus walking into the damn store. But suddenly William Morris was telling me, “You’re getting bookings in major theaters now, and college concerts in big halls.” It ruined my career because I was immediately branded as a sellout. One copy was sold at the auction as already mentioned, and a second copy sold for $100,000 in August 2017. I wanted to speed up the verses and tell the story, but what was the story going to be? Now that I had the chorus I knew what I wanted to do. American Pie " is a song by American singer and songwriter Don McLean. I wasn’t so humble. try { In the next five years, I played all over the world four or five times as well as doing 100 one-nighters in the United States. And then, being a member of a synthetic group, I suffered from the criticisms. Randy Newman, when asked once to name what he considered a perfect song, named Don’s miraculous ode to Van Gogh, “Vincent.” A New York native, he got started in the New York club scene as a literate folkie with a golden voice. I didn’t know what was happening. American Pie [Full Length Version] [Version], 'Twas The Night Before Hanukkah: The Musical Battle Between Christmas And The Festival, Ultimate Jukebox Classics [Tesco Exclusive], Singers & Songwriters [Time-Life Box Set], Las 50 Grandes Canciones de Universal 92.1 FM Stereo, 100 Prozent Bayern 1: Lovesongs für ein Ganzes Lebe, Rolling Stone: The Timeless Stories of the '70s Singer-Songwriter, The World's Best Ever Beer Songs: 10th Anniversary, Dick Clark's American Bandstand 50th Anniversary, Dick Clark's American Bandstand, Vol. more », FAVORITE 1 [From Born on the Fourth of July], Music of the Millennium, Vol. He stayed in the same rent-controlled apartment around Columbus Circle. Here, he speaks with Don McLean about his classic “American Pie.”. [6] It is said that there are four handwritten copies of the handwritten lyrics to “American Pie.” A 18-page copy consists of 237 lines.   One day when I was home, Pete asked me if I wanted to sing at a festival in Nyack, and I said, “Sure.” I think it was at one of festivals that I sang “American Pie” for the first time, and it did not get a great response because it went on and on. Complete your Don McLean collection. Because I figured out that politics and music influence each other, I decided I was going to make a song that went forward and toward it. I kept adding songs to it because I was in the midst of this period when I was on the Hudson River sloop, where a lot of singers were around and a lot of information was coming into my head.