Don McLean
Encyclopedia
Donald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie
, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent
".
in central Italy
. They left Italy and settled in Port Chester, New York, at the end of the 19th century. He has other extended family in Los Angeles and Boston.
As a teenager, McLean became interested in folk music
, particularly the Weavers
' 1955 recording At Carnegie Hall
. Childhood asthma meant that McLean missed long periods of school, and although he slipped back in his studies, his love of music was allowed to flourish. He often performed shows for family and friends. By age 16 he had bought his first guitar (a Harmony acoustic archtop with a sunburst finish) and begun making contacts in the music business, becoming friends with folk singer Erik Darling, a latter-day member of the Weavers. McLean recorded his first studio sessions (with singer Lisa Kindred
) while still in prep school.
McLean graduated from Iona Preparatory School
in 1963, and briefly attended Villanova University
, dropping out after four months. While at Villanova he became friends with singer/songwriter Jim Croce
.
After leaving Villanova, McLean became associated with famed folk music agent Harold Leventhal
, and for the next six years performed at venues and events including the Bitter End
and the Gaslight Cafe
in New York, the Newport Folk Festival
, the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C.
, and the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Concurrently, McLean attended night school at Iona College
and received a bachelor's degree
in business administration in 1968. He turned down a scholarship to Columbia University
Graduate School in favour of becoming resident singer at Caffè Lena
in Saratoga Springs, New York.
In 1968, with the help of a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts
, McLean began reaching a wider public, with visits to towns up and down the Hudson River
. He learned the art of performing from his friend and mentor Pete Seeger
. McLean accompanied Seeger on his Clearwater boat trip up the Hudson River in 1969 to raise awareness about environmental pollution in the river. During this time McLean wrote songs that would appear on his first album, Tapestry
. McLean co-edited the book Songs and Sketches of the First Clearwater Crew with sketches by Thomas B. Allen
for which Pete Seeger wrote the foreword. Seeger and McLean sang "Shenandoah" on the 1974 Clearwater album.
, in 1969 in Berkeley, California during the student riots. After being rejected by 34 labels, the album was released by Mediarts and attracted good reviews but little notice outside the folk community.
McLean's major break came when Mediarts was taken over by United Artists Records
thus securing for his second album, American Pie
, the promotion of a major label. The album spawned two No. 1 hits in the title song and "Vincent
". American Pies success made McLean an international star and renewed interest in his first album, which charted more than two years after its initial release.
, "American Pie", is a sprawling, impressionistic ballad inspired partly by the deaths of Buddy Holly
, Ritchie Valens
and J. P. Richardson (The Big Bopper
) in a plane crash on 3 February 1959. The song popularized the expression "The Day the Music Died
" in reference to this event. WCFL
DJ Bob Dearborn unraveled the lyrics and first published his interpretation on 7 January 1972, eight days before the song reached #1 nationally (see "Further reading" under American Pie). Numerous other interpretations, which together largely converged on Dearborn's interpretation, quickly followed. McLean declined to say anything definitive about the lyrics until 1978. Since then McLean has stated that the lyrics are also somewhat autobiographical and present an abstract story of his life from the mid-1950s until the time he wrote the song in the late 1960s.
The song was recorded on 26 May 1971 and a month later received its first radio airplay on New York’s WNEW-FM and WPLJ-FM to mark the closing of The Fillmore East
, a famous New York concert hall. "American Pie" reached number one on the U.S. Billboard magazine charts for four weeks in 1972, and remains McLean's most successful single release. The single also topped the Billboard Easy Listening
survey. With a running time of 8:36, it is also the longest song to reach No. 1. Some stations played only part one of the original split-sided single release.
In 2010, John Ondrasik - the singer-songwriter known as Five for Fighting
- released the single "Slice
" from the album of the same name. The song is a tribute to "American Pie", a nostalgic look at how it once captivated people's collective ears, minds and voices, and an expression of hope that our increasing individuality hasn't dulled our ability to 'sing the same song'.
In 2001 "American Pie" was voted No. 5 in a poll of the 365 Songs of the Century
compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America
and the National Endowment for the Arts
. The top five were: "Over the Rainbow
" written by Harold Arlen
and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg (performed by Judy Garland
in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
), "White Christmas
" written by Irving Berlin
(best-known performance by Bing Crosby
), "This Land Is Your Land
" written and performed by Woody Guthrie
, "Respect
" written by Otis Redding
(best-known performance by Aretha Franklin
), and "American Pie".
album sessions were retained for his third album Don McLean
, including producer, Ed Freeman, Rob Rothstein on bass and Warren Bernhardt on piano. The song "The Pride Parade" provides an insight into McLean’s immediate reaction to stardom. McLean told Melody Maker
magazine in 1973 that Tapestry
was an album by someone previously concerned with external situations. American Pie
combines externals with internals and the resultant success of that album makes the third one (Don McLean
) entirely introspective."
Other songs written by McLean for the album included “Dreidel” (number 21 on the Billboard chart) and “If We Try” (number 58), which was subsequently recorded by Olivia Newton-John
. “On the Amazon” from the 1920s musical Mr Cinders was an unusual choice but became an audience favorite in concerts and featured in “Till Tomorrow”, a documentary film about McLean produced by Bob Elfstrom. The film shows McLean in concert at Columbia University as he was interrupted by a bomb scare. He left the stage while the audience stood up and checked under their seats for anything that resembled a bomb. After the all-clear, McLean re-appeared and sang “On the Amazon” from exactly where he had left off. Don Heckman reported the bomb scare in his review for the New York Times entitled “Don McLean Survives Two Obstacles.”
The fourth album, Playin' Favorites
was a top-40 hit in the UK in 1973 and included the Irish folk classic, "Mountains of Mourne" and Buddy Holly
’s "Everyday
", a live rendition of which returned McLean to the UK Singles Chart
. McLean said, "The last album (Don McLean
) was a study in depression whereas the new one (Playin' Favorites
) is almost the quintessence of optimism, with a feeling of "Wow, I just woke up from a bad dream."
The 1974 album Homeless Brother
, produced by Joel Dorn
, was McLean’s final studio collaboration with United Artists. The album featured fine New York session musicians, including Ralph McDonald on percussion, Hugh McKracken on guitar and a guest appearance by Yusef Lateef
on flute. The Persuasions
sang the background vocals on “Crying in the Chapel” and Cissy Houston
provided a backing vocal on “La La Love You”.
The album’s title song was inspired by Jack Kerouac
’s book, The Lonesome Traveller
in which Kerouac tells the story of America’s “homeless brothers,” or hobos. The song features background vocals by Pete Seeger
.
The song “The Legend of Andrew McCrew” was based on an article published in the New York Times. concerning a black Dallas hobo named Anderson McCrew who was killed when he leapt from a moving train. No one claimed him, so a carnival took his body, mummified it, and toured all over the South with him, calling him the “The Famous Mummy Man.” McLean’s song inspired radio station WGN in Chicago to tell the story and give the song airplay in order to raise money for a headstone for Anderson McCrew’s grave. Their campaign was successful and McCrew’s body was exhumed and buried in the Lincoln Cemetery in Dallas. The tombstone had an inscription with words from the fourth verse of McLean’s song:
Joel Dorn
later collaborated on the Don McLean career retrospective Rearview Mirror released in 2005 on Dorn’s own label Hyena Records. In 2006, Dorn reflected on working with McLean:
Also from the Homeless Brother
album, "Wonderful Baby
" was a number 1 on the AOR chart in 1975 and was later recorded by Fred Astaire
. The song had been inspired by Joel Dorn’s son and reflected McLean’s interest in 1930s music.
1977 saw a brief liaison with Arista Records
that yielded the Prime Time
album and, in October 1978, the single "It Doesn’t Matter Anymore". This was a track from the Chain Lightning
album that should have been the second of four with Arista. McLean had started recording in Nashville
, with Elvis Presley
’s backing singers, The Jordanaires
, and many of Elvis’s musicians. However the Arista deal broke down following artistic disagreements between McLean and the Arista chief, Clive Davis
. Consequently McLean was left without a record contract in the USA, but through continuing deals the Chain Lightning
album was released by EMI in Europe and by Festival Records in Australia. In April 1980, the track "Crying” from the album began picking up airplay on Dutch radio stations and McLean was called to Europe to appear on several important musical variety shows to plug the song and support its release as a single by EMI. The song achieved number 1 status in Holland first, followed by the UK and then Australia.
Don’s number 1 successes in Europe and Australia led to a new deal in the USA with Millennium Records. They issued the Chain Lightning
album two and a half years after it had been recorded in Nashville, and two years after its release in Europe. It charted on February 14th, 1981 and reached number 28 while "Crying" climbed to number 5 on the pop singles chart.
The early 1980s saw further chart successes in the US with "Since I Don't Have You
", a new recording of "Castles in the Air" and "It's Just the Sun".
In 1987, the release of the country-based Love Tracks album gave rise to the hit singles "Love in My Heart" (a top-10 in Australia), "Can't Blame the Wreck on the Train" (US country No. 49), and "Eventually". The latter two songs were written by Houston native Terri Sharp
.
In 1991, EMI
reissued the "American Pie" single in the United Kingdom and McLean performed on Top of the Pops
.
In 1992, previously unreleased songs became available on Favorites and Rarities
while Don McLean Classics featured new studio recordings of "Vincent
" and "American Pie".
Don McLean has continued to record new material including River of Love in 1995 on Curb Records
and, more recently, the albums You've Got to Share, Don McLean Sings Marty Robbins and The Western Album on his own Don McLean Music label.
A new album, Addicted to Black, was released in May 2009 and is available for purchase at his North American concert performances and is available on his website. In addition, McLean is expecting to tour in Europe and Australia in 2010.
The American Pie album features a version of Psalm 137
, entitled "Babylon". The song was arranged by McLean and Lee Hays (of The Weavers). Boney M
had a number one hit in the UK with a similar song in 1978 under the title Rivers of Babylon
, which was not based on this one, although using the same text from Psalm 137.
In 1980, McLean had an international number one hit with a cover of the Roy Orbison
classic, "Crying". It was only after the record became a success overseas that it was released in the U.S. The single hit #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981. Orbison himself once described McLean as "the voice of the century", and a subsequent re-recording of the song saw Orbison incorporate elements of McLean's version.
For the 1982 animated cult-movie The Flight of Dragons produced by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr., McLean sang the opening theme. Unfortunately, no soundtrack has ever been released.
Another hit song associated with McLean (though never recorded by him) is "Killing Me Softly with His Song
", which was written about McLean after Lori Lieberman
, also a singer/songwriter, saw him singing his composition "Empty Chairs" in concert. Afterwards, Lieberman wrote a poem about the experience and shared it with Norman Gimbel, who had long been searching for a way to use a phrase he had copied from a novel badly translated from Spanish to English, "killing me softly with his blues". Gimbel and Charles Fox reworked the poem and the phrase into the song "Killing Me Softly with His Song", recorded by Roberta Flack
(and later covered by The Fugees
).
but he became a major concert attraction in the US and overseas. His repertoire included old concert hall numbers and the catalogues of singers such as Buddy Holly
, and another McLean influence, Frank Sinatra
. The years spent playing gigs in small clubs and coffee houses in the 1960s transformed into well-paced performances. McLean's first concerts at Carnegie Hall
in New York and the Albert Hall
in London in 1972 were critically acclaimed.
In the 1970s, McLean usually toured solo but from 1981 to 1996 was accompanied by John Platania
on guitar. He now tours with his own band of Nashville musicians: Tony Migliore, Jerry Kroon, Ralph Childs and Carl "VIP" Viperman.
In 1997, McLean performed "American Pie" with Garth Brooks
at Brooks' free concert in Central Park
in New York City. CNN
reported that "Brooks was joined on stage by two surprise guest stars, Billy Joel
and Don McLean, who brought down the house with an acoustic rendition of 'American Pie'."
Two years later, Brooks repaid the favor by appearing as a special guest (with Nanci Griffith
) on McLean's first American TV special, broadcast as the PBS special Starry Starry Night. A month later, McLean wound up the 20th century by performing "American Pie" at the Lincoln Memorial Gala in Washington D.C. Brooks again played "American Pie" during We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
on January 18, 2009.
In 2007 Don McLean signed with the Asgard Agency in London giving them responsibility for booking concert tours outside North America. Since then McLean has performed tours of the UK (2007, 2008 (one appearance), 2010, 2011), Ireland (2007, 2010, 2011), mainland Europe (2008, 2010), Australia and New Zealand (2008, 2011) and South East Asia (2011). On June 26, 2011, Don McLean performed on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts
.
McLean had a series of conflicts with Saturday Night Live
writer Andy Breckman
, starting when Breckman opened for McLean on tour in 1980. Breckman and McLean have penned competing renditions of the origins of this feud, both of which are available online.
Iona College
conferred an honorary doctorate on McLean in 2001.
In February 2002, "American Pie" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 2004, McLean was inaugurated into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
. Garth Brooks presented the award and said "Don McLean: his work, like the man himself, is very deep and very compassionate. His pop anthem 'American Pie' is a cultural phenomenon".
In 2007, the biography The Don McLean Story: Killing Us Softly With His Songs was published. Biographer Alan Howard conducted extensive interviews for this, the only book-length biography of the often reclusive McLean to date.
In 2008, New York City radio station Q104.3 FM WAXQ
named Don McLean's "American Pie" number 37 in their 2008 Top 1,043 Songs Of All Time listener-generated countdown.
Notes
American Pie (album)
American Pie is the title of a 1971 music album by Don McLean, best known for its title track about The Day the Music Died. The third track, "Vincent," is a tribute to the famed artist Vincent Van Gogh....
, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent
Vincent (song)
"Vincent" is a song by Don McLean written as a tribute to Vincent van Gogh. It is also known by its opening line, "Starry Starry Night", a reference to van Gogh's painting The Starry Night. The song also describes different paintings done by the artist.McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading...
".
Musical roots
Both McLean's grandfather and father were also named Donald McLean. The Buccis, the family of McLean's mother, Elizabeth, came from AbruzzoAbruzzo
Abruzzo is a region in Italy, its western border lying less than due east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and south-west, Molise to the south-east, and the Adriatic Sea to the east...
in central Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. They left Italy and settled in Port Chester, New York, at the end of the 19th century. He has other extended family in Los Angeles and Boston.
As a teenager, McLean became interested in folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, particularly the Weavers
The Weavers
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
' 1955 recording At Carnegie Hall
The Weavers at Carnegie Hall
At Carnegie Hall is the second album by The Weavers. The concert was recorded live at Carnegie Hall in New York City on Christmas Eve 1955. At the time the concert was a come-back for the group following the inclusion of the group on the entertainment industry blacklist...
. Childhood asthma meant that McLean missed long periods of school, and although he slipped back in his studies, his love of music was allowed to flourish. He often performed shows for family and friends. By age 16 he had bought his first guitar (a Harmony acoustic archtop with a sunburst finish) and begun making contacts in the music business, becoming friends with folk singer Erik Darling, a latter-day member of the Weavers. McLean recorded his first studio sessions (with singer Lisa Kindred
Lisa Kindred
Lisa Kindred is an American folk and blues singer.Kindred, born in Buffalo, was a figure in the Greenwich Village/Cambridge folk scene of the 1960s; she played with Bob Dylan and other folk singers, playing at the Cafe Wha?, Club 47, The Bitter End and other venues.Kindred's debut album, I Like It...
) while still in prep school.
McLean graduated from Iona Preparatory School
Iona Preparatory School
Iona Preparatory School is an all-boys National School of Excellence Catholic high school located in New Rochelle, NY in suburban Westchester County. Named for the Scottish island of Iona, the school was founded by the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1916...
in 1963, and briefly attended Villanova University
Villanova University
Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
, dropping out after four months. While at Villanova he became friends with singer/songwriter Jim Croce
Jim Croce
James Joseph "Jim" Croce January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973 was an American singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and 11 singles...
.
After leaving Villanova, McLean became associated with famed folk music agent Harold Leventhal
Harold Leventhal
Harold Leventhal was an American music manager. He died in 2005 at the age of 86. His career began as a song plugger for Irving Berlin...
, and for the next six years performed at venues and events including the Bitter End
The Bitter End
The Bitter End is a nightclub in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened its doors in 1961 at 147 Bleecker Street under the auspices of owner Fred Weintraub. The club changed its name to The Other End during the 1970s...
and the Gaslight Cafe
The Gaslight Cafe
The Gaslight Cafe was an American coffee house located in the basement of 116 MacDougal Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York...
in New York, the Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
, the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Concurrently, McLean attended night school at Iona College
Iona College (New York)
Iona College is located in New Rochelle, New York, 20 miles north of Manhattan in suburban Westchester County. The college occupies 35 acres on North Ave. The college also operates a Graduate Center in Pearl River, Rockland County, New York....
and received a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in business administration in 1968. He turned down a scholarship to Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
Graduate School in favour of becoming resident singer at Caffè Lena
Caffè Lena
Located in Saratoga Springs, New York, Caffè Lena is the oldest continually running coffee house in the United States. Founded in 1960 by Bill and Lena Spencer, it features acoustic concerts and cultural events showcasing folk music, traditional music, and singer-songwriters of a wide range...
in Saratoga Springs, New York.
In 1968, with the help of a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts
New York State Council on the Arts
The New York State Council on the Arts is an arts council serving the U.S. state of New York. It was established in 1960 through a bill introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell , with backing from Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and began its work in 1961...
, McLean began reaching a wider public, with visits to towns up and down the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
. He learned the art of performing from his friend and mentor Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
. McLean accompanied Seeger on his Clearwater boat trip up the Hudson River in 1969 to raise awareness about environmental pollution in the river. During this time McLean wrote songs that would appear on his first album, Tapestry
Tapestry (Don McLean album)
-Personnel:* Don McLean – Vocals, Guitar, Banjo* Rick Turner – Guitar, Bass Guitar* Peter Childs – Dobro, Bass Guitar* Jerry Corbitt – Bass Guitar* Gregory Dewey, Jeff Meyer – Drums* Scott Lawrence, Edward Bogas – Piano-Release history:...
. McLean co-edited the book Songs and Sketches of the First Clearwater Crew with sketches by Thomas B. Allen
Thomas B. Allen
Thomas B. Allen was an American painter and illustrator known for a moody and expressionist style that pushed the boundaries of commercial art in the 1950s and 60s...
for which Pete Seeger wrote the foreword. Seeger and McLean sang "Shenandoah" on the 1974 Clearwater album.
Early breakthrough
McLean recorded his first album, TapestryTapestry (Don McLean album)
-Personnel:* Don McLean – Vocals, Guitar, Banjo* Rick Turner – Guitar, Bass Guitar* Peter Childs – Dobro, Bass Guitar* Jerry Corbitt – Bass Guitar* Gregory Dewey, Jeff Meyer – Drums* Scott Lawrence, Edward Bogas – Piano-Release history:...
, in 1969 in Berkeley, California during the student riots. After being rejected by 34 labels, the album was released by Mediarts and attracted good reviews but little notice outside the folk community.
McLean's major break came when Mediarts was taken over by United Artists Records
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
thus securing for his second album, American Pie
American Pie (album)
American Pie is the title of a 1971 music album by Don McLean, best known for its title track about The Day the Music Died. The third track, "Vincent," is a tribute to the famed artist Vincent Van Gogh....
, the promotion of a major label. The album spawned two No. 1 hits in the title song and "Vincent
Vincent (song)
"Vincent" is a song by Don McLean written as a tribute to Vincent van Gogh. It is also known by its opening line, "Starry Starry Night", a reference to van Gogh's painting The Starry Night. The song also describes different paintings done by the artist.McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading...
". American Pies success made McLean an international star and renewed interest in his first album, which charted more than two years after its initial release.
American Pie
McLean's magnum opusMagnum opus
Magnum opus , from the Latin meaning "great work", refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of a writer, artist, or composer.-Related terms:Sometimes the term magnum opus is used to refer to simply "a great work" rather than "the...
, "American Pie", is a sprawling, impressionistic ballad inspired partly by the deaths of Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
, Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens
Ritchie Valens was a Mexican-American singer, songwriter and guitarist....
and J. P. Richardson (The Big Bopper
The Big Bopper
Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson, Jr. also commonly known as The Big Bopper, was an American disc jockey, singer, and songwriter whose big voice and exuberant personality made him an early rock and roll star...
) in a plane crash on 3 February 1959. The song popularized the expression "The Day the Music Died
The Day the Music Died
On February 3, 1959, a small-plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, killed three American rock and roll pioneers: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, as well as the pilot, Roger Peterson. The day was later called The Day the Music Died by Don McLean, in his song...
" in reference to this event. WCFL
WCFL (AM)
WCFL was the callsign of a commercial radio station in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was owned by the Chicago Federation of Labor, hence its call letters. The station is now known as WMVP. Its transmitter is located in Downers Grove and is still in use by WMVP...
DJ Bob Dearborn unraveled the lyrics and first published his interpretation on 7 January 1972, eight days before the song reached #1 nationally (see "Further reading" under American Pie). Numerous other interpretations, which together largely converged on Dearborn's interpretation, quickly followed. McLean declined to say anything definitive about the lyrics until 1978. Since then McLean has stated that the lyrics are also somewhat autobiographical and present an abstract story of his life from the mid-1950s until the time he wrote the song in the late 1960s.
The song was recorded on 26 May 1971 and a month later received its first radio airplay on New York’s WNEW-FM and WPLJ-FM to mark the closing of The Fillmore East
Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
, a famous New York concert hall. "American Pie" reached number one on the U.S. Billboard magazine charts for four weeks in 1972, and remains McLean's most successful single release. The single also topped the Billboard Easy Listening
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
survey. With a running time of 8:36, it is also the longest song to reach No. 1. Some stations played only part one of the original split-sided single release.
In 2010, John Ondrasik - the singer-songwriter known as Five for Fighting
Five for Fighting
Five for Fighting is the stage name of American singer-songwriter John Ondrasik. He is best known for his piano-based rock, such as the Top 40 songs "Superman " , "100 Years" , and "The Riddle" .-Early years:...
- released the single "Slice
Slice (song)
"Slice" is the title track and the second single from Five for Fighting's 2009 album Slice .The song is a nostalgic tribute to Don McLean's "American Pie", featuring a reference to "Chevys and levees" in the first verse and the line "We were more than just a slice of American pie" in the...
" from the album of the same name. The song is a tribute to "American Pie", a nostalgic look at how it once captivated people's collective ears, minds and voices, and an expression of hope that our increasing individuality hasn't dulled our ability to 'sing the same song'.
In 2001 "American Pie" was voted No. 5 in a poll of the 365 Songs of the Century
Songs of the Century
The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America , the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage" in American schools...
compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
and the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
. The top five were: "Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...
" written by Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen was an American composer of popular music, having written over 500 songs, a number of which have become known the world over. In addition to composing the songs for The Wizard of Oz, including the classic 1938 song, "Over the Rainbow,” Arlen is a highly regarded contributor to the...
and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg (performed by Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
), "White Christmas
White Christmas (song)
"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.Accounts vary as...
" written by Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
(best-known performance by Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
), "This Land Is Your Land
This Land Is Your Land
"This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 based on an existing melody, in response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent. Tired of hearing Kate Smith sing it on...
" written and performed by Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
, "Respect
Respect (song)
"Respect" is a song written and originally released by Stax recording artist Otis Redding in 1965. "Respect" became a 1967 hit and signature song for R&B singer Aretha Franklin. The music in the two versions is significantly different, and through a few minor changes in the lyrics, the stories told...
" written by Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
(best-known performance by Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
), and "American Pie".
Subsequent recordings
Personnel from the American PieAmerican Pie (album)
American Pie is the title of a 1971 music album by Don McLean, best known for its title track about The Day the Music Died. The third track, "Vincent," is a tribute to the famed artist Vincent Van Gogh....
album sessions were retained for his third album Don McLean
Don McLean (album)
Don McLean is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1972, peaking at number 23 on the Billboard 200 chart. It was reissued by BGO Records in 1996.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Don McLean, except where indicated....
, including producer, Ed Freeman, Rob Rothstein on bass and Warren Bernhardt on piano. The song "The Pride Parade" provides an insight into McLean’s immediate reaction to stardom. McLean told Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
magazine in 1973 that Tapestry
Tapestry (Don McLean album)
-Personnel:* Don McLean – Vocals, Guitar, Banjo* Rick Turner – Guitar, Bass Guitar* Peter Childs – Dobro, Bass Guitar* Jerry Corbitt – Bass Guitar* Gregory Dewey, Jeff Meyer – Drums* Scott Lawrence, Edward Bogas – Piano-Release history:...
was an album by someone previously concerned with external situations. American Pie
American Pie (album)
American Pie is the title of a 1971 music album by Don McLean, best known for its title track about The Day the Music Died. The third track, "Vincent," is a tribute to the famed artist Vincent Van Gogh....
combines externals with internals and the resultant success of that album makes the third one (Don McLean
Don McLean (album)
Don McLean is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1972, peaking at number 23 on the Billboard 200 chart. It was reissued by BGO Records in 1996.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Don McLean, except where indicated....
) entirely introspective."
Other songs written by McLean for the album included “Dreidel” (number 21 on the Billboard chart) and “If We Try” (number 58), which was subsequently recorded by Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
. “On the Amazon” from the 1920s musical Mr Cinders was an unusual choice but became an audience favorite in concerts and featured in “Till Tomorrow”, a documentary film about McLean produced by Bob Elfstrom. The film shows McLean in concert at Columbia University as he was interrupted by a bomb scare. He left the stage while the audience stood up and checked under their seats for anything that resembled a bomb. After the all-clear, McLean re-appeared and sang “On the Amazon” from exactly where he had left off. Don Heckman reported the bomb scare in his review for the New York Times entitled “Don McLean Survives Two Obstacles.”
The fourth album, Playin' Favorites
Playin' Favorites
Playin' Favorites is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1973. It was re-issued by BGO Records in 1995.-Track listing:#"Sitting on Top of the World" #"Living With the Blues"...
was a top-40 hit in the UK in 1973 and included the Irish folk classic, "Mountains of Mourne" and Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
’s "Everyday
Everyday (Buddy Holly song)
"Everyday" is a song written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty, recorded by Buddy Holly and the Crickets on May 29, 1957 and released on September 20, 1957 as the B-side to "Peggy Sue". On the original single the Crickets are not mentioned, but it is known that Holly plays acoustic guitar; drummer...
", a live rendition of which returned McLean to the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. McLean said, "The last album (Don McLean
Don McLean (album)
Don McLean is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1972, peaking at number 23 on the Billboard 200 chart. It was reissued by BGO Records in 1996.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Don McLean, except where indicated....
) was a study in depression whereas the new one (Playin' Favorites
Playin' Favorites
Playin' Favorites is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1973. It was re-issued by BGO Records in 1995.-Track listing:#"Sitting on Top of the World" #"Living With the Blues"...
) is almost the quintessence of optimism, with a feeling of "Wow, I just woke up from a bad dream."
The 1974 album Homeless Brother
Homeless Brother
Homeless Brother is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1974. It was reissued by BGO Records in 1996.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Don McLean except where indicated.#"Winter Has Me in Its Grip"#"La La Love You"...
, produced by Joel Dorn
Joel Dorn
Joel Dorn was an American jazz and R&B music producer and record label entrepreneur. He worked at Atlantic Records, and later founded the 32 Jazz, Label M, and Hyena Records labels...
, was McLean’s final studio collaboration with United Artists. The album featured fine New York session musicians, including Ralph McDonald on percussion, Hugh McKracken on guitar and a guest appearance by Yusef Lateef
Yusef Lateef
Dr. Yusef Lateef is an American Grammy Award-winning jazz multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator and a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community after his conversion to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam in 1950.Although Lateef's main instruments are the tenor saxophone and flute, he is known for...
on flute. The Persuasions
The Persuasions
The Persuasions are an a cappella group that began singing together in Brooklyn, New York in the mid 1960s. They have performed interpretations of both secular and non-secular music, and have covered a wide range of musical genres....
sang the background vocals on “Crying in the Chapel” and Cissy Houston
Cissy Houston
Emily "Cissy" Houston is a Grammy Award–winning American soul and gospel singer. She led a very successful career as a backup singer for such artists as Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson, Wishbone Ash and Aretha Franklin, and is now primarily a solo artist...
provided a backing vocal on “La La Love You”.
The album’s title song was inspired by Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
’s book, The Lonesome Traveller
Lonesome Traveler
Lonesome Traveler is a collection of short stories and sketches by American novelist and poet Jack Kerouac, published in 1960. It is a compilation of Kerouac's journal entries about traveling the United States, Mexico, Morocco, the United Kingdom and France, and covers similar issues to his novels...
in which Kerouac tells the story of America’s “homeless brothers,” or hobos. The song features background vocals by Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
.
The song “The Legend of Andrew McCrew” was based on an article published in the New York Times. concerning a black Dallas hobo named Anderson McCrew who was killed when he leapt from a moving train. No one claimed him, so a carnival took his body, mummified it, and toured all over the South with him, calling him the “The Famous Mummy Man.” McLean’s song inspired radio station WGN in Chicago to tell the story and give the song airplay in order to raise money for a headstone for Anderson McCrew’s grave. Their campaign was successful and McCrew’s body was exhumed and buried in the Lincoln Cemetery in Dallas. The tombstone had an inscription with words from the fourth verse of McLean’s song:
What a way to live a life, and what a way to die
Left to live a living death with no one left to cry
A petrified amazement, a wonder beyond worth
A man who found more life in death than life gave him at birth
Joel Dorn
Joel Dorn
Joel Dorn was an American jazz and R&B music producer and record label entrepreneur. He worked at Atlantic Records, and later founded the 32 Jazz, Label M, and Hyena Records labels...
later collaborated on the Don McLean career retrospective Rearview Mirror released in 2005 on Dorn’s own label Hyena Records. In 2006, Dorn reflected on working with McLean:
Of the more than 200 studio albums I’ve produced in the past forty plus years, there is a handful; maybe fifteen or so that I can actually listen to from top to bottom. Homeless BrotherHomeless BrotherHomeless Brother is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1974. It was reissued by BGO Records in 1996.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Don McLean except where indicated.#"Winter Has Me in Its Grip"#"La La Love You"...
is one of them. It accomplished everything I set out to do. And it did so because it was a true collaboration. Don brought so much to the project that all I really had to do was capture what he did, and complement it properly when necessary.
Also from the Homeless Brother
Homeless Brother
Homeless Brother is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1974. It was reissued by BGO Records in 1996.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Don McLean except where indicated.#"Winter Has Me in Its Grip"#"La La Love You"...
album, "Wonderful Baby
Wonderful Baby
"Wonderful Baby" is a song written and originally recorded by Don McLean. It is a track on his album, Homeless Brother, and a tribute to Fred Astaire. The single peaked at number ninety-three on the Billboard Hot 100 and became McLean's second and last number one on the Easy Listening chart....
" was a number 1 on the AOR chart in 1975 and was later recorded by Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
. The song had been inspired by Joel Dorn’s son and reflected McLean’s interest in 1930s music.
1977 saw a brief liaison with Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
that yielded the Prime Time
Prime Time (Don McLean album)
Prime Time is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in December 1977.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Don McLean, except where indicated.#"Prime Time"#"The Statue"#"Jump"#"Red Wing"#"The Wrong Thing to Do"...
album and, in October 1978, the single "It Doesn’t Matter Anymore". This was a track from the Chain Lightning
Chain Lightning (album)
Chain Lightning is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1978.-Track listing:All trracks composed by Don McLean, except where indicated.#"Words and Music"#"Crying" #"It's Just the Sun"...
album that should have been the second of four with Arista. McLean had started recording in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, with Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
’s backing singers, The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires
The Jordanaires are an American vocal quartet, which formed as a gospel group in 1948. They are best known for providing vocal background for Elvis Presley, in live appearances and recordings from 1956 to 1972...
, and many of Elvis’s musicians. However the Arista deal broke down following artistic disagreements between McLean and the Arista chief, Clive Davis
Clive Davis
Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
. Consequently McLean was left without a record contract in the USA, but through continuing deals the Chain Lightning
Chain Lightning (album)
Chain Lightning is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1978.-Track listing:All trracks composed by Don McLean, except where indicated.#"Words and Music"#"Crying" #"It's Just the Sun"...
album was released by EMI in Europe and by Festival Records in Australia. In April 1980, the track "Crying” from the album began picking up airplay on Dutch radio stations and McLean was called to Europe to appear on several important musical variety shows to plug the song and support its release as a single by EMI. The song achieved number 1 status in Holland first, followed by the UK and then Australia.
Don’s number 1 successes in Europe and Australia led to a new deal in the USA with Millennium Records. They issued the Chain Lightning
Chain Lightning (album)
Chain Lightning is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1978.-Track listing:All trracks composed by Don McLean, except where indicated.#"Words and Music"#"Crying" #"It's Just the Sun"...
album two and a half years after it had been recorded in Nashville, and two years after its release in Europe. It charted on February 14th, 1981 and reached number 28 while "Crying" climbed to number 5 on the pop singles chart.
The early 1980s saw further chart successes in the US with "Since I Don't Have You
Since I Don't Have You
"Since I Don't Have You" is a song by the doo-wop group The Skyliners. Released in 1958, the single reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also the top five of the R&B chart...
", a new recording of "Castles in the Air" and "It's Just the Sun".
In 1987, the release of the country-based Love Tracks album gave rise to the hit singles "Love in My Heart" (a top-10 in Australia), "Can't Blame the Wreck on the Train" (US country No. 49), and "Eventually". The latter two songs were written by Houston native Terri Sharp
Terri Sharp
Terri Sharp is a gold record winning American songwriter and vocalist. While writing on Music Row in Nashville, Terri's songs were recorded by many artists including Don Mclean and Hank Williams Jr...
.
In 1991, EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
reissued the "American Pie" single in the United Kingdom and McLean performed on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
.
In 1992, previously unreleased songs became available on Favorites and Rarities
Favorites and Rarities
-Track listing:#Babylon#If We Try#Mountains O'Mourne#Fool's Paradise#Magdalene Lane#Since I Don't Have You#He's Got You#Superman's Ghost#Dreidel#Everyday#You Can't Blame The Train#And I Love You So#American Pie#Castles In The Air#Empty Chairs#If We Try...
while Don McLean Classics featured new studio recordings of "Vincent
Vincent (song)
"Vincent" is a song by Don McLean written as a tribute to Vincent van Gogh. It is also known by its opening line, "Starry Starry Night", a reference to van Gogh's painting The Starry Night. The song also describes different paintings done by the artist.McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading...
" and "American Pie".
Don McLean has continued to record new material including River of Love in 1995 on Curb Records
Curb Records
Curb Records is a record label started by Mike Curb originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963...
and, more recently, the albums You've Got to Share, Don McLean Sings Marty Robbins and The Western Album on his own Don McLean Music label.
A new album, Addicted to Black, was released in May 2009 and is available for purchase at his North American concert performances and is available on his website. In addition, McLean is expecting to tour in Europe and Australia in 2010.
Other songs
McLean's other well-known songs include:- "And I Love You SoAnd I Love You So (song)"And I Love You So" is a popular song written by Don McLean and released on his 1970 debut album, Tapestry. The song has been recorded by many artists in the years since McLean's original version, and it was a 1973 hit for singer Perry Como on his album of the same name, And I Love You So.Como's...
" was covered by Elvis PresleyElvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Helen ReddyHelen ReddyHelen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
, Shirley BasseyShirley BasseyDame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
, Glen CampbellGlen CampbellGlen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
, Engelbert HumperdinckEngelbert Humperdinck (singer)Engelbert Humperdinck is a British pop singer, best known for his hits including "Release Me " and "After the Lovin'" as well as "The Last Waltz" .-Early life:...
, Howard KeelHoward KeelHarold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
and a 1973 hit1973 in music-January–April:*January 9 – Mick Jagger's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug conviction, putting an abrupt end to The Rolling Stones' plans to perform in Japan during their forthcoming tour.*January 14...
for Perry ComoPerry ComoPierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr... - "VincentVincent (song)"Vincent" is a song by Don McLean written as a tribute to Vincent van Gogh. It is also known by its opening line, "Starry Starry Night", a reference to van Gogh's painting The Starry Night. The song also describes different paintings done by the artist.McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading...
", a tribute to the 19th century Dutch painter, Vincent van GoghVincent van GoghVincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...
. Although it only reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, it proved to be a huge hit worldwide. It was a #1 hit single in the UK Singles Chart. This song was covered by NOFX on their album titled 45 or 46 Songs That Weren't Good Enough to Go on Our Other Records, and also appears on the Fat Wreck Chords compilation Survival of the Fattest. "Vincent" was also covered by Josh GrobanJosh GrobanJoshua Winslow "Josh" Groban is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number-one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in that country...
on his 2001 debut albumJosh Groban (album)Josh Groban is the first album of singer Josh Groban. The track "You're Still You" charted at #10 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, and "To Where You Are" charted at #1 on that chart as well.-Track listing:...
. - "Castles in the Air", which McLean recorded twice. His 1981 re-recording was a top-40 hit, reaching #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1981.
- "Wonderful Baby", a tribute to Fred AstaireFred AstaireFred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
that Astaire himself recorded. Primarily rejected by pop stations, it reached #1 on the Billboard Easy Listening survey. - "Superman's Ghost", a tribute to George ReevesGeorge ReevesGeorge Reeves was an American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman....
, who portrayed SupermanSupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
on television in the 1950s - "The Grave", a song that McLean had written about the Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, was covered by George MichaelGeorge MichaelGeorge Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
in 2003 in protest against the Iraq War.
The American Pie album features a version of Psalm 137
Psalm 137
Psalm 137 is one of the best known of the Biblical psalms. Its opening lines, "By the rivers of Babylon..." have been set to music on several occasions....
, entitled "Babylon". The song was arranged by McLean and Lee Hays (of The Weavers). Boney M
Boney M
Boney M. is a Eurodisco group created by German record producer Frank Farian. Originally based in Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Jamaicans Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett, Maizie Williams from Montserrat and Bobby Farrell from Aruba...
had a number one hit in the UK with a similar song in 1978 under the title Rivers of Babylon
Rivers of Babylon
"Rivers of Babylon" is a rastafarian song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. The Melodians' original versions of the song appeared in the sound track to the 1972 movie The Harder They Come and the 1999 Nicolas Cage movie...
, which was not based on this one, although using the same text from Psalm 137.
In 1980, McLean had an international number one hit with a cover of the Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
classic, "Crying". It was only after the record became a success overseas that it was released in the U.S. The single hit #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1981. Orbison himself once described McLean as "the voice of the century", and a subsequent re-recording of the song saw Orbison incorporate elements of McLean's version.
For the 1982 animated cult-movie The Flight of Dragons produced by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr., McLean sang the opening theme. Unfortunately, no soundtrack has ever been released.
Another hit song associated with McLean (though never recorded by him) is "Killing Me Softly with His Song
Killing Me Softly with His Song
"Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a 1971 song composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. It has been covered by numerous artists, most notably by Roberta Flack whose version topped the U.S...
", which was written about McLean after Lori Lieberman
Lori Lieberman
Lori Lieberman is an American singer. She was born in California and grew up in Switzerland, and signed a deal with Capitol Records in the early 1970s. Her self-titled debut album featured the tune "Killing Me Softly with His Song", written by composers Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel after...
, also a singer/songwriter, saw him singing his composition "Empty Chairs" in concert. Afterwards, Lieberman wrote a poem about the experience and shared it with Norman Gimbel, who had long been searching for a way to use a phrase he had copied from a novel badly translated from Spanish to English, "killing me softly with his blues". Gimbel and Charles Fox reworked the poem and the phrase into the song "Killing Me Softly with His Song", recorded by Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
(and later covered by The Fugees
The Fugees
Fugees were a Haitian American hip hop group who rose to fame in the mid-1990s. Their repertoire included elements of Hip hop, soul and Caribbean music, particularly reggae. The members of the group were rapper/singer/producer Wyclef Jean, rapper/singer/producer Lauryn Hill, and rapper Pras Michel...
).
Concerts
McLean’s subsequent albums did not match the commercial success of American PieAmerican Pie (album)
American Pie is the title of a 1971 music album by Don McLean, best known for its title track about The Day the Music Died. The third track, "Vincent," is a tribute to the famed artist Vincent Van Gogh....
but he became a major concert attraction in the US and overseas. His repertoire included old concert hall numbers and the catalogues of singers such as Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
, and another McLean influence, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
. The years spent playing gigs in small clubs and coffee houses in the 1960s transformed into well-paced performances. McLean's first concerts at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in New York and the Albert Hall
Albert Hall
Albert P. Hall is an American actor.Born in Brighton, Alabama, Hall graduated from the Columbia University School of the Arts in 1971. That same year he appeared Off-Broadway in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and on Broadway in the Melvin Van Peebles musical Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death...
in London in 1972 were critically acclaimed.
In the 1970s, McLean usually toured solo but from 1981 to 1996 was accompanied by John Platania
John Platania
John Platania is a well-known session musician, guitar player, and record producer.Platania was born in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley, in Ulster County, near Woodstock....
on guitar. He now tours with his own band of Nashville musicians: Tony Migliore, Jerry Kroon, Ralph Childs and Carl "VIP" Viperman.
In 1997, McLean performed "American Pie" with Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks
Troyal Garth Brooks , best known as Garth Brooks, is an American country music artist who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon. His eponymous first album was released in 1989 and peaked at number 2 in the US country album chart while climbing to number 13 on the Billboard 200 album chart...
at Brooks' free concert in Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
in New York City. CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
reported that "Brooks was joined on stage by two surprise guest stars, Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
and Don McLean, who brought down the house with an acoustic rendition of 'American Pie'."
Two years later, Brooks repaid the favor by appearing as a special guest (with Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith
Nanci Griffith, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas.-Biography:...
) on McLean's first American TV special, broadcast as the PBS special Starry Starry Night. A month later, McLean wound up the 20th century by performing "American Pie" at the Lincoln Memorial Gala in Washington D.C. Brooks again played "American Pie" during We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial was a public celebration of the then forthcoming inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States at the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on January 18, 2009. By some estimates the...
on January 18, 2009.
In 2007 Don McLean signed with the Asgard Agency in London giving them responsibility for booking concert tours outside North America. Since then McLean has performed tours of the UK (2007, 2008 (one appearance), 2010, 2011), Ireland (2007, 2010, 2011), mainland Europe (2008, 2010), Australia and New Zealand (2008, 2011) and South East Asia (2011). On June 26, 2011, Don McLean performed on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
.
McLean had a series of conflicts with Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
writer Andy Breckman
Andy Breckman
Andy Breckman is a television and film writer and a radio personality. He is the co-creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series Monk on the USA Network, and is co-host of WFMU radio's long-running conceptual comedy program Seven Second Delay...
, starting when Breckman opened for McLean on tour in 1980. Breckman and McLean have penned competing renditions of the origins of this feud, both of which are available online.
Later work and honors
In 1991, Don McLean returned to the UK top 20 with a re-issue of "American Pie".Iona College
Iona College (New York)
Iona College is located in New Rochelle, New York, 20 miles north of Manhattan in suburban Westchester County. The college occupies 35 acres on North Ave. The college also operates a Graduate Center in Pearl River, Rockland County, New York....
conferred an honorary doctorate on McLean in 2001.
In February 2002, "American Pie" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 2004, McLean was inaugurated into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...
. Garth Brooks presented the award and said "Don McLean: his work, like the man himself, is very deep and very compassionate. His pop anthem 'American Pie' is a cultural phenomenon".
In 2007, the biography The Don McLean Story: Killing Us Softly With His Songs was published. Biographer Alan Howard conducted extensive interviews for this, the only book-length biography of the often reclusive McLean to date.
In 2008, New York City radio station Q104.3 FM WAXQ
WAXQ
WAXQ is a radio station with a classic rock format in New York City. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications.-WFDR:...
named Don McLean's "American Pie" number 37 in their 2008 Top 1,043 Songs Of All Time listener-generated countdown.
Albums
| Year | Album | Chart Positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
CAN | ||
| 1970 | Tapestry Tapestry (Don McLean album) -Personnel:* Don McLean – Vocals, Guitar, Banjo* Rick Turner – Guitar, Bass Guitar* Peter Childs – Dobro, Bass Guitar* Jerry Corbitt – Bass Guitar* Gregory Dewey, Jeff Meyer – Drums* Scott Lawrence, Edward Bogas – Piano-Release history:... |
111 | — |
| 1971 | American Pie American Pie (album) American Pie is the title of a 1971 music album by Don McLean, best known for its title track about The Day the Music Died. The third track, "Vincent," is a tribute to the famed artist Vincent Van Gogh.... |
1 | 1 |
| 1972 | Don McLean Don McLean (album) Don McLean is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1972, peaking at number 23 on the Billboard 200 chart. It was reissued by BGO Records in 1996.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Don McLean, except where indicated.... |
23 | 15 |
| 1973 | Playin' Favorites Playin' Favorites Playin' Favorites is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1973. It was re-issued by BGO Records in 1995.-Track listing:#"Sitting on Top of the World" #"Living With the Blues"... |
— | — |
| 1974 | Homeless Brother Homeless Brother Homeless Brother is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1974. It was reissued by BGO Records in 1996.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Don McLean except where indicated.#"Winter Has Me in Its Grip"#"La La Love You"... |
120 | — |
| 1976 | Solo (LIVE) Solo (Don McLean album) Solo is a Don McLean double live album. It was recorded live in Manchester, Bristol, London and Oxford, England.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Don McLean except where indicated.#"Magdalene Lane"#"Masters of War" #"Wonderful Baby"... |
— | — |
| 1977 | Prime Time Prime Time (Don McLean album) Prime Time is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in December 1977.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Don McLean, except where indicated.#"Prime Time"#"The Statue"#"Jump"#"Red Wing"#"The Wrong Thing to Do"... |
— | — |
| 1978 | Chain Lightning Chain Lightning (album) Chain Lightning is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1978.-Track listing:All trracks composed by Don McLean, except where indicated.#"Words and Music"#"Crying" #"It's Just the Sun"... A |
28 | 25 |
| 1981 | Believers Believers (album) Believers is a studio album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1981.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Don McLean, except where indicated.#"Castles in the Air"#"Isn't It Strange"#"Left for Dead on the Road of Love"#"Believers"... |
156 | — |
| 1982 | Dominion (LIVE) Dominion (Don McLean album) Dominion is a live album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1982.-Track listing:#It's Just the Sun #Building My Body #Wonderful Baby #The Very Thought of You #Fool's Paradise#Baby I Don't Care #You Have Lived #The Statue... |
— | — |
| 1987 | Love Tracks | — | — |
| 1989 | For the Memories Vols I & II For the Memories Vols I & II For the Memories Vols I & II is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1989.- Track listing :#"Maybe Baby"#"A White Sport Coat " #"Don't"#"Travelin' Man"#"Sittin' in the Balcony"... |
— | — |
| And I Love You So (UK Release) And I Love You So (album) - Track listing :#Mountains O'Mourne#Birthday Song#Your Cheating Heart#It Doesn't Matter Anymore#Since I Don't Have You#He's Got You#But She Loves Me#Superman's Ghost#Everyday#Love In My Heart#Eventually#The Touch Of Her Hand#And I Love You So... |
— | — | |
| 1990 | Headroom Headroom (Don McLean album) Headroom is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1991.-Track listing:All songs written by Don McLean.#"Headroom"#"Fashion Victim"#"1967"#"Infinity"#"One in a Row"#"You Who Love the Truth"#"Lady in Waiting"... |
— | — |
| 1991 | Christmas Christmas (Don McLean album) Christmas was the name of the 1991 holiday themed album of American singer-songwriter Don McLean. The album was released on the Curb Records label.- Track listing :# "Winter Wonderland"... |
— | — |
| 1995 | The River of Love The River of Love The River of Love is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1995.- Track listing :All songs by Don McLean.#"The River of Love"#"You're My Little Darlin'"#"If I Hadn't Met You"#"Better Still"#"You Got a Way About You, Baby"... |
— | — |
| 1997 | Christmas Dreams Christmas Dreams Christmas Dreams is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 1997.-Track listing:#"The Christmas Song " – 3:39#"Oh Holy Night" – 4:20... |
— | — |
| 2001 | Sings Marty Robbins Sings Marty Robbins Don McLean Sings Marty Robbins is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 2001. It consists of songs written by or recorded by country music singer-songwriter Marty Robbins.-Track listing:... |
— | — |
| Starry Starry Night (LIVE) Starry Starry Night (album) Starry Starry Night is a live album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 2001.-Track listing:#Every Day#La La Love You#Homeless Brother#If We Try#Winterwood#Crossroads#Castles in the Air#Tulsa Time/Deep in the Heart of Texas... |
— | — | |
| 2003 | You've Got to Share: Songs for Children | — | — |
| The Western Album The Western Album The Western Album is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 2003.-Track listing:# "Timber Trail" – 3:01# "Ridin' Down the Canyon" The Western Album is an album by American singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in 2003.-Track listing:# "Timber Trail" (Tim Spencer) – 3:01#... |
— | — | |
| 2004 | Christmastime! | — | — |
| 2005 | Rearview Mirror: An American Musical Journey | — | — |
| 2009 | Addicted to Black Addicted to Black Addicted to Black is an album by singer-songwriter Don McLean, released in May 2009.- Track listing :-Personnel:*Don McLean – vocals, acoustic, five-string banjo*Pat Severs – acoustic, electric, dobro and steel guitars... |
— | — |
- AChain Lightning also peaked at #3 on the RPMRPM (magazine)RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
Country Albums chart in Canada.
Compilations
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1980 | The Very Best of Don McLean The Very Best of Don McLean - Track listing :#American Pie#Vincent#And I Love You So#Castles in the Air#Love Hurts#Crossroads#The Birthday Song#It Doesn't Matter Anymore#Crying#Prime Time#Winterwood#Crying in the Chapel#Wonderful Baby#Everyday#Fool's Paradise#Tapestry... |
| 1987 | Don McLean's Greatest Hits · Then & Now |
| 1991 | The Best of Don McLean |
| 1992 | Favorites and Rarities Favorites and Rarities -Track listing:#Babylon#If We Try#Mountains O'Mourne#Fool's Paradise#Magdalene Lane#Since I Don't Have You#He's Got You#Superman's Ghost#Dreidel#Everyday#You Can't Blame The Train#And I Love You So#American Pie#Castles In The Air#Empty Chairs#If We Try... |
| 2003 | Legendary Songs of Don McLean Legendary Songs of Don McLean Legendary Songs of Don McLean is a compilation album by Don McLean. The album was released on March 25, 2003.- Track listing :# Words and Music - 3:05# American Pie - 8:33# Since I Don't Have You - 2:35# Maybe Baby - 2:23# Crying - 3:49... |
| 2007 | The Legendary Don McLean |
| 2008 | American Pie & Other Hits |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US AC Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
US Country Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales... |
CAN | CAN AC | CAN Country | UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 1971 | "Castles in the Air" | — | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | Tapestry |
| "American Pie" | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 2 | American Pie | |
| 1972 | "Vincent Vincent (song) "Vincent" is a song by Don McLean written as a tribute to Vincent van Gogh. It is also known by its opening line, "Starry Starry Night", a reference to van Gogh's painting The Starry Night. The song also describes different paintings done by the artist.McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading... " |
12 | 2 | — | 3 | 13 | — | 1 | |
| 1973 | "Dreidel" | 21 | 7 | — | 16 | 5 | — | — | Don McLean |
| "If We Try" | 58 | 12 | — | 82 | 22 | — | — | ||
| "Everyday" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 38 | Playin' Favorites | |
| 1974 | "Fool's Paradise" | 107 | 25 | — | — | 90 | — | — | |
| 1975 | "Wonderful Baby Wonderful Baby "Wonderful Baby" is a song written and originally recorded by Don McLean. It is a track on his album, Homeless Brother, and a tribute to Fred Astaire. The single peaked at number ninety-three on the Billboard Hot 100 and became McLean's second and last number one on the Easy Listening chart.... " |
93 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | Homeless Brother |
| 1980 | "Crying" | 5 | 2 | 6 | 7 | — | 1 | 1 | Chain Lightning |
| 1981 | "Since I Don't Have You" | 23 | 6 | 68 | 45 | 2 | — | — | |
| "It's Just the Sun" | 83 | 20 | — | — | 12 | — | — | ||
| "Castles in the Air"A | 36 | 7 | — | — | 2 | — | 47 | Believers | |
| 1987 | "He's Got You" | — | — | 73 | — | — | — | — | Greatest Hits Then & Now |
| "You Can't Blame the Train" | — | — | 49 | — | — | — | — | Love Tracks | |
| 1988 | "Love in My Heart" | — | — | 65 | — | — | — | — | |
| 1991 | "American Pie" (reissue) | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | The Best of Don McLean |
Notes
- AThe original version of "Castles in the Air" was included on the Tapestry album. In February 1971, it was released as the first single from the album and reached #40 on the Billboard Easy Listening / Adult Contemporary chart. After the success of the "American Pie" single, "Castles in the Air" was included as the B-side to its follow-up, "Vincent", and received enough radio airplay to reach the Hot 100 chart as a "flip". McLean's 1981 version of the song first appeared on his album Believers, and later replaced the original version on some copies of Tapestry.
Rarities
| Year | Title | Additional information |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | "The Flight of Dragons" | This song was recorded for the film The Flight of Dragons The Flight of Dragons The Flight of Dragons is a 1982 animated movie produced by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr. and loosely combining the speculative natural history book of the same name by Peter Dickinson with the novel The Dragon and the George by Gordon R. Dickson. The film centres upon a quest undertaken to... in the early 1980s. |
| 1994 | "Vincent Vincent (song) "Vincent" is a song by Don McLean written as a tribute to Vincent van Gogh. It is also known by its opening line, "Starry Starry Night", a reference to van Gogh's painting The Starry Night. The song also describes different paintings done by the artist.McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading... " (live version) |
Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume III |