Don McLean

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For other people with similar names see Don MacLean.
Don McLean
Birth name Donald McLean
Born 2 October 1945 (1945-10-02) (age 63)
Genre(s) Folk
Folk rock
Occupation(s) singer-songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals
Guitar
Piano
Years active 1970 - present
Website http://www.don-mclean.com/

Donald McLean (born October 2 1945 in New Rochelle, New York) is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for his 1971 songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".

Contents

[edit] Musical Roots

As a teenager, Don McLean purchased his first guitar (a Harmony F Hole with a sunburst finish) from the House of Music in New Rochelle, New York and took opera lessons paid for by his sister. These lessons combined with many hours swimming, helped Don develop breath control, which later allowed him to easily sing long, continuous phrases, in songs such as "Crying". The exercise also meant his childhood asthma improved.

In 1961 Don's father died (his mother lived until 1985). Don had also been profoundly affected by the deaths of both Buddy Holly and John F. Kennedy. These events would influence him in later life.

At this time, Don was most interested in folk music thanks, in part, to the Weavers 1955 recording "Live at Carnegie Hall". Don wanted to become a professional musician and singer and by 16 years of age he'd begun making contacts in the business. Don became friends with Erik Darling and recorded his first studio sessions with Lisa Kindred.

McLean graduated from Iona Preparatory School in 1963, but dropped out of Villanova University after four months. While at Villanova he became friends with Jim Croce.

After leaving Villanova, Don worked for “Harold Leventhal Management”. For the next six years Don performed at venues like the Bitter End and Gaslight Café in New York, the Newport Folk Festival, the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C., the Main Point in Philadelphia, the Troubadour and Ash Grove in Los Angeles. He appeared with such artists as Herbie Mann, Brownie McGee and Sonny Terry, Melanie, Steppenwolf, Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Janis Ian, Josh White, Ten Wheel Drive and others. Concurrently, Don attended night school at Iona College and received a Bachelors degree in Business Administration in 1968. He was a popular folk singer at campus events.

In 1968, with the help of a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, he 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 up the Hudson River in 1969 to protest environmental pollution in the river. During this time Don wrote songs that would appear on his first album Tapestry. The Clearwater campaign was widely credited for improving water quality in the Hudson River.

[edit] Trivia

McLean allegedly had a series of conflicts with Saturday Night Live writer Andy Breckman, starting when Breckman opened for McLean on tour in 1980.[1] Breckman and McLean have penned competing renditions of the origins of this feud, both of which are available online.[2]

[edit] Songs

[edit] "American Pie"

Main article: American Pie

Don McLean's most famous composition, "American Pie," is often interpreted as describing the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper in an airplane crash on February 3, 1959, spawning the phrase, "The Day the Music Died." 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.[citation needed] The hometown legend is that "the levee" is his hometown bar, the Beechmont Tavern near Iona College.[citation needed] "American Pie" symbolizes the ongoing radical and tumultuous changes in popular music during this period, evolving from the often raw, upbeat sounds that marked the earliest days of rockabilly and the rock eras of the 1950s to the darker, more introspective, often cynical and increasingly socially conscious music of the late 1960s, driven by the sweeping social upheavals and volatile political atmosphere that had engulfed and defined America by the end of the decade.[citation needed]

Don McLean's "American Pie" has remained the subject of intense scrutiny and philosophical interpretation for more than 30 years as music historians, scholars, professors of modern American literature, and his fans alike continue to search for its 'deeper meaning.' In interviews, Don claims to be amused that many interpretations start with the premise that he never talks about the song nor has ever provided insight into the meaning of the lyrics.[citation needed]

[edit] Other Songs

McLean's other well-known songs include:

The album American Pie (album) features a version of Psalm 137, Babylon arranged by Don McLean and Lee Hays (The Weavers). Boney M would have a number one hit in the UK with this song in 1978 under the title Rivers of Babylon, although the two renditions are so different it is not immediately noticeable that they are versions of the same song.

In 1980, McLean had an international number one hit with the Roy Orbison classic, "Crying". Only following the record's success overseas was it released in the U.S., becoming a top 10 hit 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.

[edit] Later work

In 1991, Don McLean returned to the UK top 20 with a re-issue of "American Pie". The song became a worldwide smash again in 2000 when covered in abridged form by Madonna.

As of 2006, Don continues to tour extensively both in the U.S. and Europe. His new album Addicted to Black is expected to be released in the near future, along with his biography Killing Us Softly: The Don McLean Story (Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly with His Song" is said to have been written about Don after Lori Lieberman, also a singer/songwriter, saw him singing his composition "Empty Chairs" in concert. Afterwards, Lori wrote a poem titled "Killing me softly with his blue", and inspired by this poem, Norman Gimbel/Charles Fox wrote this song and the rest is history).

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year Album
1970 Tapestry
1971 American Pie
1972 Don McLean
1973 Playin' Favorites
1974 Homeless Brother
1976 Solo (LIVE)
1977 Prime Time
1978 Chain Lightning
1981 Believers
1982 Dominion (LIVE)
1987 Love Tracks
1989 For the Memories Vols I & II
1989 And I Love You So (UK Release)
1990 Headroom
1991 Christmas
1995 The River of Love
1997 Christmas Dreams
2001 Sings Marty Robbins
2001 Starry Starry Night (LIVE)
2003 You've Got to Share: Songs for Children
2003 The Western Album
2004 Christmas Time!
2005 Rearview Mirror: An American Musical Journey

[edit] Compilations

Year Album
1977 The Very Best of Don McLean
1993 Favorites and Rarities
2003 Legendary Songs of Don McLean

[edit] Rarities

Year Title Additional information
1982 "The Flight of Dragons" This song was recorded for the film The Flight of Dragons in the early 1980s.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Annoy Don McLean, Win $200!" Tayt Harlin, New York Magazine, October 31, 2007
  2. ^ Don McLean vs. Andy Breckman on the WFMU website

[edit] External links

de:Don McLean es:Don McLean fr:Don MacLean id:Don McLean it:Don McLean he:דון מקלין nl:Don McLean ja:ドン・マクリーン pl:Don McLean pt:Don McLean fi:Don McLean sv:Don McLean zh:唐·麥克林

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