By Judy Shields
San Juan Capistrano, California (The Hollywood Times) 09/20/2023 – From the moment Grammy-award honoree, Songwriters Hall of Fame member, and BBC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Don McLean stepped onto the stage at the Coach House, the crowd went wild with applause! I really like when a songwriter/singer like Don McLean talks to the audience to get us all caught up with his life and travels.
He talked about his 50th Anniversary Tour throughout the US and over in Europe too. The Hollywood Times was at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano last Friday night to hear McLean sing live and in-person. He did not disappoint the packed house. We started off with dinner at 6p with chicken and veggies and our two drink minimum of soda and hot tea. We sat with several couples and all talked about the first time we heard “American Pie” and “Vincent” which were all great stories to be told.
The funny thing about Don was that he would tease the audience with a couple of notes from “American Pie” and stop. That seemed to drive the audience wild as they yelled for him to play it! He started off with “Life Comes at You Fast”; Fool’s Paradise and “Botanical Gardens” his New York upbringing he said about the song. As I said, Don would tell us about the songs he was about to sing and that was totally cool! “Crossroads”; “The Lucky Guy”; “I Never Could Say No” as he told us about his ex’s. We all appreciate his version of “Crying” a Roy Orbison cover and then he told us a story about his trip to Jerusalem and how it led him to write the song “Jerusalem,” which was a great story and led him into his next song “Dreidel.” Another cover song “Sleep Walk” where he stated that he likes doing some cover songs that mean something to him. “Thunderstorm Girl” got us gals up on our feet! “American Boys Invented Rock n’ Roll” got the men clapping along.
He did sing “Vincent” and wow did he sound amazing, one of my all-time favs of his. Don did leave the best for last, “American Pie” and of course the crowd was up on their feet and singing along and when Don stopped singing, we kept on going and that must be really awesome for him to hear. I will always remember these great songs and the music the musicians made to go along with Don’s singing. If you ever get the opportunity to see him live in concert, do it, you will truly enjoy yourself!
The opening band was called Iris and The Shade. Julie Mehta and Corey McGee. Julie has a unique voice and her husband Corey made the duo sound really good. He was an amazing acoustic guitar player too.
In 2022, McLean celebrated the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic songs in history “American Pie,” and now in 2023, off that same album 50 years ago came “Vincent” (Starry, Starry Night). McLean is set to entertain fans from coast-to-coast proving that “bye-bye, Miss American Pie” will forever remain a classic staple in music.
Still, it’s worth remembering that the 77-year-old composer has written and sung numerous other melodic and harmonic successes in his decades-long career with “Castles in the Air,” “And I Love You So,” and “Cryin’,” all of which will be heard and reveled in along with newer pieces on the upcoming tour.
Upcoming Fall Tour Dates include:
Sat, Sep 09 – Beverly Hills, CA – Saban Theatre
Sun, Sep 10 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up (SOLD OUT)
Fri, Sep 15 – San Juan Capistrano, CA – Coach House
Sat, Sep 16 – Ojai, CA – Libbey Bowl
Sun, Sep 17 – Arroyo Grande, CA – Clark Center
Sat, Sep 23 – Ocean City, MD – Ocean City PAC
Fri, Sep 29 – Eau Claire, WI – RCU Theatre – The Pablo Center at the Confluence
Thur, Oct 05 – Parker, CO – PACE Center
Sat, Oct 07 – Hamilton, MT – Hamilton PAC
Fri, Oct 13 – Rutland, VT – Paramount Theatre
Sat, Oct 14 – Concord, NH – Chubb Theatre
Thu, Oct 19 – Florence, SC – Francis Marion University PAC
Fri, Oct 27 – Ridgefield, CT – Ridgefield Playhouse
Sat, Oct 28 – Union, NJ – Kean University – Wilkins Theatre
Sat, Nov 04 – Phoenix, AZ – Musical Instrument Museum (SOLD OUT)
Sun, Nov 05 – Phoenix, AZ – Musical Instrument Museum (SOLD OUT)
Fri, Nov 10 – Pittsburgh, PA – Carnegie Music Hall of Homestead
Sat, Nov 11 – Warren, PA – Struthers Library Theatre
Fri, Nov 17 – Minneapolis, MN – Dakota
Sat & Sun, Dec 02 & 03 – Honolulu, HI – Blue Note Hawaii
The eight-and-a-half-minute ballad “American Pie” has been making history since its release in 1971. Alongside songs by other icons such as Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Woody Guthrie, and Aretha Franklin, McLean’s composition was also voted “Song of the 20th Century”. Handwritten lyrics to the song were auctioned off for more than $1.2 million in 2015, and the composition was added to the Library Of Congress National Recording Registry two years later. Here, you’ll only find a few selected evergreens, such as “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. So much for the cultural significance of Don McLean and his 1971 stroke of genius!
Over the years, the song has been covered again and again by music icons like Madonna and Garth Brooks. Rapper Drake repeatedly sampled McLean‘s tunes and hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur also cited him as an important influence.
The legendary and still active singer/songwriter has had a significant career selling over 50 million albums worldwide. Among other things, Don McLean has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was a 2022 inductee into the Musicians Hall of Fame, received a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Fame, and was recently the focus of a Paramount+ documentary ‘The Day The Music Died.’ There’s no slowing down for this troubadour!
About Don McLean
Don McLean was born on October 2, 1945, in New Rochelle, New York, to Elizabeth and Donald McLean. By the age of five he had developed an interest in all forms of music and would spend hours listening to the radio and records that were around the house. Childhood asthma meant that Don missed long periods of school and while he slipped back in his studies, his love of music was allowed to flourish. He would often perform shows for family and friends.
Don McLean was born on October 2, 1945, in New Rochelle, New York, to Elizabeth and Donald McLean. By the age of five he had developed an interest in all forms of music and would spend hours listening to the radio and records that were around the house. Childhood asthma meant that Don missed long periods of school and while he slipped back in his studies, his love of music was allowed to flourish. He would often perform shows for family and friends.
By this time, Don’s musical focus was on folk music thanks, in part, to The Weavers landmark 1955 recording “Live at Carnegie Hall”. Don was determined to become a professional musician and singer and, as a 16-year-old, he was already making contacts in the business. After getting his home number from the telephone directory, Don phoned Fred Hellerman and later, Erik Darling. Don and Erik became friends and Don visited his apartment in New York. Through Erik Darling, Don recorded his first studio sessions with Lisa Kindred and was invited to join a group with Darling and the other members of the Rooftop Singers. However, even at that time, Don saw himself as a troubadour and turned down the offer.
While at Villanova University in 1963 (he stayed for just four months), Don met and became friends with Jim Croce and President Kennedy was assassinated. After leaving Villanova, Don was managed by Harold Leventhal Management. This started a six-year period during which time 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 and over forty colleges throughout New York and New England. He appeared alongside artists like Herbie Mann, Brownie McGee and Sonny Terry, Melanie, Steppenwolf, Pete Seeger, Janis Ian, Josh White, Ten Wheel Drive, The James Gang and others.
Don also found time to attend night school at Iona College and, in 1968, graduated with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration but turned down a prestigious scholarship to Columbia University Graduate School. While singing at The Caffe Lena, the New York State Council for the Arts invited Don to become their Hudson River Troubadour. He accepted and spent the summer traveling from town to town in the Hudson Valley, giving talks about the environment and singing songs for whoever would turn up to listen.
In 1969, Don recorded his first album, “Tapestry”, in Berkeley, CA. The student riots were going on outside the studio door as Don was singing “And I Love You So” inside. The album was first released by Mediarts and attracted good reviews and achieved some commercial success. It succeeded in transforming Don McLean from an unknown to an underground sensation. FM radio loved the “Tapestry” album and very quickly, Don became a headliner in nightclubs and colleges across the country.
The transition to international stardom began in 1971 with the release of “American Pie”. “American Pie” was recorded on 26th 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, the historic rock & roll concert venue.
Thirty years later, “American Pie” was voted number 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” by Judy Garland
“White Christmas” by Bing Crosby
“This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie
“Respect” by Aretha Franklin;
and “American Pie” by Don McLean.
“American Pie” was issued as a double A-side single in November 1971 and charted within a month. Because of Don McLean’s FM-underground career which started with “Tapestry,” the “American Pie” album was played extensively on FM radio. This caused AM radio to play the full eight-minute song at the #1 position. “American Pie” then became the longest song ever to become #1. The single “American Pie” and the album “American Pie” were an international sensation, causing Don McLean to become an international superstar. Every line of the song was analyzed time and time again to find the real meaning. Don refused to sanction any of the many interpretations.
The second single, “Vincent”, charted on 18th March 1972 going on to reach US#12, UK#1. The “American Pie” album remained at #1 in the UK for 7 weeks in 1972, and in the UK charts for 53 consecutive weeks.
In the wake of “American Pie”, Don became a major worldwide concert attraction and was able to call upon material not only from his two albums but from his extensive repertoire of American popular music, 1950s rock & roll and folk music, in addition to the complete catalogues of singers such as Buddy Holly, Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Pete Seeger, and Frank Sinatra, just to name a few.
In February 2012 McLean won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Life Time Achievement award. In March 2012, the PBS network broadcast a feature-length documentary about the life and music of McLean called Don McLean: American Troubadour produced by four-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Jim Brown.
In 2015, one of McLean’s four handwritten manuscripts of the lyrics to “American Pie” was auctioned by Christies, selling for just over $1.2 Million.
2017 brought a huge honor when “American Pie” was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, joining less than 500 works including “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” other classical music compositions, infamous live broadcasts, and similar recordings.
In 2018, McLean released his 19th studio album, Botanical Gardens, to critical acclaim. Arguably one of his most reflective recordings to date. As he characterized it, “The inspiration for the project started years ago when I would walk in the beautiful gardens in Sydney, Australia near the Opera House. I would dream young dreams and it was a comfort and an inspiration. I was always young inside, like we all are, and I felt it again there.
2019 honored Don with a star on the Las Vegas Walkway of Stars and his song “And I Love You So” was the theme for Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s wedding.
Don landed a new recording contract with Time Life in 2020, with whom he released 11 albums containing 173 tracks as well as a new album “Still Playin’ Favorites”. 2021 saw Don’s “American Pie” featured in the Avengers’ Black Widow and the new Tom Hanks movie Finch.
Don received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, celebrated the 50th anniversary of “American Pie,” recorded a version of the song with a cappella group Home Free, resulting in the video which was #1 for 8 weeks on the country music video charts, a children’s book has been written, and much more!
McLean continues to license his music and lyrics to commercials, movies, and fellow artists. McLean’s body of work is published through Benny Bird Company, Inc and administered through Universal Music Publishing. Don McLean owns five trademarks. They are: Don McLean, American Pie, The Day The Music Died, Bye-Bye, Miss American Pie, and Starry Starry Night.
