As American as Apple Pie

American singer and songwriter Don McLean is known as the “American Troubadour” or “King of the Trail” to his many fans. His biggest claim to fame is his hit song “American Pie” from 1971.

In 1969 McLean began his musical journey releasing his album Tapestry. Even though this album did not bring him great fame it included the successful song “Castles in the Air” which charted on the Easy Listening chart.

His big break came when he released his album American Pie in 1971. The album included the two big hits “American Pie” and “Vincent”. The two singles from this album, as mentioned above, rose up to number one on the charts. His song “American Pie” was partly inspired by the tragic deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson known as The Big Bopper, who all died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959. This song made the expression “the day the music died” popular. In 2001 “American Pie” was voted number five in a poll of the 365 Songs of the Century.

The original United Artist Record inner sleeve on the album featured a free verse poem that McLean wrote about William Boyd, also known as Hopalong Cassidy and included a photo with Boyd in his Hopalong costume. After “American Pie” was released the poem was removed from the sleeve but it appears on a plaque at the hospital where Boyd passed away. It is also included on a special remastered 2003 CD along with a photo tribute.

Don McLean’s fourth album Playin’ Favorites included an Irish folk classic “Mountains of O' Mourne” and Buddy Holly’s “Everyday”. These were released as singles as well as “Fool's Paradise” and “Sitting on Top of the World”.

Another song which became popular came from his 1974 album Homeless Brother was “The Legend of Andrew McCrew”. The album also included “Wonderful Baby” and “Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond)” a song recorded by English musician Ringo Starr and on this 1973 album Ringo. It was written by English musician George Harrison. Both artists are former Beatles.

In 1977 the single “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” hit the charts. Don McLean had great success in Europe and Australia. The song was originally recorded by American singer and songwriter Buddy Holly.

His album Chain Lightning charted in 1981 with the single “Crying” , a cover of the Roy Orbison song, climbing up to number five on the pop singles charts. It was the lead single on the album and became a major hit for McLean going to number one on the UK Singles chart.

In 1988 Don McLean came out with his ninth album Love Tracks. Two singles were released “You Can't Blame the Train” which charted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs and “Love in My Heart”.

Some interesting recordings that Don McLean has done are:

“And I Love You So” which was a hit for American singer and actor Perry Como in 1973 and has been done as a cover by many different other artists including Elvis.

“Vincent” was a tribute to Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh.

“Wonderful Baby” a tribute to American dancer, singer, actor and choreographer Fred Astaire which Astaire had recorded himself. The song finally rose to number one on the Billboard Easy Listening survey.

“Superman’s Ghost” a tribute to the actor George Reeves who portrayed Superman in the TV series in the 1950s.

Don McLean was inaugurated into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2007 a biography of his life was published The Don McLean Story: Killing Us Softly with His Songs.

In 2009 Don McLean recorded Addicted to Black. The album includes the title song, “Promise to Remember” and “I Was Always Young”.