Don McLean
Legendary American singer/songwriter Don McLean celebrates 55 years since his iconic song American Pie etched him into the music history books.
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After American Pie, McLean continued churning out the hits such as Vincent, And I Love You So and Crying.
And to celebrate, McLean is returning to Australia in October for a national tour, where Australian audiences can look forward to a show that will delve deep into McLean’s extensive catalogue.
“I'll do something different every single night as we have a nice show with a bunch of new songs in it too that we're doing as well,’ he said.
“What you’re going to hear is also going to change.
“But it’s going to be very good.”
Recently, McLean said his most recent studio album, American Boys would be his last.
“I'm not going to write any more songs really or make any more albums,” he said.
“I’ve got probably 22 or 23 studio albums.
“Plus, live albums, and compilations that have unreleased songs on them by the dozen.
“And, on YouTube, there are probably several hundred performances going back to when I first started back in 1968.
“So, I’ve done enough.
“I don't think that albums really are worth the effort in putting all those songs on anymore.
“Nobody cares about them.
“All they care about is one really good song.”
Looking back over his songwriting, McLean said the music and lyrics always came together.
“I’m not a kind of guy that sits around with a piece of music and puts words to it,” he said.
“I just hear it in my head the whole thing kind of flows out.
“I sing the song as if it were right there.”
McLean has experienced the highs and lows of the industry.
His debut single Castles In The Air for example, failed to chart when first released in 1971, but 10 years later, McLean re-recorded the track and released it, and it earned him another major hit, especially in Australia, where it peaked at number 11.
“That was all due to great Larry Butler, the Nashville producer who was a genius and who produced so many of Kenny Roger's hit records,” he said.
“He begged me to come to Nashville because he wanted to take a shot at some of my songs which had not been recorded as well as they should have been including Castles in The Air.
“Castles was originally a little too fast and a little too jerky, and he slowed it down and everything began swing.
“And that’s what you got to do in the studio; you have to be loose so the song can swing.”
With American Pie having become such a signature song for McLean, does he ever feel the song overshadows his other material in his vast catalogue?
“It doesn’t matter, because all the songs are recorded and they’re all out there,” he said.
“If any song draws people to check out the rest of my catalogue, they will find them.
“And so, I don’t ever worry about that, because I know that the quality is there; the songs are there, and the recordings, too.”
For more on Don McLean and tour dates, visit: https://donmclean.com/
Music news
Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett recently stated in an interview with The Irish Times that much of today’s modern pop chart music is garbage.
He also lamented for the days, “when people had to really struggle to learn, because it’s all in the struggle. And it’s all in the determination and being inspired at the same time that forces you to come up with your own stuff and eventually your own sound and style. I just worry about how things are so perfect these days, the musicianship.”
Seattle grunge legends Mudhoney have announced they will tour Australia in October.
English ’80s jazz-funk pop group, Level 42, will embark on its first ever tour of Australia in January 2027.
American alternative rock group Semisonic, which had a huge hit in 1998 with Closing Time, released a brand-new single recently titled, Don’t Give Up Yet.
It signals that more new recordings are in the works.
From the diary: Queen, Melbourne, August 2014
English rock group Queen had just finished performing a brilliant show with Adam Lambert on vocals at Rod Laver Arena.
My wife and I had been invited by guitarist Brian May to catch up with him backstage after the show.
Once the final curtain came down, and people started leaving for home, we were instructed to wait at a designated area of the arena, before being finally escorted to the backstage area and to the band’s dressing room.
I had first met May back in 2003 when he and Roger Taylor were in town auditioning musicians and actors for the Australian production of their musical We Will Rock You.
Eleven years later, May hadn’t changed much, though his hair had now gone white, the only tell-tale sign of his ageing.
He had now changed out of his stage clothes and was sporting, and quite proudly, a black I Love Melbourne T-shirt.
Backstage, the vibe was laid back, with some of the band’s family and close friends also in attendance and soaking up the atmosphere.
Conversation and drinks were aplenty among all those present in the room.
May and my wife and I chatted for a while about various subject matters, and then he suddenly out of the blue asked me if I wanted a play of his iconic signature Red Special guitar.
The guitar nicknamed “The Fireplace” was originally constructed by May and his father, from pieces of wood from an old Victorian era fireplace.
As a guitarist, it certainly made for a very memorable experience for me and one I’ll never forget, as it’s not every day that one gets to play Brian May’s guitar.
Music quiz
Which song by The Beatles was the first Western pop song to feature an actual sitar?
Answer at the end of this column.
This week’s Global No.1 chart
Australia: I Knew It, I Knew You — Taylor Swift
The US: I Knew It, I Knew You — Taylor Swift
UK: Rein Me In — Sam Fender & Olivia Dean
Fun fact
Neil Sedaka’s original 1973 version of Love Will Keep Us Together was recorded in the same studio — Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England — where seven years later, Joy Division would record its song Love Will Tear Us Apart.
Quiz Answer: Norwegian Wood