Don McLean

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.