 Famed for -- and ultimately defined by
-- his perennial "American Pie," singer/songwriter
Don McLean was born October 2, 1945, in New Rochelle,
NY. After getting his start in
the folk clubs of New York City during the mid-'60s,
Don McLean struggled for a number of years, building a small
following through his work with
Pete Seeger on the Clearwater, a sloop that sailed up
and down the eastern seaboard to promote environmental
causes.
Still,
Don McLean was primarily singing in elementary schools and
the like when in 1970 he wrote a musical tribute to painter
Vincent Van Gogh; the project was roundly rejected by a
number of labels, although MediaArts did offer him a
contract to record a number of his other songs under the
title Tapestry. The album fared poorly, but
Perry Como earned a hit with a cover of the track "And I
Love Her So," prompting United Artists to pick up
Don McLean's contract. He returned in 1971 with American
Pie; the title track, an elegiac eight-and-a-half-minute
folk-pop epic inspired by the tragic death of
Buddy Holly, became a number one hit, and the LP soon
reached the top of the charts as well.
The follow-up, "Vincent," was also a smash, and
Don McLean even became the subject of the
Roberta Flack hit "Killing Me Softly With His Song";
however, to his credit -- and to his label's horror -- the
singer refused to let the success of "American Pie"
straitjacket his career. Subsequent records like 1972's
self-titled effort and 1974's Playin' Favorites deliberately
avoided any attempts to recreate the "American Pie" flavor;
not surprisingly, his sales plummeted, and the latter
release even failed to chart. After 1974's Homeless Brother
and 1976's Solo, United Artists dropped
Don McLean from his contract; he resurfaced on Arista the
next year with Prime Time, but when it too fared poorly, he
spent the next several years without a label.
Don McLean enjoyed a renaissance of sorts with 1980's Chain
Lightning; his first Top 30 LP in close to a decade, it
spawned a Top Ten smash with its cover of
Roy Orbison's classic "Crying," and his originals
"Castles in the Air" and "Since I Don't Have You" both also
reached the Top 40. However, 1981's Believers failed to
sustain the comeback, and after 1983's Dominion he was again
left without benefit of label support.
Don McLean spent the remainder of his career primarily on
the road, grudglingly restoring "American Pie" to his set
list and drawing inspiration from the country market; in
addition to a number of live sets and re-recordings of old
favorites, he also returned to the studio for projects like
1990's For the Memories (a collection of classic pop,
country and jazz covers) and 1995's River of Love (an LP of
original material). ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
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