DON MCLEAN: From Folk Roots to Rock Legend

Don McLean III is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his 1971 hit song "American Pie", an 8.5-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early rock and roll generation (US #1 for four weeks in 1972 and UK #2). Though some of his early musical influences included Frank Sinatra and Buddy Holly, as a teenager, Don became interested in folk music, particularly the Weavers' 1955 recording At Carnegie Hall. He often missed long periods of school because of childhood asthma, particularly music lessons, and although Don slipped back in his studies, his parents allowed his love of music to flourish. By age 16, he had bought his first guitar and began making contacts in the music business, becoming friends with the folk singers Erik Darling and Fred Hellerman of the Weavers. Don recorded his first album, Tapestry in 1969 in Berkeley, California during the student riots. After being rejected 72 times by labels, the album was finally picked up and released. Don worked on the album for a couple of years before putting it out. It attracted good reviews but little notice outside the folk community, although on the Easy Listening chart "Castles in the Air" was a success, and in 1973 "And I Love You So" also became a number 1 Adult Contemporary hit for crooner, Perry Como. Don's major break came when the record company he was with was taken over by United Artists Records, which gave him major label promotion for his second album, American Pie. The album launched two number one hits - the title song and "Vincent". American Pie's success made Don an international star overnight and piqued interest in his first album, which charted more than two years after its initial release. In 2004, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In January 2018, BMI certified that "American Pie" and "Vincent" had reached five million and three million airplays respectively. His composition "And I Love You So" has been sung by Elvis Presley, Perry Como, Helen Reddy, Glen Campbell, and others, and in 2000, Madonna had a hit with a rendition of "American Pie". His other hit singles include "Vincent" , "Dreidel" , a rendition of Roy Orbison's "Crying", a rendition of the Skyliners' "Since I Don't Have You" , and "Wonderful Baby". Recently, the Grammy-award honoree and BBC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient has released his latest studio album, "American Boys" which pays tribute to his rock and roll heroes. As always, if you'd like to request a music guest for the show, please get in touch with me [email protected]