Editing Don McLean (section)

===Early breakthrough===
McLean recorded ''[[Tapestry (Don McLean album)|Tapestry]]'' in 1969 in Berkeley, California, during the student riots. After being rejected 72 times by labels, the album was released by [[Mediarts]], a label that had not existed when he first started to look for one. He worked on the album for a couple of years before putting it out.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.songwriteruniverse.com/don-mclean-interview-2017.htm|title=Special Interview With Don McLean, Renowned Singer/Songwriter Of "American Pie" and Other Classic Songs|date=July 3, 2017|work=Songwriter Universe|access-date=February 25, 2018}}</ref> It attracted good reviews but little notice outside the folk community, though on the Easy Listening chart "[[Castles in the Air (song)|Castles in the Air]]" was a success, and in 1973 "And I Love You So" became a number 1 Adult Contemporary hit for [[Perry Como]].

McLean's major break came when Mediarts was taken over by [[United Artists Records]], thus securing the promotion of a major label for his second album, ''[[American Pie (Don McLean album)|American Pie]].'' The album launched two number one hits in the title song and "[[Vincent (Don McLean song)|Vincent]]". ''American Pie''{{'}}s success made McLean an international star and piqued interest in his first album, which charted more than two years after its initial release.