Editing Don McLean (section)

==="American Pie"===
{{Main|American Pie (song)}}
McLean's "[[American Pie (song)|American Pie]]" is a song inspired partly by the deaths of [[Buddy Holly]], [[Ritchie Valens]] and [[The Big Bopper|J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper)]] in a plane crash in 1959, and developments in American youth culture in the subsequent decade. The song popularized the expression "[[The Day the Music Died]]" in reference to the crash.

The song was recorded on May 26, 1971, and a month later received its first radio airplay on New York's WNEW-FM and WPLJ-FM to mark the closing of [[Fillmore East]], the famous New York concert hall. "American Pie" reached number one on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] from January 15 to February 5, 1972, and remains McLean's most successful single release. The single also topped the ''Billboard'' [[Adult Contemporary (chart)|Easy Listening]] chart. With a total running time of 8:36 encompassing both sides of the single, it was also the longest song to reach number one until [[Taylor Swift]]'s "[[All Too Well]]" broke the record in 2021.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Trust|first=Gary|date=November 22, 2021|title=Taylor Swift's 'All Too Well (Taylor's Version)' Soars In at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/taylor-swift-all-too-well-hot-100-debut-1235001340/|access-date=November 23, 2021|magazine=Billboard|language=en-US}}</ref> Some stations played only part one of the original split-sided single release.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1193|title=American Pie by Don McLean Songfacts|website=Songfacts.com|access-date=February 25, 2018}}</ref>

[[WMVP|WCFL]] DJ Bob Dearborn unraveled the lyrics and first published his interpretation on January 7, 1972, four days after the song reached number 1 on rival station [[WLS (AM)|WLS]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oldiesloon.com/il/wls720103.htm|title=89WLS Chicagoland HitParade|publisher=WLS|date=January 3, 1972|access-date=May 10, 2020}}</ref> six days before it reached number 1 on WCFL,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oldiesloon.com/ilc/wcfl011372.htm|title=WCFL All Hit Music in the Midwest|publisher=WCFL|date=January 13, 1972|access-date=May 10, 2020}}</ref> and eight days before it reached number 1 nationally (see "Further reading" under "[[American Pie (song)|American Pie]]"). Numerous other interpretations, which together largely converged on Dearborn's interpretation, quickly followed. McLean declined to say anything definitive about the lyrics until 1978.<ref>However, [[Casey Kasem]] confirmed the main outline of what Dearborn had said and seemed to indicate that McLean agreed with that outline, on the January 15, 1972, edition of ''[[American Top 40]]'', when "American Pie" had just ascended to number 1 on the Hot 100.</ref> Since then McLean has stated that the lyrics are also somewhat autobiographical and present an abstract story of his life from the mid-1950s until the time he wrote the song in the late 1960s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.don-mclean.com/americanpie.asp|title=Don McLean's American Pie|work=Don McLean Online - The Official Website|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061222185354/http://www.don-mclean.com/americanpie.asp|archive-date=December 22, 2006}}</ref>

The original [[United Artists Records]] inner sleeve featured a [[free verse]] poem<ref>{{cite web|last=Fann|first=James M.|title=Understanding AMERICAN PIE|date=December 10, 2006|access-date=April 3, 2013|url=http://understandingamericanpie.com/hoppy.htm|archive-date=October 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016143326/http://understandingamericanpie.com/hoppy.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> written by McLean about [[William Boyd (actor)|William Boyd]], also known as [[Hopalong Cassidy]], along with a picture of Boyd in full Hopalong regalia. This sleeve was removed within a year of the album's release. The words to this poem appear on a plaque at the [[hospital]] where Boyd died. The Boyd poem and picture tribute do appear on a special remastered 2003 CD.<ref>inner sleeve, 2003 Capitol Records CD remaster (72435-84729-2-9)</ref>

In 2001, "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]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Writer |first=MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment |date=2022-07-18 |title=Don McLean looks back at his masterpiece, 'American Pie' |url=https://kmph.com/news/entertainment/don-mclean-looks-back-at-his-masterpiece-american-pie-top-five-songs-of-the-century-recording-industry-association-of-america-national-endowment-for-the-arts-the-day-the-music-died-the-story-of-don-mcleans-american-pie-paramount-plus-garth-brooks |access-date=2025-04-09 |website=KMPH |language=en}}</ref>

On April 7, 2015, McLean's original working manuscript for "American Pie" sold for $1,205,000 (£809,524/€1,109,182) at Christie's auction rooms, New York, making it the third highest auction price achieved for an American literary manuscript.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christies.com/salelanding/index.aspx?intSaleID=25290|title=Don McLean's "American Pie": The Original Lyrics|website=Christies.com|access-date=August 25, 2015}}</ref>

In the sale catalogue notes, McLean finally revealed the meaning in the song's lyrics: "Basically in American Pie things are heading in the wrong direction. ... It [life] is becoming less idyllic. I don't know whether you consider that wrong or right but it is a morality song in a sense."<ref name="telegraph4915">{{cite news|title=American Pie: 6 crazy conspiracy theories|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/11518980/American-Pie-6-crazy-conspiracy-theories.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/11518980/American-Pie-6-crazy-conspiracy-theories.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|first=Rupert|last=Hawksley|date=April 7, 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The catalogue confirmed some of the better-known references in the song's lyrics, including mentions of [[Elvis Presley]] ("the king") and [[Bob Dylan]] ("the jester"), and confirmed that the song culminates with a description of the [[killing of Meredith Hunter]] at the [[Altamont Free Concert]], ten years after the plane crash that killed Holly, Valens and Richardson, and that the song broadly depicts how the early rock innocence of the 1950s, and a bygone simpler age, had been lost;  overtaken by events and changes, which themselves had been overtaken by further changes.<ref name="telegraph4915" />

[[Mike Mills]] of [[R.E.M.]] reflected on the song, that "'American Pie' just made perfect sense to me as a song and that's what impressed me the most. I could say to people this is how to write songs. When you've written at least three songs that can be considered classic that is a very high batting average and if one of those songs happens to be something that a great many people think is one of the greatest songs ever written you've not only hit the top of the mountain but you've stayed high on the mountain for a long time."<ref name="skydoc">{{cite AV media|title=Don McLean: An American Troubadour|medium=Television production|publisher=Sky Arts 1|location=UK|year=2013}}</ref>

When asked about his record broken by [[Taylor Swift]] in a ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' interview, Don McLean said, "there is something to be said for a great song that has staying power. 'American Pie' remained on top for 50 years and now Taylor Swift has unseated such a historic piece of artistry. Let's face it, nobody ever wants to lose that No. 1 spot, but if I had to lose it to somebody, I sure am glad it was another great singer/songwriter such as Taylor."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hussey |first=Allison |title=Taylor Swift Sets New Record for Longest No. 1 Song With "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/taylor-swift-sets-new-record-for-longest-no-1-song-with-all-too-well-10-minute-version/ |access-date=September 1, 2021 |website=Pitchfork |date=November 22, 2021}}</ref> When Swift broke McLean's record, she sent him flowers and a handwritten note that read "I will never forget that I'm standing on the shoulders of giants".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gariano |first=Francesca |title=Taylor Swift sends flowers, note to Don McLean after breaking his record for longest song |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/taylor-swift-sends-flowers-note-don-mclean-after-breaking-his-t242099 |access-date=January 2, 2022 |website=Today |date=December 5, 2021}}</ref>