Editing Don McLean (section)

===Other songs===
McLean's other well-known songs include the following.
*"[[And I Love You So (song)|And I Love You So]]" featured on McLean's first album ''[[Tapestry (Don McLean album)|Tapestry]]'' first released in 1970.  The song was later recorded by [[Elvis Presley]], [[Helen Reddy]], [[Shirley Bassey]], [[Glen Campbell]], [[Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)|Engelbert Humperdinck]], [[Howard Keel]], [[Claude François]], and a [[1973 in music|1973 hit]] for [[Perry Como]]. The song was performed at the Royal Wedding reception of [[Prince Harry]] and [[Meghan Markle]] in 2018.
*"[[Castles in the Air (song)|Castles in the Air]]", which McLean recorded twice. His 1981 re-recording was a top-40 hit, reaching number 36 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in late 1981.<ref name="Whitburn">[[Joel Whitburn|Whitburn, Joel]] (2004). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits'', 8th edition. (Billboard Publications). p. 416.</ref>
*"[[Wonderful Baby]]", a tribute to [[Fred Astaire]] that Astaire himself recorded. Primarily rejected by pop stations, it reached number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Easy Listening chart.<ref>Hyatt, Wesley (1999). ''The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits''. Billboard Publications. p. 166</ref>

The ''American Pie'' album features a version of [[Psalm 137]], titled "Babylon". The song is based on a canon by [[Philip Hayes (composer)|Philip Hayes]]<ref>Hayes, Philip. ''The Muses Delight: Catches, Glees, Canzonets and Canons''. London, 1786.</ref> and was arranged by McLean and [[Lee Hays]] (of The Weavers).<ref>''American Pie'' album song credits</ref> "Babylon" was performed in the ''[[Mad Men]]'' [[Babylon (Mad Men episode)|episode of the same name]] despite the fact that the song would not be released until 10 years after the time in which the episode is set.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/house/article/mad-men-fridays-season-1-episode-6-babylon|title=Mad Men Recap: Season 1, Episode 6, "Babylon" |work=Slant Magazine|access-date=February 25, 2018}}</ref>

In 1981, McLean had an international number one hit with a version of the Roy Orbison classic "Crying". It was only after the record became a success overseas that it was released in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Don-McLean-Crying/release/751196|title=Don McLean - Crying|website=Discogs.com|date=December 3, 1980 |access-date=February 25, 2018}}</ref> The single hit reached number 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1981.<ref name="Whitburn"/> Orbison himself once described McLean as "the voice of the century",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.festivalsearcher.com/artists.aspx?artist_id=Don_McLean|title=Don McLean Live Tour Festivals 2015|website=Festivalsearcher.com|access-date=August 25, 2015}}</ref> and in a subsequent re-recording of the song, Orbison incorporated elements of McLean's version.

For the 1982 animated movie ''[[The Flight of Dragons]]'', produced by [[Jules Bass]] and [[Arthur Rankin, Jr.]], McLean sang the opening theme. However, no soundtrack has ever been released.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Another hit song associated with McLean (though never recorded by him) is singer-songwriter [[Lori Lieberman]]'s "[[Killing Me Softly with His Song]]"; Lieberman was inspired by hearing McLean in concert performing his song "Empty Chairs".<ref name="Daily News">{{cite news |last=O'Haire |first=Patricia |url=http://www.don-mclean.com/i/kill.jpg |title=A Killer of a Song |newspaper=Daily News |location=New York |date=April 5, 1973 |page=6 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514165758/http://www.don-mclean.com/i/kill.jpg |archive-date=May 14, 2013 }}</ref> Afterwards she shared her reaction with her manager, [[Norman Gimbel]], who had long been searching for a way to use a phrase he had copied from a novel translated from Spanish, "killing me softly with his blues".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Davis|first1=Sheila|title=The Craft of Lyric Writing|publisher=Writers Digest Books|year=1984|page=13|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uVePZ1Qwtb0C&pg=PA13|access-date=September 22, 2010|isbn=0-89879-149-9}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Gimbel passed the lyrics to his songwriting partner [[Charles Fox (composer)|Charles Fox]], who in turn composed the music to "Killing Me Softly with His Song".<ref name="Billboard Magazine 1974. Page 53">''Billboard'' magazine, June 22, 1974, p. 53.</ref> Lieberman recorded the song (now credited to Gimbel and Fox) and released it in 1972. This initial version was heard by [[Roberta Flack]], who recorded it with slight changes to create a number-one hit. Two decades later it was recorded by [[the Fugees]], who had another hit.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/02/arts/l-the-true-source-of-killing-me-softly-836680.html|title=The True Source Of 'Killing Me Softly'|date=March 2, 1997|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=February 25, 2018|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>