{"id":50907,"date":"2021-05-26T09:24:28","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T14:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/producelikeapro.com\/blog\/?p=50907"},"modified":"2021-10-20T16:39:24","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T21:39:24","slug":"don-clean-american-pie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/producelikeapro.com\/blog\/don-clean-american-pie\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Rock \u2018N Roll: 50 Years of Nostalgic Longing in Don McLean\u2019s  \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"produ-leaderboard-placement\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;margin-bottom: 30px!important;\" id=\"produ-1994506815\"><script async=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/securepubads.g.doubleclick.net\/tag\/js\/gpt.js\"><\/script>\n<script> var googletag = googletag || {}; googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || [];<\/script>\n<div id=\"gpt-ad-3365086606890-0\">\n  <script>\n\tgoogletag.cmd.push(function() {\n\t\t\t\tgoogletag.defineSlot( '\/21927241144\/728x90-Leaderboard', [728,90], 'gpt-ad-3365086606890-0' )\n\t\t.addService(googletag.pubads());\n\t\t\t\twindow.advadsGamEmptySlotsTimers = window.advadsGamEmptySlotsTimers || {};\n\t\tconst timers                     = window.advadsGamEmptySlotsTimers;\n\n\t\ttimers['gpt-ad-3365086606890-0'] = setTimeout( function () {\n\t\t\tconst id = 'gpt-ad-3365086606890-0';\n\t\t\tdocument.dispatchEvent( new CustomEvent( 'aagam_empty_slot', {detail: id} ) );\n\t\t\tdelete ( timers[id] );\n\t\t}, 1000 );\n\n\t\tif ( typeof window.advadsGamHasEmptySlotListener === 'undefined' ) {\n\t\t\tgoogletag.pubads().addEventListener( 'slotRequested', function ( ev ) {\n\t\t\t\tconst id = ev.slot.getSlotElementId();\n\t\t\t\tif ( typeof timers[id] === 'undefined' ) {\n\t\t\t\t\treturn;\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\tclearTimeout( timers[id] );\n\t\t\t\ttimers[id] = setTimeout( function () {\n\t\t\t\t\tdocument.dispatchEvent( new CustomEvent( 'aagam_empty_slot', {detail: id} ) );\n\t\t\t\t\tdelete ( timers[id] );\n\t\t\t\t}, 2500 );\n\t\t\t} );\n\t\t\tgoogletag.pubads().addEventListener( 'slotResponseReceived', function ( ev ) {\n\t\t\t\tconst id = ev.slot.getSlotElementId();\n\t\t\t\tif ( typeof timers[id] !== 'undefined' ) {\n\t\t\t\t\tclearTimeout( timers[id] );\n\t\t\t\t\tdelete ( timers[id] );\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\tif ( ! ev.slot.getResponseInformation() ) {\n\t\t\t\t\tdocument.dispatchEvent( new CustomEvent( 'aagam_empty_slot', {detail: id} ) );\n\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t} );\n\t\t\twindow.advadsGamHasEmptySlotListener = true;\n\t\t}\n\n\t\tgoogletag.enableServices();\n\t\tgoogletag.display( 'gpt-ad-3365086606890-0' );\n\t} );\n  <\/script>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n<div class=\"fusion-text\"><\/div>\n<p>Don McLean was only 13 years old, delivering his hometown newspaper route when he found out that his idol Buddy Holly had died in a tragic plane accident. 12 years later, McLean took that poignant memory and created one of the most iconic and beloved ballads of all time, \u201cAmerican Pie.\u201d The song takes listeners on a nostalgic journey through rock \u2018n roll\u2019s history, beginning with \u201cthe day the music died\u201d and traveling across all of the major musical, cultural and political events of the sixties.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Donald McLean III was born in New Rochelle, New York in 1945, and grew up amid the anxious tranquility of the post-war decades. He\u00a0 struggled with poor health and asthma for much of his childhood and missed a great deal of school. He thus spent his time at home, indoors, listening to music. He was an omnivore, listening to rock and roll, folk and popular music, but it was the earliest rock \u2018n rollers that inspired him to pick up a guitar. This included Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and the young, rising star, Buddy Holly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>By 1961, teenage McLean\u2019s health had improved and he had begun to develop a strong interest in folk music. Inspired by The Weaver&#8217;s 1955 recording <i>Live at Carnegie Hall, <\/i>he spent the sixties integrating himself into the vibrant folk-revival scene. He performed at college campuses and venues across the United States including the Bitter End and Gaslight Cafe in New York, the Cellar Door in Washington D.C. the Troubadour and Ash Grove in Los Angeles, and the Newport Folk Festival. It was also during this time when he met Folk music icon Pete Seeger. Seeger would mentor young McLean, inviting him to tour with him as they promoted environmental awareness in addition to sharing their music.<\/p>\n<p>McLean recorded his first album, <i>Tapestry, <\/i>in 1969 in Berkeley, CA and it was released in October of 1970. The album contained two singles &#8211; \u201cCastles in the Air\u201d and \u201cAnd I Love You So,\u201d the latter of which went on to greater success when it was picked up and covered by two artists a few years later. \u201cAnd I Love You So\u201d became a number one hit for Perry Como in 1973 and was also recorded by one of McLean\u2019s earliest influences &#8211; Elvis Presley &#8211; in 1975. The song became a staple at Presley\u2019s live shows until his death two years later.\u00a0 While <i>Tapestry <\/i>received some positive reviews, it\u2019s presence was mostly limited to folk music circles. It wasn\u2019t until McLean\u2019s 1971 hit \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d\u00a0 and it\u2019s accompanying album of the same name\u00a0 that the singer-songwriter was propelled into international stardom.<\/p>\n<p>Because <i>Tapestry <\/i>did not bring very much financial success, McLean wrote much of his <i>American Pie<\/i> while working a day job playing music for the school system in Stockbridge, Massachusett.\u00a0 However, the song \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d was composed after he had already finished most of the album; he felt the album was missing something and wanted to write a song about \u201cAmerica\u201d, something which would capture the moment &#8211; the zeitgeist of the era. \u00a0 Because McLean was an active participant in the Folk music scene of the sixties, we can see how songs like \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d reflect that tradition. The song is an introspective look into McLean\u2019s thinking of the time and his philosophical ideas regarding politics and music.\u00a0 It is also a song very much of its time, reflecting the intense turmoil the post-war generation had experienced over the short course of their young lives.<\/p>\n<p>McLean recently explained: \u201cAmerica was much more volatile than it is at the moment. We didn\u2019t have a pandemic, but cities were burning. People in the street. We\u2019d had enough of LBJ and Nixon. This was the kind of volatile world we were in then. The Vietnam War was breathing down everybody\u2019s back.\u201d To capture these tensions and dramatic changes, McLean employed layers of symbolism and cryptic references in the lyrics to tell the story of rock \u2018n roll and American culture across the sixties. Despite the compelling mystery of the song&#8217;s meaning for decades of audiences, he has largely remained silent behind the specific references in the song. When asked what the song means, he has often answered: <i>\u201cIt means I\u2019ll never have to work again.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<p>The song begins by looking back to McLean\u2019s childhood. While playing guitar one day, he was thinking about his childhood newspaper route and the day he delivered the announcement of Buddy Holly\u2019s death.\u00a0 Almost fully formed, the first verse flowed from his mouth:<\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-text\">\n<div class=\"fusion-text\">\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And maybe they\u2019d be happy for a while<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But February made me shiver, with every paper I\u2019d deliver<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bad news on the doorstep I couldn\u2019t take one more step<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I can\u2019t remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But something touched me deep inside, the day the music died.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the end of this opening, McLean coined the now-iconic phrase &#8211; \u201cthe day the music died\u201d. This phrase has since become synonymous with the tragic plane crash on February 3, 1959 that killed Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and P.J (\u201cThe Big Bopper \u201c) Richardson.\u00a0 The irony of \u201cthe day the music died\u201d is that, in 1959, rock \u2018n roll had only just been born.\u00a0 Elvis had broken onto the scene a short five years earlier with his debut single \u201cThat\u2019s Alright Mama\u201d, the same year as Big Joe Turner\u2019s \u201cShake Rattle and Roll\u201d and Bill Haley and the Comets \u201cRock Around the Clock\u201d. As the decade came to a close\u00a0 Holly, Valens and The Big Bopper represented the next wave of new, young rock \u2018n rollers emerging onto the scene. After the 1957 release of his hit \u201cThat\u2019ll Be the Day\u201d Buddy Holly\u00a0 had become an inspiration to the pre-teen and teenage rock and roll fans of the late fifties, like McLean. But Holly\u2019s light was tragically cut short only two years later.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In January of 1959, Buddy Holly and his band, the Crickets, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and Dion and the Belmonts had spent several weeks together on their <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Winter Dance Party tour across the mid-western United States. Tired of the freezing tour buses, Holly chartered a plan to take him, Valens and Richardson to their next destination. Tragically, poor weather caused the plane to crash in a cornfield near Clear Lake Iowa. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the trio of young stars passed, it represented a significant moment in this generation\u2019s coming of age &#8211; a moment of rupture between the idealism of childhood and the emerging reality of adult life. For McLean and his generation, this tragedy had a profound impact. As \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d producer Ed Freeman reflected, without the song, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c&#8230;many of us would have been unable to grieve, achieve closure, and move on. Don saw that, and wrote the song that set us free. We should all be eternally grateful to him for that.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The song finds its inspiration in Buddy Holly but many of the song\u2019s lyrics are far from clear. For 50 years, audiences have tried to unearth their meaning and McLean has kept relatively tight-lipped about his intentions for specific referents. This is, in part, because he was attempting to create a mythical, rock dream.\u00a0 Thus, as much as we try to make sense of individual lines, they manage to resist consistent interpretation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, McLean employs the courtly figures of the Jester, King and Queen several places in the song. The Jester is most often understood to be Bob Dylan. The \u201ccoat he borrowed from James Deans\u201d looks to the album cover on Dylan\u2019s 1963 album <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Freewheelin\u2019 Bob Dylan <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">which uses a photo of Dylan that resembles the look of the iconic 1950s film actor James Dean<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery interval=&#8221;3&#8243; images=&#8221;50914,50913&#8243;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Later in the song, McLean sings of \u201cthe jester on the sidelines, in a cast\u201d which seems to reference Dylan\u2019s 1966 motorcycle accident. An event which took him out of the musical spotlight for a time. Perhaps most meaningfully, McLean sings that the Jester sang \u201cin a voice that came from you and me\u201d &#8211; a likely reference to Dylan\u2019s status as the mouthpiece for his generation. Dylan would refute this interpretation in a rare 2017 interview saying \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A jester? Sure, the jester writes songs like &#8216;Masters of War,&#8217; &#8216;A Hard Rain&#8217;s a-Gonna Fall,&#8217; &#8216;It&#8217;s Alright, Ma&#8217; \u2014 some jester.&#8221; However, historically, the jester in literature and mythology does not necessarily imply absurdity.\u00a0 In fact, the jester is often one of the most important figures of the court, because he is the only one who can speak freely. Through wit and humor, the jester is the only individual capable of confronting power (i.e. the king and queen) with truth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The identity of the King is less clear. Some interpret it to mean President Kennedy and his wife Jackie, whose White House was called Camelot after JFK\u2019s assassintation. McLean himself has spoken about the profound mark that the president\u2019s death had left on his generation. However, other\u2019s take the terminology more literally &#8211; referencing Martin Luther King Jr. and Queen Elizabeth II of England. This interpretation is strengthened by the fact that Dylan had, in fact, sang for both of them (although on different occasions). \u00a0 And finally, it could be a reference to the King of Rock \u2018n Roll himself &#8211; Elvis Presley. The line \u201cand while the king was looking down, the jester stole his thorny crown\u201d could be referring to Elvis\u2019 reduced popularity in the sixties, a time in which Dylan assumed the role of the most important individual musical figure for the youth generation &#8211; the new \u201cking of rock \u2018n roll\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another symbolic thread that runs through the song is that of spirituality, in which rock \u2018n roll is imagined as a quasi-deity. Early in the song McLean asks: \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, do you believe in rock &#8216;n&#8217; roll \/ Can music save your mortal soul.\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For McLean, music was a very spiritual experience and rock \u2018n roll was his first introduction into a musical spirituality as a child. In 1971, after writing \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d he told <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phonograph Record: \u201c\u2026music is a very sacred thing\u2026to sell it, feint or abuse it isn\u2019t just commercial, it\u2019s sacrilege, Music touches the same universality that made Christ a saint to many people and that\u2019s very important.\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After several verses of musical and political references, McLean returns to this idea of music and faith towards the end of the song singing:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I went down to the sacred store<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Where I&#8217;d heard the music years before<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the man there said the music wouldn&#8217;t play<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Throughout the song, McLean also employs a recurring satanic figure, which is often interpreted to be Mick Jagger. This reading is due to the specific Rolling Stone\u2019s references that surround the devil\u2019s imagery.<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201c<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jack Flash\u201d in the lyrics is clearly a reference to the Stone\u2019s song \u201cJumping Jack Flash\u201d and the \u201cangel born in Hell\u201d is likely referring to the tragic death of Merideth Hunter at the hands of the Hells Angels. Hunter was killed during the Rolling Stone\u2019s set at a free concert at Altamont Speedway in Northern California in 1969.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">McLean ends the last verse with yet another spiritual reference, cryptically singing:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And the three men I admire most<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They caught the last train for the coast<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The day the music died<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several interpretations exist for the Trinity figures.\u00a0 The first, lives in the realm of politics with the three major assassinations of the sixties: John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. For McLean\u2019s generation, these deaths were transformative &#8211;\u00a0 shifting their collective spirit away from the idealism of the previous era.\u00a0 However, MLK and the Kennedys are not musicians and the lyrics seem to indicate that the Trinity figures are, since they \u201ccaught the last train for the coast\u201d on \u201cthe day the music died\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps the most likely theory, then, involves a return to the three early figures of rock \u2018n roll whose death is referenced in the song\u2019s beginning: Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens. Not only does it unify the song\u2019s structure, the imagery of taking a \u201ctrain to the coast\u201d makes a possible euphemism for a tragic plane accident.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, there\u2019s the song\u2019s iconic chorus which also leans heavily on Holly references. McLean has never stated the meaning or identity of \u201cMiss American Pie\u201d (is it even a person?). Perhaps more likely, it is an idea &#8212; the idea of American dream. A dream that in 1971 seemed to be lost. McLean reflected: \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Basically in &#8216;American Pie&#8217; things are heading in the wrong direction\u2026 It is becoming less idyllic. I don&#8217;t know whether you consider that wrong or right but it is a morality song in a sense.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rest of the chorus looks back to Buddy Holly, whose famous breakout song from 1957, \u201cThat\u2019ll be the day,\u201d\u00a0 contained the lyrics \u201cthat\u2019ll be the the day that I die\u201d. In \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d Holly\u2019s lyrics take a pessimistic turn to the present as the \u201cgood \u2018old boys\u201d since \u201cThis\u2019ll be the day that I die\u201d.\u00a0 Buddy Holly\u2019s death thus represented the loss of idealism that McLean and his generation felt at the end of the sixties. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sense of nostalgic longing that we find in<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d is so powerful because it uses images of musical and political history that everyone can understand, and in doing so, looks to rediscover the hope and idealism for the future that the post-war generation had felt in their youth &#8211; a hope they had felt when they first discovered rock \u2018n roll.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAmerican Pie\u201d was recorded on <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">26th May, 1971 at New York&#8217;s Record Plant. McLean asked Ed Freeman to produce the album after hearing Freeman\u2019s work with Tom Rush.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Freeman chose to bring in professional musicians who weren\u2019t experienced in the studio:\u00a0 &#8220;I wanted to capture the sound of a band that was really cooking, and for that I made a deliberate choice to not use a bunch of studio musicians who could act like a metronome and turn on like a faucet, without any feel. Instead, the people we used were good musicians but ones with not a whole lot of studio experience who, instead of doing a series of overdubs, would play together and provide us with an organic performance.\u201d With Bob Rothstein on bass, Roy Markowitz on drums and McLean on acoustic guitar, the band rehearsed for two weeks before recording. At the last minute, they chose to bring in David Spinozza on electric guitar, and Paul Griffin on piano who were experienced studio musicians.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tom Flye, engineered the album. While Freeman and McLean have since complimented each other&#8217;s work on the recording, and have created other albums together after \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d, the initial relationship was tempestuous. Both were still learning how to take their own ideas and work with other people. Freeman thus credits Flye for the way he could manage their two big personalities. He reflected: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Tom is a total genius and also the most patient man I have ever met in my entire life&#8230;Nothing will fluster him. I wasn&#8217;t an easy person to work with, Don wasn&#8217;t an easy person to work with, so working with the two of us together must have been like watching two wasps go at each other. Yet he was totally unflappable. He was endlessly, endlessly patient, and his personality was so perfect for the position, sitting there between these two monster egos \u2014 the producer and the artist. He was like the glue that held the whole thing together.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recording in Studio A &#8211; a large room with a 25-foot ceiling that had been designed and acoustically treated by studio designer Tom Hidley.\u00a0 There wasn\u2019t a way to hear the talkback from the booth, so the studio hung up a school bell which the producer could ring if he wanted the musicians to stop. In terms of equipment, Studio A housed a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">32-input Spectra Sonics console, a 16-track Ampex MM1000 tape machine, Tannoy monitors, and one-inch Scullys with 12-track heads. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Flye recalls having three tracks for drums in which he likely used an EV 666 and a Neumann KM84 on the snare.\u00a0 He also employed several U87s as overhead tom mics.\u00a0 The bass guitar was recorded using a DI, while U87s for Spinozza\u2019s electric guitar, Griffin\u2019s piano and McLean\u2019s vocal. Flye had to created a plexiglass baffle to get separation between McLean\u2019s vocal and the his acoustic guitar which is played in the booth while he sang.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Freeman, the iconic chorus of voices that join McLean in the final chorus was made of an overdubbed choir of Freeman and McLean\u2019s friends and colleagues. He recalls: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I think a lot of people knew that this record was going to be a classic&#8230;So that background chorus included Pete Seeger and James Taylor and Livingston Taylor and Carly Simon. It was quite a star-studded cast, and one that I really should have photographed.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAmerican Pie\u201d was released on October 24, 1971 and immediately climbed the charts, peaking at the number 1 spot in the US on January 14, 1972. It held that position for four weeks and still remains the longest running song (at 8 minutes and 42 seconds) to hold the top position.\u00a0 It also hit the number 1 spot internationally in Canada, Australia and New Zealand and peaked in the number 2 spot in the UK.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the past 50 years, \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d has maintained its iconic status. In 2000 Madonna covered the song, propelling it to the number one spot internationally, once again.\u00a0 It has been selected for preservation in the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">National Recording Registry <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by the Library of Congress. The National Recording Industry named it a top 5 song of the 20th century. \u201cAmerican Pie\u201d remains one of the most beloved and powerful songs in American popular music history, inspiring generations of listeners to reflect on the past and rediscover \u201crock \u2018n roll\u201d once again.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-text\">\n<div class=\"fusion-text\">\n<p><strong><em>Written by: Caitlin Vaughn Carlos<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Watch the video below to learn more\u00a0about Don McLean and his hit,\u00a0American Pie!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwd2lkdGglM0QlMjI1NjAlMjIlMjBoZWlnaHQlM0QlMjIzMTUlMjIlMjBzcmMlM0QlMjJodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRnd3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbSUyRmVtYmVkJTJGVE5wd2lzS0VZZFUlMjIlMjB0aXRsZSUzRCUyMllvdVR1YmUlMjB2aWRlbyUyMHBsYXllciUyMiUyMGZyYW1lYm9yZGVyJTNEJTIyMCUyMiUyMGFsbG93JTNEJTIyYWNjZWxlcm9tZXRlciUzQiUyMGF1dG9wbGF5JTNCJTIwY2xpcGJvYXJkLXdyaXRlJTNCJTIwZW5jcnlwdGVkLW1lZGlhJTNCJTIwZ3lyb3Njb3BlJTNCJTIwcGljdHVyZS1pbi1waWN0dXJlJTIyJTIwYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuJTNFJTNDJTJGaWZyYW1lJTNF[\/vc_raw_html][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Don McLean was only 13 years old, delivering his hometown newspaper route when he found out that his idol Buddy Holly had died in a tragic plane accident. 12 years later, McLean took that poignant memory and created one of the most iconic and beloved ballads of all time, \u201cAmerican Pie.\u201d The song takes&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":50908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-audio-engineering"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - 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