American Pie (album)

Background

American Pie is McLean’s second album; his first, Tapestry, having been released to only moderate commercial success and acclaim in 1970. McLean was a protégé of Pete Seeger, having played with him in the 1960s. The album American Pie was intended as a unified work, as McLean has said that he was influenced by The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album and envisioned American Pie to be a similar album. Believing that an artist's work should stand by itself, McLean generally did not offer explanations for his work's themes or meaning, though he did describe the title song as involving "a sense of loss". The album was dedicated to Buddy Holly, a childhood icon of McLean's, and was released in 1971 on the heels of the '60s, the defining decade of McLean’s generation. It has a melancholy feel and rather sparse arrangements. At the time of the writing McLean’s first marriage was failing and the optimism and hopefulness of the 1960s was giving way to the nihilism and hedonism of the 1970s.

Production

The album was recorded in Studio A at The Record Plant on West 44th street in New York City. The producer, Ed Freeman, decided to use accomplished musicians who were not "studio musicians who could act like a metronome" because he wanted to capture the feel of a "band that was really cooking," so he rented a rehearsal studio and they rehearsed the title song for two weeks before they recorded it. Because McLean rarely phrased his singing the same way twice there were as many as 24 takes for some of the voice parts, but the rhythm tracks are mostly one take.

The title track contains references to the death of Buddy Holly (McLean being a 13-year-old paper-boy at the time). The phrase "The Day the Music Died" was used by McLean on this song, and has now become an unofficial name for the tragedy.

The original United Artists Records inner sleeve featured a free verse poem written by McLean about 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.

On the original release, the title of the song "Sister Fatima" is misspelled "Sister Faima"

"Babylon" is a close paraphrase of the 137th Psalm, based on the canon "By the Waters of Babylon" by Philip Hayes.

Controversies

There is an often repeated claim that the song "Empty Chairs" was the inspiration for the popular song "Killing Me Softly with His Song" (q.v.).

Another controversy concerns the final chorus of "American Pie", and the "West Forty Fourth Street Rhythm and Noise Choir" who sang multi-tracked overdubs. The producer, Ed Freeman, claims that choir included Pete Seeger, James Taylor, Livingston Taylor and Carly Simon. On his website, Don McLean denies that this is true.

Release and reception

The Album reached number 1 within two weeks of release and was certified gold within 6 months, spending almost a year on the Billboard Album Charts. Its appeal cut across genres, in what was becoming a fragmented music scene.

Reissue

The album was reissued in 1980 without the song "Sister Fatima", and again on June 27, 2003 with the track restored, along with the addition of two bonus tracks. Also the first Spanish issue delivered by Hispavox was released without "Sister Fatima".

Track listing

All tracks written by Don McLean except where noted.

Personnel