Don McLean
Donald "Don" McLean (born October 2, 1945 in New Rochelle , New York ) is an American singer and songwriter . His most famous piece is the eight and a half minute ballad American Pie .
Beginnings and American Pie
The son of an electronics sales representative met Pete Seeger at an event held by the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater in 1969 . Despite a dedication by Seeger, he offered his first LP Tapestry to 37 record companies to no avail . The album then sold slowly but steadily. The 1971 song American Pie was very successful financially for McLean. It pays homage to Buddy Holly , who died in a plane crash in 1959 : " The Day the Music Died ". After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 , the Clear Channel Communications radio network published a list of 166 songs with the recommendation not to broadcast them for the time being. American pie was among them.
More songs
Don McLean learned folk and jazz with the help of the music of Tim Hardin , Leadbelly , Bessie Smith , Bobby Short and Count Basie . His idol, however, was only Buddy Holly . McLean's song Empty Chairs inspired singer Lori Lieberman to write the poem Killing Me Softly with His Song ; Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel made the song of the same name out of it. Roberta Flack made the song a hit in 1973. The version of the Fugees was again a worldwide chart success in 1996.
Other well-known titles by McLean are Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) , which is dedicated to the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh , Castles in the Air and Winterwood . In 1981 McLean had an international hit with a cover version of the Roy Orbison classic Crying . In Great Britain the single rose to number 1 on the charts. Orbison himself once described McLean as "the voice of the century".
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1971 | American Pie |
DE31 (16 weeks) DE |
UK2  (54 weeks)UK |
US1  × 2
(48 weeks)US |
|
| 1972 | Tapestry | - |
UK16 (12 weeks) UK |
US111 (10 weeks) US |
originally published in 1971
|
| 1973 | Don McLean | - | - |
US23 (19 weeks) US |
|
| Playin 'favorites | - |
UK42 (2 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1974 | Homeless Brother | - | - |
US120 (8 weeks) US |
|
| 1980 | Chain lightning | - |
UK19 (9 weeks) UK |
US28 (21 weeks) US |
|
| 1982 | Believers | - | - |
US156 (11 weeks) US |
|
| 2010 | Addicted to Black | - | - | - | |
| 2018 | Botanical Gardens | - | - | - | |
More albums
|
|
Compilations
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1980 | The very best of | - |
UK4th (12 weeks)UK |
- | |
| 2000 | American Pie - The Greatest Hits | - |
UK30th  (4 weeks)UK |
- | |
| 2007 | The Legendary | - |
UK71 (1 week) UK |
- | |
More compilations
|
|
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1971 |
American Pie American Pie |
DE9 (28 weeks) DE |
UK2 (19 weeks)UK |
US1 (19 weeks)US |
|
| 1972 |
Vincent American Pie |
DE21 (8 weeks) DE |
UK1 (15 weeks)UK |
US12 (12 weeks) US |
|
| Castles in the Air Tapestry |
- |
UK47 (8 weeks) UK |
US12 (21 weeks) US |
Chart entry in UK only in April 1982
|
|
| Dreidel Don McLean |
- | - |
US21 (12 weeks) US |
||
| 1973 | If We Try Don McLean |
- | - |
US58 (7 weeks) US |
|
| Everyday Playin 'Favorites |
- |
UK38 (5 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1975 | Wonderful Baby Homeless Brother |
- | - |
US93 (3 weeks) US |
|
| 1980 | Crying Chain Lightning |
- |
UK1 (14 weeks)UK |
US5 (18 weeks) US |
|
| 1981 | Since I Don't Have You Chain Lightning |
- | - |
US23 (14 weeks) US |
|
| It's Just the Sun Chain Lightning |
- | - |
US83 (2 weeks) US |
||
| 1991 | American Pie 1991 The Best of Don McLean |
- |
UK12 (10 weeks) UK |
- | |
More singles
|
|
Awards for sales
-
Canada
- 2000: for the album Classics
-
Netherlands
- 1980: for the album Chain Lightning
- 1980: for the single Crying
Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.
| Country / Region |
silver |
gold |
platinum
|
Sales | swell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources) |
|||||
|
Canada (MC)
|
- |
gold1
|
- | 50,000 | musiccanada.com |
|
Netherlands (NVPI)
|
- |
2 × gold2
|
- | 150,000 | nvpi.nl |
|
United States (RIAA)
|
- |
gold1
|
2 × platinum2
|
3,000,000 | riaa.com |
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
3 × silver3
|
4 × gold4th
|
platinum1
|
1,560,000 | bpi.co.uk |
| All in all |
3 × silver3
|
8 × gold8th
|
3 × platinum3
|
||
literature
- Alan Howard : The Don McLean Story: Killing Us Softly With His Songs , Lulu Press 2009.
- Irwin Stambler: The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul. 3rd, revised edition. New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 455-457, ISBN 0-312-02573-4 .
- Siegfried Schmidt-Joos , Barry Graves : Rock Lexicon. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1973, 2nd edition 1975, reprint 1978, ISBN 3-499-16177-X , p. 236 f.
Web links
- Don McLean website
- Don McLean at Allmusic (English)
- Don McLean at Discogs (English)
- Don McLean in the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Individual evidence
- ^ Siegfried Schmidt-Joos, Barry Graves: Rock-Lexikon.
- ↑ SuperSeventies - Killing Me Softly
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: Singles Albums UK US
- ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | McLean, Don |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | McLean, Donald |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 2, 1945 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New Rochelle , New York |