Official 96 page 50th anniversary publication celebrates iconic song
Don McLean is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his iconic song, “American Pie,” with a bookazine. The official 96 page publication features stories and photos of McLean through the years and is available wherever magazines are sold.
“American Pie,” one of the most recognizable and sing-a-long songs, in which, RIAA named one of the top 5 songs of the 20th century, is an iconic anthem by American singer and songwriter Don McLean. Recorded and released on the American Pie album in 1971, the single was the No. 1 US hit for four weeks in 1972 starting January 15th after just eight weeks on the Billboard charts (where it entered at No. 69). The song also topped the charts in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. In the UK, the single reached No. 2, where it stayed for three weeks, on its original 1971 release, and a reissue in 1991 reached No. 12.
McLean began writing the song in Cold Spring, New York, and then continued to finish the song in Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. While some have claimed many other places that the song was either written or performed for the first time, McLean confirmed it was first sung at Saint Joseph’s University.
The repeatedly mentioned phrase “the day the music died” refers to the plane crash in 1959 that killed early rock and roll stars Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens, arguably ending the era of early rock and roll; this became the popular nickname for that crash. However, the overall theme of the song goes beyond its superficial semblance of mourning McLean’s childhood music heroes and reflects the deep cultural changes and profound disillusionment and loss of innocence of his entire generation – the early rock and roll generation – that took place between the 1959 plane crash and either late 1969 or late 1970. The meaning of the other lyrics, which cryptically allude to many of the jarring events and social changes experienced during that period, have been debated for decades.
McLean’s combined version is the fourth-longest song to enter the Billboard Hot 100 (at the time of release it was the longest), in addition to being the longest song to reach number one. Due to its exceptional length, it was initially released as a two-sided 7-inch single. “American Pie” has been described as “one of the most successful and debated songs of the 20th century,” with college courses taught on its lyrics.
A truncated version of the song was covered by Madonna in 2000 and reached No. 1 in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.
In 2017, McLean’s original recording was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or artistically significant.”
Earlier this year, McLean teamed with all-vocal country entertainers Home Free for a special collaboration of “American Pie.” This is also the first time McLane has recorded the song since the original recording.
McLean was set to kick off the American Pie 50th Anniversary World Tour with a special show on February 3rd at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa — the same venue in which Holly, Valens and Richardson last played that fateful night — but has been postponed due to the pandemic. A new date has not been announced as of press time and neither have dates for the rest of the tour. However, McLean has been performing select dates since early July.
The singer-songwriter has also announced plans for The Day The Music Died: The Story Behind Don McLean’s American Pie, a feature length documentary set for release at the end of 2021, among other projects.
