Don Mclean

Don Mclean
Donald Richard McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for his 1971 songs American Pie and Vincent.

Personal life
Don McLean was deeply affected by the deaths of both Buddy Holly and John F. Kennedy. In his personal life, he endured the death of his father in 1961. McLean graduated from Iona Preparatory School in 1963. He later attended night school at Iona College and received a Bachelors degree in Business Administration in 1968. With the help of a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, he began reaching a wider public. He learned the art of performing from his friend and mentor Pete Seeger. McLean accompanied Seeger on his Clearwater boat up the Hudson River in 1969.

McLean had a series of conflicts with writer Andy Breckman, starting when Breckman opened for McLean on tour in 1980. Breckman and McLean have penned competing renditions of the origins of this feud.

Songs
American Pie
Don McLean's most famous composition, American Pie, is often interpreted as describing the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper ,spawning the phrase, The Day the Music Died. McLean has stated that the lyrics present an abstract story of his life from the mid-1950s until the time he wrote the song in the late 1960s. American Pie symbolizes the ongoing radical and tumultuous changes in popular music during this period, evolving from the often raw, upbeat sounds that marked the earliest days of rockabilly and the rock eras of the 1950s to the darker, more introspective, often cynical and increasingly socially conscious music of the late 1960s.

Don McLean's American Pie has remained the subject of intense inspection and philosophical interpretation for more than 30 years as pepole continue to search for its 'deeper meaning'. In interviews, Don claims to be amused that many interpretations start with the premise that he never talks about the song nor has ever provided insight into the meaning of the lyrics.

Other Songs
McLean's other famous songs include:
And I Love You So, covered by Elvis Presley, a 1973 hit for Perry Como.
Vincent, a tribute to the 19th century Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh .
Castles in the Air, which McLean recorded twice -his 1981 re-recording was a top-40 hit .
Winterwood .
Wonderful Baby, a tribute to Fred Astaire that Astaire himself recorded .
Superman's Ghost, a tribute to George Reeves, who portrayed Superman on television in the 1950s The album American Pie features a version of Psalm 137, Babylon arranged by Don McLean and Lee Hays. Boney M would have a number one hit in the UK with this song in 1978 under the title Rivers of Babylon, although the two renditions are so different it is not immediately noticeable that they are versions of the same song.

McLean had an international number one hit with the Roy Orbison classic, Crying in 1980. Only following the record's success overseas was it released in the USA, becoming a top 10 hit in 1981. Orbison himself once described McLean as the voice of the century,

Later work
Don McLean returned to the UK top 20 with a re-issue of American Pie in 1991. The song became a worldwide smash again in 2000 when covered in abridged form by Madonna.Don continues to tour extensively both in the U.S. and Europe, as of 2006. His new album Addicted to Black is expected to be released in the near future, along with his biography Killing Us Softly: The Don McLean Story.