Don McLean's iconic American Pie to go under the hammer

[Surya Gayatri]

Source: HindustanTimes

Legendary songwriter Don McLean's original manuscript of American Pie will soon be auctioned.

McLean's American Pie, one of the most iconic songs of its time, could fetch up to $1.5 million when it is sold on April 7, auctioneers Christie's said on Thursday.

The 16 pages of hand-written and typed drafts include notes and deletions for the recording that became a hit after it was released in 1971. It was named a Song of the Century by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.



McLean, 69, is among the most renowned singer-songwriters of his generation. He said he decided to sell the manuscript on a whim and has admitted the beginning of the more than eight-minute song is about the death of singer Buddy Holly, who died in a plane crash with Ritchie Valens and JP Richardson in 1959.

But he has been elusive about the meaning of most of the lyrics, which has heightened interest and led to countless interpretations.



"I wanted to capture, probably before it was ever formulated, a rock-and-roll American dream," McLean told Reuters. "The writing and the lyrics will divulge everything there is to divulge."

Read more: http://m.hindustantimes.com/music/don-mclean-s-iconic-american-pie-to-go-under-the-hammer/article1-1316406.aspx

---

Used to sing this while driving down to the Tailrace, the confluence of the Loup and Platte rivers--there really was a levee, we really did drive Chevys, and we really did drink whiskey (not sure about rye...)

Immortal.

[Dreamer Tatum]

1. That song sucks. nt

[dembotoz]

2. /\/\/\/\ yes/\/\/\/\

[Surya Gayatri]

4. Do you always log on just to poop on somebody's thread?

Or ought I to feel especially privileged?

You know, the French have a great expression to explain reactions like yours:

"Les goûts et les couleurs, ça ne se discute pas..." (Tastes and favorite colors, you don't argue about them.)

[Dreamer Tatum]

5. No, I stay logged on pretty much all the time.

It's not your song, is it?

I'm sorry, it sucks.

Let me make an OP about how I like Miller High Life, or Domino's pizza, or how I sort of liked Creed in 1998, and watch the resulting shitstorm.

[truthisfreedom]

9. There's no accounting for poor taste.

[CANDO]

33. Yeah, coming back for a second shart clinches it

Why the need to shit on a thread? So fine..you hate the song. Congratulations!

[sunnystarr]

13. One of my absolute favs ... TY! (nt)

[Surya Gayatri]

14. Mine, too. And, McLean has promised that all shall

be revealed about the meaning of the lyrics--what there is to reveal, that is.

He, Dylan and Lennon/McCartney are the poets of the age of Rock and Roll.

[zeemike]

18. Well said.

But there was no better song to describe the American music at that time in history...it was a conical of the history of rock and roll.
And yes they were poets...and so some don't understand.

[Dont call me Shirley]

27. I love that song x 3,000,000,000!!!!

[Surya Gayatri]

49. Don't know about the 3 billion, but it IS a damn good song...

it must have been for the DJ of the era to play the whole 8+ minutes in an age of 3 minute wonders.

[Dont call me Shirley]

55. No more 8 minute wonders these days...

The 3 billion rebalances out the hate.

[BeyondGeography]

12. Always preferred Vincent

Imagine, a song like that on AM radio, for everyone to hear. Thank you, Don McLean.

[Delphinus]

34. Vincent.

That was my song when I was 13-14 - still love it, but I've healed a lot and no longer think of it in the same way.

[BeyondGeography]

36. Great article on the song and McLean here

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/7264618/Don-McLean-interview-Why-I-had-to-write-Vincent.html

[Delphinus]

37. Thank you! n/t

[demwing]

15. That song rocks.

pissing on a positive, non-political thread sucks.

[trumad]

19. what's your favorite song?

[Major Nikon]

54. No doubt a Skrillex fan

[LiberalLovinLug]

23. And yet

I'm sure you were tapping your toes to the tune when it first came out. Am I wrong?

[TNNurse]

24. Well, I do not care what you think

And I suspect you are in the minority. You certainly have the right to express yourself, but I still do not care.

[Dreamer Tatum]

26. I equate it in merit to "Feelings."

Perhaps even a notch below.

[RoccoR5955]

25. That depends on your perspective.

From one direction it sucks, from the other it blows!

I often think that he got paid by the word to write that song!

[Frank Cannon]

39. It's looong, it's repetitive, and the lyrics are rather stupid.

I think, at the time, it was a novelty item as people made a game of matching up specific people and events to all of the lyrics. The very premise of the song, that rock and roll went downhill after Buddy Holly died, was a popular sentiment at the time (it was stated in the film American Graffiti and hearkens back to 50s nostalgia), but it is not a premise that most people today would endorse.

[William Seger]

44. It was, and still is, a unique song

... and I believe the premise was how much Buddy Holly's music meant to one particular young man, and how he perceived what followed.

[Surya Gayatri]

50. Thanks, WS, for taking some of these latter-day

music critics down off their high horse.

[UpInArms]

40. your sense of self-importance is underwhelming

n/t

[William Seger]

43. Dang, all these years I thought I liked that song

Thanks for setting me straight, Kanye.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. I still have that album.

[Surya Gayatri]

6. Well, it's probably worth something these days...

besides the sentimental value, I mean.

I never had a copy, just borrowed other people's.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

8. Living in Vegas has taught me when it's time to cash out.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

17. Most vinyl isn't worth much at all...

The only stuff that's really worth anything are records that were kept pristine (and very few of us kept and cared for them properly). A 40 year old record that's been played a bunch of times isn't going to be in the greatest condition due to wear and dust.

Now, a serious collector who's been anal about cleaning records before and after each use, storing them correctly (ie, no paper sleeves), and making sure that the tonearm and stylus are both aligned and clean might have some money in those shelves...

[Surya Gayatri]

45. As I learned, much to my chagrin, when I tried trading

Last edited Sun Feb 15, 2015, 08:12 AM - Edit history (1)

in a bunch of old LPs last year..."most vinyl isn't worth much at all..." And that even includes ones in fairly decent shape.

Unless they were in the original jacket, and looked like they'd never been played, forget it!

And, that was here in Paris, where you'd think old stuff (especially old American stuff) would be worth something. But, no...just a few centimes per platter.

So, I threw most of them away and kept just my very favorites in the back of my closet.

[SheilaT]

7. For me, that song conjures up

an entire era of rock and roll, mainly, for me, the early or mid-60's. That song is one of the best pieces of musical nostalgia I've ever heard.

[truthisfreedom]

10. Yes indeed.

[Surya Gayatri]

11. For me too, Sheila T. Although, tastes do differ...

See, for example:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141013818#post1

[Omaha Steve]

16. Don McLean - Vincent (Starry Starry Night)

Published on Jul 6, 2012
"Vincent" is a song by Don McLean written as a tribute to Vincent Van Gogh. It is also known by its opening line, "Starry Starry Night", a reference to Van Gogh's painting The Starry Night. The song also describes different paintings done by the artist.

McLean wrote "Vincent," also known as "Starry, Starry Night," in the fall of 1970, while he was working for the Berkshire School District. He was living in the Sedgwick House, a beautiful Federal style house in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The Sedgwick family included Edie Sedgwick, a colorful figure whom Andy Warhol had filmed in the 1960s. McLean wrote "Vincent" in his apartment full of antiques. The inspiration came to him one morning while he was sitting on the veranda looking at a book about Vincent Van Gogh. As he studied a print of Van Gogh's painting "Starry Night," he realized that a song could be written about the artist through the painting. You may learn more by following this link: http://www.don-mclean.com/vincent.asp

This 1972 appearance is on the BBC program "Sounds For Saturday"

[zeemike]

20. I will just add the lyrics to that.

For it's poetic value.

Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and gray
Look out on a summer's day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul


Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and the daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colors on the snowy linen land


Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free


They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now


Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue


Colors changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand


Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free


They would not listen, they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now


For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left in sight
On that starry, starry night


You took your life, as lovers often do
But I could've told you Vincent
This world was never meant for
One as beautiful as you


Starry, starry night
Portraits hung in empty halls
Frame-less heads on nameless walls
With eyes that watch the world and can't forget


Like the strangers that you've met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn of bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow


Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free


They would not listen, they're not listening still
Perhaps they never will

[Omaha Steve]

21. A little more info

http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/starrynightlyrics.html

[Surya Gayatri]

46. Thanks for adding this to the moment of nostalgia, OS.

As I said in the OP, the Chevy, the levee, and the whiskey bring back my youth in Nebraska.

[mountain grammy]

22. One of my favorite albums and songs; Vincent.

[Surya Gayatri]

48. McLean is a visionary and a poet--too bad he no longer seems to be

composing or recording.

[El Supremo]

28. They're going to smash it with a hammer?

I was a little perplexed by the title. I think they meant "gavel". It got lost in translation.

BTW a great song that has special meaning to me.

[Surya Gayatri]

41. FWIW, this is Indian English, derived from British English...

and in the UK, they do say "under the hammer!

[Jamastiene]

29. This is refreshing to see.

Going by the headline, I thought it might be more fundies smashing records literally again.

I like that song.

[catnhatnh]

30. And if you're driving and singing the song in your head...

...you could hit all your shift points perfect...

(drop clutch) So bye BYE...Miss American PIE...Drove my CHEVY... to the LEVEE... but the levee was dry.

Them was 4 speed days of course...you couldn't actually shift on LEVEE back then.

[MoreGOPoop]

31. Love it!

Have it on vinyl, 8-track and cassette. : )
Good luck to Don on the sale.

[Surya Gayatri]

47. Me too, I've been singing along mightily with the Youtube version!

[Kingofalldems]

32. I concur that this is a terrible song.

Here's a better one from him:

[winter is coming]

38. Yes, that was on the B side of the "Vincent" 45.

Although the version on the 45 had a faster tempo, which I prefer.

[subterranean]

51. That's probably my favorite Don McLean song.

Personally, I prefer the slower version you posted. I think it fits the mood of the lyrics better.

I liked American Pie when it came out, but it was so overplayed, I turn it off now when it comes on the radio.

[bedazzled]

53. i like "everybody loves me baby"

it's absolutely hysterical

[mac56]

35. A friend and I wrote this piece about it a couple of years ago.

http://namebrandketchup.com/2013/08/12/desert-island-singles-tag-team-edition-american-pie-by-don-mclean-1971/

[Surya Gayatri]

42. Interesting analysis and concept...!

[rjsquirrel]

52. He's been elusive about the lyrics because

they are trite and mostly meaningless. I have never understood the love people have for this song, which is full of hackneyed rhymes and images ("drove my chevy to the levee" is like 8th grade level poetry) and only seems like some obscure tale full of references because it is "cryptic" -- meaning really it makes no damn sense.

It appeals, I find, to people of a certain age who romanticize 50s America.

[William Seger]

57. "drove my Chevy to the levee"

... is was what pop song writers call a "hook" -- something people immediately recognize and love to sing along with -- and you could hardly find a better example. That, and the "cryptic" lyrics -- well, perhaps McLean had a different purpose than what you think he ought to have had. His song Vincent shows that he was definitely capable of writing poetry, but I doubt that very many people would have ever heard that song if it wasn't for American Pie. But anyway, you seem to have a non-standard definition of "hackneyed." I would attribute American Pie's popularity to it not being hackneyed. As I said above, it was and still is a very unique song, despite your disdain

> It appeals, I find, to people of a certain age who romanticize 50s America.

... for you to poop on? That would seem to refute your claim that it's "trite and mostly meaningless" to the people who like it, even if that was their reason. "Romantiz(ing) 50s America" certainly isn't the reason I like it, since I think the proximate cause of the 60s social revolution was the 50s America, but I don't see that as a reason to denigrate Buddy Holly fans. FYI, I'm of a "certain age" where I think the music of the late 60s and early 70s was much better than Buddy Holly's. I would guess that you are of a "certain age" where you prefer... well, whatever the hell you prefer, and you're welcome to it even if kids of a "certain age" probably think it's crap.

[Liz_Estrada]

56. My kids prefer Weird Al's version,

"The Saga Begins". Wonder what Weird Al's manuscript would fetch!