Don McLean

killdeer43

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If you're a fan of Don and a fan of PBS this special is airing this month, so check your local PBS listings.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2200460565/

He was a seminal artist in the early 70s and who among us can deny the impact of American Pie, Vincent, Empty Chairs, Castles in the Air............?

It's on here at 7 PM tomorrow so this is where I'll be. :wink:

Joe
 

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killdeer43 said:
He was a seminal artist in the early 70s and who among us can deny the impact of American Pie, Vincent, Empty Chairs, Castles in the Air............?

Rhetorically speaking I'll deny it. I can only match one of those titles to a song I can remember ever hearing. Not to say there was no impact, just to note that some of us managed to sleep through or otherwise avoid it :wink:
 

walrus

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If I never hear "American Pie" again, it won't bother me at all...

walrus
 

Christopher Cozad

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killdeer43 said:
It's not exactly a song you WANT to hear over and over,...
I was thinking, even if listening to American Pie for the very first time, you *have* heard it over and over! :D

(* Note: The LP version ran 8 minutes 33 seconds)

Christopher
 

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killdeer43 said:
fronobulax said:
just to note that some of us managed to sleep through or otherwise avoid it :wink:
"It" meaning the 70s or the impact of Don McLean's music? :?:

Just Curious Joe

Don McLean's impact. He just wasn't played in the places I listened in the 1970's.
 

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Thanks Joe. I'll be wrapping extra steel wool between the coat-hanger antennae to try to see this. :mrgreen:
 

fronobulax

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killdeer43 said:
For whatever you might take from this, sit back and have a read.

http://understandingamericanpie.com/

:D
Joe

That analysis makes it pretty clear why American Pie had little impact on me and consequently inspired no curiosity about Don Mclean on my part. As interpreted, it is a homage to music and a way of life that was already over by the time I was aware of the cultures and the trends that were passing. While there is a justifiable tendency to lump all Baby Boomers together and tar them with the same brush, this is one case where the gap between the leading and trailing edge becomes a canyon. I was barely old enough to turn on a radio when Buddy Holly died and when I finally was exposed to his music, it was always in the context of Oldies. This is in contrast to the older Baby Boomers who were at just the right age to be establishing their musical preferences in 1959. A similar gap occurs with Viet Nam. We were still fighting in Viet Nam when I hit draft age and I have an unburned draft card that proclaims me 1-A but no one from my birth year was drafted. So while I lived through the Viet Nam war, my experiences are significantly different from those of an American male who is only two or three years older.

All this is to say that American Pie and the reaction thereto is most likely best considered in the context of (previously discussed) generational biases and preferences.
 

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killdeer43 said:
If you're a fan of Don and a fan of PBS this special is airing this month, so check your local PBS listings.
He was a seminal artist in the early 70s and who among us can deny the impact of American Pie, Vincent, Empty Chairs, Castles in the Air............?
It's on here at 7 PM tomorrow so this is where I'll be. :wink:
Joe

Nobody doesn't like PBS........no sorry that's Sara Lee. :lol: :p

I like Don and PBS so rather than pontificate, I offer you my short and simple thanks for the heads up. :shock: :D
 

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fronobulax said:
So while I lived through the Viet Nam war, my experiences are significantly different from those of an American male who is only two or three years older.

All this is to say that American Pie and the reaction thereto is most likely best considered in the context of (previously discussed) generational biases and preferences.

Being a tad bit younger, American Pie had no effect on me either. Even though the Viet Nam war was winding down, I had been a precocious reader and still remember the casualty lists on the front page of the Philadelphia Bulletin. "Run Through The Jungle" had far more of an impact on me, because it conjured up the fear in a teenage boy of being far from home in a hostile country. American Pie was a pretty song that my parents listened to.
 

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I've been a big fan of McLean since American Pie and have the next few albums he did. One of the top singer songwriters to come out of the late 60's - early 70's. Find the Youtube of The Legend of Andrew McCrew, which is a wonderful tale that I think few have heard.
Sunday Morning on CBS did a feature on him years ago and he may well be the only singer-songwriter with a business degree. He's owned all the rights to his music forever and long ago he trade marked "American Pie" and so those goofy movies had to pay him a fee for using the title.
He came to our town a few years ago and put on a wonderful show. I'd love to see him again. Another one of the "real deals" in terms of creative talent and purpose.
Terry
 

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I've always been a big Andy Breckman fan, who's had a long running and very funny rivalry with Don McLean and often vents about him on his show, Seven Second Delay. The link below includes an open letter from McLean to Breckman.

Edit: I should warn sensitive readers that the link includes some colorful language. I should also warn humorless readers that the link contains material which may cause laughter.

http://wfmu.org/LCD/andy/americanpie.html
 
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