Don McLean American Pie on LP

Don McLean has always been an enigma. He sings like a pop singer but he sounds like a folksinger. When asked about his music he once said, "I see music as form and color, not sound. Painters influence me sometimes." You should really listen to Don McLean's albums if you want to know about him. His 1971 number one charting masterwork American Pie is a good place to start.

On American Pie, the songs are programmed into a total statement. "I don't write ‘singles', I write whole stories that take a few songs to complete." American Pie is the story of the previous ten years. For Don it is the death of Buddy Holly and a world without music. It's the end of a lot of things and the beginning of others. It's what we've been through and what the people have seen and what they hoped for.

American Pie is a slice of what McLean was thinking about following his 1970 debut Tapestry and it is because of the variety of moods and the unique points of view that are taken, that make this record communicate. Besides the omnipresent hit single "American Pie" there is "Vincent" written for Van Gogh and "Crossroads." There is life and death and heaven on earth on this record, and if you haven't ever heard it or haven't in a while, there's no better time than now to revisit its charms.