Wednesday, May 3, 2000
Wednesday, May 3, 2000 |
| McLean
to cook up "American Pie" in PTC By MICHAEL
BOYLAN A long, long time ago..., almost 30 years to be exact, a man wrote a song that spoke to a generation and nearly guaranteed that every story ever written about the man would start the same way that this one did. The man is Don McLean and the song, of course, is “Castles in the Air.” Just kidding, the song is “American Pie” and it will certainly be performed this Friday and Saturday at the Frederick Brown Amphitheater in Peachtree City. “American Pie,” the song about a rock and roll era coming to an end, and recently covered by Madonna, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Though McLean has had an extensive career with many hit songs and dozens of gold and platinum albums, he is still best remembered for the song. McLean's musical career started in 1964. By 1968, after playing a benefit concert with Pete Seeger, McLean was named “Hudson River Troubador.” Three years later he released American Pie. The song was number one on the charts for four weeks and stayed on the charts for another 17 weeks. His follow up, “Vincent (Starry Night)” reached number 12 on the U.S. charts. It was a much bigger hit in Europe than “American Pie” was. McLean began to tour around the world, which he has now done over 12 times. McLean recorded an album a year for nearly 12 straight years in the 1970s and early 1980s. Not every album had all original material; some were cover albums that featured songs that found more success than the original artists'. 1978's “Chain Lightning” album featured a cover of Roy Orbison's “Crying” which found more popularity in Europe than Orbison ever enjoyed. In 1982, McLean released “Dominion,” a live double album. It was five years before he released another album, “Don McLean's Greatest Hits Then and Now.” Since then, Mclean has released many more albums and given thousands of crowd-pleasing performances. His songs have been featured on “Ally McBeal” and in the film “Bowfinger” and PBS produced a music special called “Don McLean, American Troubador.” He has written the theme song for a musical about former President Dwight Eisenhower for Broadway, is planning a children's album and a cover album of Marty Robbins songs and an album full of original material. Don McLean will play the Frederick Brown Amphitheater Friday and Saturday, May 5 and 6 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25. Call 770-631-0630.
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