Don McLean talks to AARP about ‘American Pie’ In 2001, “American Pie” placed fifth in a list of 365 Songs of the 20th Century compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts, behind “Over the Rainbow,” “White Christmas,” “This Land Is Your Land” and “Respect.” In 2015, handwritten lyrics for the song were sold at auction for more than $1.2 million, the third-highest price ever paid for an American literary manuscript. 1, a 50-year run that ended when Taylor Swift’s 10-minute “All Too Well” recently hit No. At 8 minutes 36 seconds, it also set the record for the longest song to reach No. McLean has sold 50 million albums and is also known for his often-covered tune “And I Love You So,” his version of Roy Orbison’s “Crying,” and hits “Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)” and “Castles in the Air.” Yet nothing had the seismic impact of “American Pie,” 1972’s best-selling single after topping the Billboard chart for four weeks. In July, the documentary The Day the Music Died, which traces the sprawling tune’s creation, premieres on the streaming service Paramount+. A children’s book, Don McLean’s American Pie: A Fable, arrives in June. McLean, 76, is celebrating the song’s 50th birthday with a world tour. Pepper’s? Is Janis Joplin the girl who sang the blues? Asked about the song’s meaning, McLean often quips, “It means I never have to work again.” But now the singer-songwriter is a bit less tight-lipped about his pop culture musical puzzle. Could Bob Dylan be the jester? Does the marching band refer to Sgt. Immediately, amateur sleuths began dissecting Don McLean’s sweeping, impressionistic lyrics for clues about all those intriguing references. 28, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.Ī long, long time ago - 50 years, in fact - “American Pie” hijacked pop radio. I couldn’t stop, it was so beautiful.Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Lighthouse Immersive and Impact Museumsĭon McLean at the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit during his performance of "Vincent" on Feb. Wikipedia quotes Field: “The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. It was introduced in Fred Astaire’s Swing Time of 1936, where Astaire croons it to Ginger Rogers. Charlap certainly did nothing during this performance (including a sweet and tender solo of his own) to make me question Bennett’s wisdom.Ībout the song: Kern composed the music, but the lyrics were by Dorothy Field. At the piano is Bill Charlap, whom Bennett had introduced as “the finest jazz pianist today,” but I’d never heard of him before. Bennett didn’t announce which Kern he’d choose, though, just began singing - the second round of applause greets the specific selection. The first occurs when Bennett agreed to Costello’s request to sing something by Jerome Kern. In this recording of the performance, you’ll hear two distinct bursts of applause at the beginning.
Here, Bennett takes his time with it, even free-form vocalizing softly - and a very little - down towards the end. But his version “swings,” flirting (I guess) with the object of the song’s affection. I’ve had a Frank Sinatra cover for years. His performance of this old standard, at close to the beginning of the episode, greatly moved me. Tony Bennett was 82 years old when he appeared, in 2008, on Elvis Costello’s talk-and-music program, Spectacle.
0 kommentar(er)
