THERE ARE SOME SONGS WHICH TRANSCEND THE GENERATION IN WHICH THEY WERE WRITTEN. DON McLEAN’S 1971 SINGLES AMERICAN PIE AND VINCENT (THE FORMER AN EVOCATIVE REFLECTION ON YOUTHFUL INNOCENCE, THE LATTER A POIGNANT TRIBUTE TO THE TROUBLED LIFE OF 19TH CENTURY DUTCH PAINTER VINCENT VAN GOGH) HAVE BOTH BECOME DEEPLY WOVEN INTO THE FABRIC OF OUR POPULAR CULTURE.

Versions of both of McLean’s signature songs appear on his new album – LIVE IN MANCHESTER – which will be released next week in a DVD/2CDs package. The concert was filmed at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall in October 1991 and features McLean in peak form before a sell-out crowd.
Since first reaching the charts in 1971, McLean has amassed over forty gold and platinum records worldwide. AND I LOVE YOU SO was covered by Elvis Presley, Shirley Bassey and Perry Como, and THE GRAVE – a song about the Vietnam War – was covered by George Michael on the 2003 HOPE compilation album in protest against the Iraq War. Rapper Drake used two McLean compositions on his 2011 single DOING IT WRONG, but Madonna somehow contrived to flatten out the joys of AMERICAN PIE on a dance version in 2000. KILLING ME SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG (most famously recorded by Roberta Flack in 1972) is said to have been written about McLean, and in 2004 the enduring singer-songwriter was inducted into the Hall of Fame. In 2011 he played Glastonbury, in the ‘legends’ slot.
During this new edition of The Mouthcast (with the singer-songwriter speaking on the telephone from his home in Maine, New England), McLean reflects on the fascinating commercial – and cultural – successes of both AMERICAN PIE and VINCENT… The mastertapes for LIVE IN MANCHESTER were thought ‘lost’ for several years so he also explains how the vintage recording has been brought up to current technological spec. Pre-order the LIVE IN MANCHESTER package here.