Sorry for the long post. I delivered papers the same years that Don did. You picked them up at the local paper distributor in your area. You then got on your bike and had to have them delivered by the time that the dads got home from work. If you missed a house your parents got a phone call and you ran out to the house that you missed. Paper boys lost their jobs when dads had to have a paper before they got to work. That’s when guys with cars got the job and would deliver them early in the morning before dads left for work. Then the only routes that were available for kids was magazine routes for Life and the TV guide. I grew up on Long Island. I was also very privileged to have worked with Don as his sound engineer for a number of years and worked at Carnegie Hall for his annual Thanksgivings Eve concert with Elvis’s backup singers known as the Jordanaires or the Kings Men.
I delivered Newsday and the Long Island Press when I was a boy. Funny thing is I got a degree in Journalism with the GI Bill but wound up in production and that led to doing the earliest version of desktop publishing with a Mac SE.
I met Don McLean back stage at the Assembly Rooms in Derby, England in the late ‘70s. We had an interesting chat. He told me that Pete Seeger taught him how to play the banjo. I wish I could remember more of our conversation, but it’s faded away over the years. American Pie was one of the songs that defined my teenage years, along with The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot, Jim Croche’s Time In A Bottle, and Pete Seeger’s Where Have All The Flowers Gone? Thank you for sharing your research on this very poignant and iconic song, and the inspiration behind it. Peace 🏴
I, too, remember meeting Don McLean backstage, for me it was at Festival Hall Brisbane, Australia, circa 1970. I have an original Tapestry LP, which is much treasured. Cheers
I delivered papers as a substitute for a friend when his family was out of town. Rolling the newspapers and putting a rubber bands around each one, loading the three baskets one large on the handle bars and two on the rear of the bike with a ton of papers, a then delivering the entire route in all kinds of weather was a big responsibility. You also had to go out and collect from each subscriber for the home delivery about every two weeks. For a young person this was taking up a lot of their time and as physically taxing. So, D. McLean being asthmatic and running a newspaper route has my sincere respect, empathically.
I remember an article from decades ago, sorry I don't recall the publication or even the year, about a survey with people who had achieved great success in business. The most frequent response to the question of what they attributed their great business sense to, was that as children they'd had newspaper routes. Specifically, it was the requirement to collect payment from each of the homes on their routes, so no joy for those children who deliver newspapers that are funded entirely by advertising. Not their university educations, not mentors early in their careers; they attributed the single most important factor in their business success to having a paper route as a child.
@@thomascordery7951 You just got me thinking. I have had a good career and life, retired as a program manager from Verizon after 31 years, to top off forty years in telecommunications. But my brother, 14 months younger than me retired early with a force strength reduction from the USAF as a Major, then had a career in education as a teacher, a principal at the high school level and remote campus director for a state university. It never occurred to me that his early start as a paper boy contributed to his success.
In 1972 I was 9, and American Pie was all over the radio. I had to have a copy. The very first record album I bought in my life was American Pie. The big surprise was that all of the OTHER songs on the album were so awesome! I knew I had to become a guitar player. I'm not incredibly good, but I sing and play! Don McLean inspired me to be a guitar player. I finally heard him live about a decade ago.
@@BigBlue1895 Snopes says: "The airplane, chartered through Dwyer's Flying Service in Clear Lake, Iowa, had no name. Its only designation was its wing registration number, N3794N. How the rumor that its name was American Pie (thus providing Don McLean the title for his song) started circulating is unknown, but it is undeniably false. As Don McLean himself said in 1999: "The growing urban legend that 'American Pie' was the name of Buddy Holly’s plane the night it crashed, killing him, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, is equally untrue. I created the term.""
@@freesk8 great info. I got the story from an MTV video so hardly a reliable source ! That said, maybe this vid could have debunked it? Not that it took away any of my enjoyment. I thought it was a really interesting RU-vid.
This instantly brought back a memory of my surfer friend Craig Cuneo, working with me at KFC, and one night standing by the fryers, from our little desk top radio, American Pie was playing. He made a face and smiled, saying "When we were surfing in Central America, we couldn't get away from it. They played it over and over non-stop..." Released in October 1971
I remember the first time I heard American Pie the day it was released, I was going north on I 95 in Florida, and before the song was over I knew Don was talking about Buddy Holly. I was very fond of Buddy Holly, and he introduced me to rock 'n roll. Thank you for the rest of the story. Tom Peeks
I had a chance meeting with Don in Brighton. Honestly, I was speechless, I was such a huge fan. I shook his hand and put my head on his shoulder. A magical moment for a young lad in the 1970s.
I was most surprised by the explanation for the title of the song - Buddy Holly had a song - Hello Peggie Sue - many of the references in the song flip the meaning - e.g. the Big Booper’s song was about a Ford so the song is “drove my Chevy”. The title of the song is Bye Bye instead of Hello - Miss American Pie replaces Peggy Sue.
I’m an old f*rt, was in HS when Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper were killed in that crash. I was in my HS band; we were familiar with those guys’ music and were all devastated! For some reason, I wanted to play a vid of “American Pie” today; not only found that, but also the Roots podcast with this good-looking and informative young lady….. I’ll def subscribe! 😁
I was also in high school when those guys died in the plane crash. I was in a boarding school, and some of us migrated to the gym after lunch and played all of their records that we had.
This was a nice video. For most of my life I lived in Kamloops, British Columbia a small city located between Vancouver and Calgary. Kamloops has a fairly small, acoustically great theatre, and Don McLean played a wonderful concert there which I was fortunate enough to attend. It was terrific that a star like Don , still in the prime of his performing life, played in such a small theatre in a small Canadian city. American Pie was his biggest hit, but he wrote and sang other hits - the concert was many decades ago and I still recall how great a performance he gave.
I remember my uncle showing off his new album. We came over to visit him from the Yakima Valley in Washington and he lived in Federal Way Seattle. He was working for Boeing at the time. He had to show everyone his new album Bye Bye Miss America Pie and he had to put it on the record player and we had just barely came into his home. For a young man of 10 it was a very unique song. It is one of those memories you never forget. When I was 17 I helped my uncle Bud to build a log house in Monroe Washington and he was now working for the Duwamish fire district in the greater Seattle area. Sad that I lost my uncle to cancer. He was exposed to foam used to put out fires and he got liver cancer. Every time I hear this song I remember my uncle Bud.
OMG that was amazing. I'm only five years younger than Don. I also lost my Dad when I was a teenager. JFK, RFK, MLK all gone less than five years after JFK. Thank you for adding so much American History and Don's life story to the saga of this amazing song.
Garrison Keillor did his stand-up monologue, in one episode of A Prairie Home Companion, not about Tales from Lake Wobegone, but rather a personal account of he and a couple of friends skipp8ng school, driving down and standing around a cold cornfield outside of Clear Lake, the next day. He was in High School in Anoka, MN, and it was about a 2-1/2 hour drive.
i remember American Pie like it was last yesterday even tho it was my junior year of HS. always liked that song alot. thanks for the back story, it fills in some blanks
Thank You so much! Bringing back memories for me. ... I've known Frank Hellerman, for years, before I realized what a great musical influence he really was. He was a regular customer in my family's Pizzeria in Westport,CT. We would chat about music while he was there (which annoyed my uncle because I wasn't mopping...et.al. .. But Mr. Hellerman was always interested in listening to me talking about music. ... I miss those days. .. Bye, Bye...
Great job on American Pie …. Well done! ✔️ I am 65 yrs old and remember vividly Don McClean’s iconic song. I recently purchased the original LP. Outstanding !!
I was shocked to hear the details about Don McLean’s father’s death, especially how Adonis learned of his death. That story matches my experience. Dad complains of pain, I am told to go to bed, awakened after an hour being told he was going to the hospital, told to stay home and rest. Several hours later being awakened by my uncle and told he died. That is erie. Thanks for your excellent post.
Wow! This is really REALLY good! As a student of music, a student of music history, and a student of history in general, this video just strikes EVERY possible “chord” in the story that it possibly could. I am almost overwhelmed by the whole thing, and I know I shall have to listen to it many times to really take in the whole story. 👍😎👍
People who worked with him told me (it's just hearsay) that he was disgusted with the music industry and decided to walk away. I believe that for reasons similar to this, Cat Stevens, Mike Oldfield and others I don't know about. I was privileged to work a little bit with David and Eddie Brigati of the "Rascals" who told me a lot about the old commercial music industry and it's abusive treatment of the artists. Your reports are very informative and and. I think, well researched. I have to tell you that, at 76, and having lived this...It is pretty damed depressing. I no longer like most of these memories and the world I remember. I always knew we could do better
Don McLean treated me like a father, but technically I wasn't his dad, just the father of all music. We didn't actually fight, we just had a discussion, that I felt he should pursue education, and music. He became aware of time, because of our discussions, and music, that is all timed. Don McLean is one of my better friends. Because he keeps music alive when I can't.
Thank you for filling in more details. I was born in Hawaii, but attended college in Iowa in 1970s. I always knew about the crate plane crash. It inspired the song, which was outside Mason city. If you go a couple of hours east, you end up outside Dubuque, Where are the field of dreams movie was filmed. If you drive south, instead, you end up near the Bridges of Madison County. In the south east corner of the state, is the city of Ottumwa, Iowa, where radar O’Reilly, what is from in the movie MASH. I still go back to Iowa every two or three years to visit my adoptive mom and family. If you’re ever out there, it’s an amazing place.
Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper, J.P.Richardson were considered to be the heart of rock and roll, and the fact that Buddy was white, Richie was Mexican, and the Big Bopper was black gave the youth the thoughts of Bob Dylan’s song ‘The times are Changing’, and President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Bobby Kennedy were trying to change the race relations in America. Plus there were three Civil rights workers killed in South by racist. Many wanted to go to California to the center of change in America.
I grew up in the 60’s. Buddy was one of the first artists to begin the Rock-n-Roll era in the 50’s. Certainly, Buddy was among the best known recording artists that kids were listening to at that time. It was a new sound to their ears as prior to that mostly big band music (our parent’s music) dominated radio. Kids felt this new sound was “their’ music” though. However, America was changing. In the mid-1960’s with the onset Vietnam War, music had lost its innocence. Lyrics were no longer about coming of age and first loves that Buddy sang about, but groups began to sing about social consciousness and awareness of what our gov’t was doing. An example is For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield with the line “Something’s Happening Here”. Music and life had lost its innocence. As the decade rolled by and the Vietnam War continued, those kids grew into young adults and were faced with college, the draft, jobs, marriage, responsibility. Life had changed for them and they longed for simpler times as it was for them in the early 1960’s. In reflection, they needed a generic reference point that everyone would understand. One that would signify when things began to change. So they began to refer to Buddy Holly’s death in an Iowa cornfield as a sentinel moment in history, as “The Day The Music Died.” Simply stated, their youthful innocence had died at around the same time. Don McLean tied of all those feelings together in his song. Nothing is more American than Apple Pie. Don played off that “pie” theme as a way to illustrate how America had lost its innocence and had changed forever, just as we had along with her.
This was an incredible video, I thought you were going to go through the song a bit more in detail, so I woud enjoy a video about that if that is possible. That said, your voice is so easy to listen to and you look great and seem to genuinely care about the story. So, I have subscribed and look forward to diving into another video. Quick note, I grew up in rural SE Kansas and joined a rock band as their drummer when I was 12. I was able to buy the nearly $1,000 drum kit with my own money from an after school job at the local hardware store. I set up the drums for the first practice, and played like I had been playing and it made me wonder about the possibility of past lives and playing with 3 bands from 1964-1971 totally made my childhood. Thanks again for the video!
I love that story! So glad you enjoyed this episode and I hope you can find some others you like as well! I had some trouble with the audio on a few but it seems resolved in the more recent episodes!
@@ROOTSMUSICHISTORY You did a great job on this story of the song! The images and your writing make this flow really well. I got to mix sound for Don years ago. He was very professional, easy to work with and did a great concert with no fuss.
You are really a sweetheart to care so much about something that some of us lived. I remember the shock of this news in the LA papers and felt pretty bad. We loved rock and roll and the people who recorded it. Your analysis is interesting but the "Miss American" part is absent in your explanation.
I saw an interview with Don McLean a while back. He talked about his father’s death as it relates to the “Day The Music Died.” He talked about his sister’s problems with drugs and alcohol and said, “she ruined my life.” Ps. Check out Seeger’s harmonies on “Homeless Brothers…”
As a musician and music lover I really enjoy the history's of musicians. So fascinating 👏 and moving. Human beings are so incredible and creative. P.S. I was a paperboy too! I loved it. My first job.
Nice work. I was a paper boy in my youth, mid fifties - the sixtie,s also. True to what you say early in the morning there was a delivery of papers. I would cut the string and then fold them to fit in my bags and the put a rubber band on the paper. We were given extra papers every morning and one of them was for our house. SOMETIMES I would read it especially if there was a front line story that grabbed my attention.
I'm pretty happy with this ladies view of Don McLean's American Pie. She only covers the likely possibilities and doesn't get into wild theories of the entire song lyrics. I read an interview of Don McLean and in it he said he wrote it fairly quickly. And I remember him saying that many people have tried to dissect too far into it and his lyrics are about a few of those things maybe but it's more simple
The name of the newsman who interviewed Don was Dan Rather. Not "Rathers." She also said Buddy wanted to get to the Missouri location early so he could do his laundry. False. After their final gig at Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, the troupe had been scheduled to play the armory in Moorhead, Minnesota, which is why they chartered the Dwyer plane to fly to the adjacent Fargo (ND) airport.
🇺🇸🇺🇸 I was still a teenager and doing my duty in South East Asia when American Pie was a hit on the Radio. I like Rye Whiskey too., You are beautiful and a great story teller too. Really great ...
Thank you for an awesome eye opener on this, I remember the crash and all that, though I was never that into music this is something that stuck with me for many years and possibly influenced my youth. May I offer a subject for future videos? Jerry Garcia, how did he get where he was and what happened to him and then what happened to the Grateful Dead after that, I think many many people would be interested in this.
When I was a teenager I discovered the music of Don McLean. For a year I would only listen to the radio and Don's third album. . This drove my older brother, that I shared a room with, nuts. He played trumpet in the high school band and taught himself guitar and one day he told me; "If you like Don McLean so much why don't you learn to play guitar like him."
Really interesting about his breath work controlling his asthma. I had something in reverse happen. I’ve been a professional singer for most of my life, good breath control is super important to me as a singer. When lockdown happened in the UK in 2020 I immediately lost all my gigs for the foreseeable future. A strange thing happened to me. Very quickly I started having respiratory issues, contacting the doctor I discovered I suffer from COPD Chronic Obstructive, Pulmonary Disease and had it for a long time. I’d never noticed it before but the doctor suggested it was due to me singing regularly and using good breath control this exercising the lungs and the muscles around them. I started rehearsing in my car, isolated from everyone in a car park. The COPD came quickly back under control. Now I’m back singing regularly again my condition is fully under control. It just goes to show what singing, and singing correctly can do for you. Thanks for this video.
I was two years old when Holly died. When American Pie came out, I thought it was just a silly lyric with a catchy tune. It was probably several years later when someone told me about the connection. Fast forward a few more years and my own brother dies and it hits me hard. Then some 30 years after THAT, I see Don’s performance linked below and I understand just how serious he was about those mysterious words. I still don’t know what all the words mean but it’s obvious that McClean isn’t just goofing around. See especially the part starting at about 6 minutes and 40 seconds: m.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RciM7P9K3FA.html&pp=ygUYZG9uIG1jbGVhbiBhbWVyaWNhbiBwaWUg
I was in my late teens when American Pie came out. It contains so many references to music and history. I remember being in 1st or second grade when we were called to the gym and told were going to be sent home because the president had been shot. I'm younger than Don McLean but he really hit home with American Pie!
McLean definitely wrote the tune about the Buddy Holly et al plane crash. I think a lot of other people did, too. I knew this even as a child. Interesting unwind re his paper route, asthma, his father's death, Kennedy's death, Pete Seeger & Jim Croce... Really interesting.
I also knew that McLean's song was about Buddy Holly. I wonder some about her research. The one thing I know for sure about Buddy Holly is that he was flying not to Missouri, but for a show in Moorhead Minnesota, my home town. I remember the advertising for the show and the news reports of the crash.
So that wood made a bass for Stu Cook, the bassist in Creedence Clearwater Revival. Interesting. They would be a great band to look into. Born On the Bayou was my first record at 13 in 1970. For years I assumed they were somewhere in the south by their material. Then it turns out they lived in El Cerrito! Right next to Berkeley/Oakland where I grew up. I was so surprised. Amazing 👏 Nice work, thank you. 🎶 🕉
Excellent video. I have wondered about the story behind this song for years. I am also a huge fan of Don McLean and Jim Croce and some of the other people mentioned. Thank you for your well-researched and entertaining video.
Thank you for your research and good presentation. The lyrics of American Pie make many interpretations possible, and I think this was his intention. I knew before he was thinking about Buddy Holly, but I didn't know all the other stories.
@ROOTSMUSICHISTORY keep doing what you're doing! great content presented in excellent fashion (and it's very obvious you go the extra mile quite often on the research side)
There are other things within the lyrics that I picked up in the lyrics from my perspective. I met a girl who sang the blues I thought he was talking about Janis Joplin; Helter Skelter was a Beatles Reference; Eight Miles High was a song by The Byrds (flew off in a fallout shelter); a coat he borrowed from James Dean was a reference to Rebel Without A Cause; and I'm sure there are things that I'm missing, but I want to say that I really enjoyed your documentary. There were certainly things that I didn't know like he was friends with Jim Croce. On a side note, the lyrics to the song Killing Me Softly was written by Lori Lieberman, who heard Don McClean singing one night and she felt so moved by it. Norman Gimbel also co-wrote the lyrics, to the best of my knowledge. Thank you.
Oops, I just posted a comment on one of your other videos. I meant it to be THIS video. My comment is that I love the way you told the story. I was completely mesmerize!
What a stunning and informative analysis of a timeless song. Thank you. This masterpiece dominated the airwaves in my youth. It was incredibly popular here in the UK.
This is an excellent and informative documentary video. I would actually watch a video by you investigating this crash cause the fact is that this video and story in general are very interesting. I only have one question to ask what is the name of the song at the end credits of this video? It sounds like a very good song.
Thank you!! I do have a whole video about the details of the Buddy Holly plane crash if you search those key words with my channel name or go to the channel vids! The song at the end is called Taste of Home 💕💕
I've been to the Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, Texas (where no photos of the artifacts were allowed!) and to the crash site in Clear Lake, Iowa. I love what you are doing with the music history - You have a new fan!
You are so cutely beautiful! You also have a brain! Of course I subscribed! Love your passionate delivery. I remember singing that song while doing my dairy farm chores. The music got in my head and stayed there. It was quite a few years later that it was explained who the song was about. I was a young lad in Iowa when the plane crashed but not aware of it being only 6. An article in the Fargo Forum in the 80’s or 90’s told the story of how they were on their way to play at Moorhead,MN. So your story is so helpful to fill in more of the blanks. Thank you. I’ll be watching more of your interesting videos!♥️
In February 59 as a 11 year old kid I listened to the radio station in Panama Canal that my older brother had on & Big Bobber's Chantilly Lace , was almost nonstop for a week!
Thanks so much for this article. I was in basic training for the Army when I first heard "American Pie". I loved it from the start. Always wondered what the song was about. It was a crazy time in this country's history. Finally, I know the story behind the music.
Pete Seeger lived in Croton-on-the-Hudson, just 20 miles north of New Rochelle. He lived on Mt. Airy Road. Pete was a really nice guy. He was best friends with Woody Guthrie, and that's where I met Arlo Guthrie.
Cool story. I'm buying it. I totally remember listening to this 45 over and over and wondering each time wth the meanings really were. ❤ btw, love your earrings. 😁
Thanks so much for the Backstory about Don McLean. It was very well done. You covered a lot of ground of the history when I was a boy. Kennedy's death happened when I was 13 and the day my tonsils were removed. The only thing on TV in the hospital was JFKs death.
My cousin played wit Ricky Skaggs and then joined Reba MacEntyre's band. Not long after, the plane the band was on crashed, and my cousin Chris Austin joined the 27 club~
1st song I ever saw that took both sides of the 45rpm record. Faded out, flipped it over-and faded back in. Kinda like a song that crossed tracks on an 8-track
This is my first experience with one of your vids, am impressed... I am very surprised that people in Iowa did not accociate American Pie with famous plane crash. I was 19 when AP became a hit, I did not pick up on the different associations for months but I did realize early on the link between "the day the music died" and the crash. 50+ years I still enjoy hearing it again and again...
I remember reading a newspaper in England at breakfast about the plane crash when I was 13. The tour bus lacked heat and people got frosbite. Dion was there and has a video about it, well worth watching. Buddy got many English people started on guitar, and his songs were mostly pretty easy to play. Don Maclean is a lot more skilled and his guitar work on many of his songs is much more complex.
