American music legend Don McLean talks about his UK tour which comes to Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall

Jun 21 2011 by Laurie Stocks-Moore, Chester Chronicle

“AMERICAN Pie was my lame attempt at making a Sgt Pepper.”

With one line, Don McLean dismisses one of the greatest songs of the 20th century as a cheap imitation.

As the 65-year-old legend prepares for a show at the Liverpool Philharmonic on June 23, the debt he owes to the Fab Four is obvious.

“I followed The Beatles right from the beginning,” he says.

“The Beatles came to America just as I quit college in 1964. I remember

seeing them on the Ed Sullivan Show.

“I love those umbrellas on the front [on US-only release Beatles ‘65].

“I love the movies, it was magic. I saw A Hard Day’s Night at the theatre.

“As they moved more towards Sgt Pepper, breaking down barriers and becoming musical they became way more than just an average band.

“That influenced me. American Pie was my lame attempt at making a Sgt Pepper.”

He wrote his signature tune in 1969 – two years after John, Paul, George

and Ringo released their seminal work.

But McLean says he was never satisfied with the work of producers on his own early output and envied The Beatles relationship with theirs.

“I never had a George Martin,” he adds.

“I was working with people who didn’t understand my music.”

McLean doesn’t wallow in his misfortune for long. Instead he gets back to gushing about the mop tops.

“The Beatles were a great gift to the world,” he enthuses.

“I don’t think we’re going to have a great deal of songwiters in the future.

“The Beatles had a special magic together. Without denigrating Paul

McCartney, his post-Beatles career is nothing compared to what was created then.

“It’s a wonderful gift and it’s the gift of music that lasts forever.”

In 42 years in music, McLean has stopped at Liverpool on countless UK tours and in recent years, the Phil has been his chosen venue.

McLean, who has paid pilgrimige to the city’s Beatles sites, puts their

natural gift for songcraft down to the city of their birth.

“The Liverpudlians are very musical. There’s a feeling in the air even now, something whimsical.

“It’s a terrific place and the people are fantastic.

“If it’s a good night, they really appreciate what you do and they

appreciate the singing and the playing and the songs.”

“The folks that come out to see me are pretty enthusiastic across the

board!”

When I put it to him that Bob Dylan reputedly once castigated The Beatles most celebrated album for being over-produced, Don is vocal in the group’s defence.

“I like production. I think Bob’s records sound a little bit similar, when you get to that bluesy thing.

“A Phil Spector Dylan record would be great. But he’s never getting out of prison, thank God!”

Don says he is constantly surprised by his own success – especially in

light of the poor backing he received when he started making music.

He says: “I didn’t have anybody to support me. I had no PR, I was very,

very low key.

“It’s all because people decided they wanted me to be where I was.

“Most of the time the people that I worked with never understood what I was doing.

“I never was in a style that made it easy. Once I started, the record

company wanted American Pie 2, 3 and 4. I got the reputation of being

difficult but I’m not – I just have to do what I have to do.

“I only do what I can do because everything else is going to be ****.

“Lennon and McCartney had the same struggles with eachother, people saying we should do this, that and the other.”

Asked if he knew American Pie would be a hit, let along set him up for life with royalties still rolling in, he is remarkable honest.

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” he confesses.

“I’m lucky to be where I am.

“I was a receptor of some sort for ideas that I had.”

At 65, McLean easily qualifies for a bus pass. But does he have any plans to stop the arduous touring schedule?

“I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t play. I wouldn’t exist anymore.

“At some point I’m going to have to pack it in. I think I’m going to last

till I’m 70, then we’ll see what happens.

“I have tremendous enjoyment out of it. I’m at a place where I know what

I’m doing now.”

Memorable moments in his career are still being created – his gig at the

Phil comes just three days before a main stage appearance at Glastonbury.

But he remains calm about the prospect of playing in front of 120,000 people.

“Glastonbury is just another show to me,” he claims.

“I never think about this stuff. It’s another audience. I do my best

whether it’s 50 people or 50,000.

“When I was a boy I saw late at night a great cabaret singer, Mabel Mercer.

“I was the only person there and she sang the entire show as if it was

Carnegie Hall. I always kept her standard in mind.

“It’s not the audience’s fault that you choose to play a place you don’t

like, so you have to care.”

“One of the things that happens – it happended with the Beach Boys and The Beatles, it didn’t with the Stones or Bob Dylan – is the studio became a place where they made such complicated records that there wasn’t room for the road band they started out being. Something had to give.

“In the case of The Beatles it was their unity. In the case of the Beach

Boys it was Brian Wilson’s sanity, but this is rare in the history of

music.

“Dylan writes the songs he always wrote and the Stones still do bluesy

stuff. They’re able to keep their road act and get those songs out there as the old road act they always have been.”

In 42 years, Don has achieved a lot in the business, but what is his

proudest moment?

Is it the penning of Roberta Flack’s ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’,

about a performance he gave?

Or being asked to perform for Bill Clinton?

His number one hit Vincent being played daily at the Van Gogh museum?

Or maybe even American Pie being named number five song on the RIAA project Songs of the Century? Or seeing it covered by Madonna?

He says his greatest achievement in life is his family.

“Getting married and having my two kids is the best thing that happened in my life.

“Raising my children has been the most interesting and dynamic experience, the other stuff just happened.”

Don McLean is playing at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Thursday, June 23 at 7.30pm.

Tickets £27.50, £33.50, £38.50. Telephone (Box Office): 0151 709 3789.