To be honest, I went to the Don McLean concert at City Winery last night with low expectations. I knew the song “Vincent” from back in 1972 when I was twelve and collecting singles on vinyl. As s matter of fact, I remember trading my 45 of “Vincent” to a kid around the block named Vincent, for I do not know what, and he dropped and broke it while climbing a fence to head home.

Obviously the iconic song “American Pie” is the primary reason anyone first goes to a Don McLean concert but this show was surprisingly much more than that. With a first class band of Nashville session men in tow, McLean mixed in his hits like “Crying” with deep tracks like “Crossroads” from the American Pie album, country tunes, new tunes that heartened to pop songs of the 1950’s, up tempo rockers like “Tulsa Time”, and stories of his youth growing up in New Rochelle, New York. 

Mr. McLean, who turns seventy one this year, looked and sounded great. The legendary singer-songwriter has gone Bob Dylan on us by reinventing his style to a bygone era of standards and pop songs but, unlike Dylan, staying true to the original versions of his best known songs that many first time McLean show fans, like myself, appreciated hearing as we remembered them growing up.

Every once in awhile you rediscover a gifted artist who never really went away, as McLean has traveled the world several times over, but has been  somewhat forgotten in our memory banks.

Don McLean did also give the crowd what they originally came for with a rousing version of the all time classic “American Pie” which had the usually seated City Winery audience dancing and singing along in the aisles. This show was just an unexpected, for me, joyous event and I would highly recommend catching Don McLean when you can as I do not believe you will be disappointed.

And I Love You So

Rock on

GQ