Best Of Don McLean, The - Don McLean

...this isn’t one of his best songs musically, but when you listen to the words your whole heart fills with warmth, and you can’t help but smile. You can even picture (if you’ve ever watched little babies) them “counting their toes”. Great for getting the little ones off to sleep.

3. Prime Time.
One of the more up-tempo, rock type songs on the album, but don’t let that put you off. Again, McLean captures the essence of live in ...
...edge.

The Best of Don McLean is an album to listen to whilst wrapped in the arms of a loved one in front of a roaring log fire, with a bottle of wine and a box of the finest chocolates.

It truly is the finest folk/rock album of this or any other time.
  ... more

Everyone has heard of ‘American Pie’, (the song, not the movie). Her Madgeness even did a cover version of it.

But not everybody will have heard of Don McLean, the genius behind the song. And even fewer people will have bothered to listen to any of his other songs.

Nowadays, we live in a world where beauty is everything, where the better looking you are, the more attention is lavished upon you. We live in a time where trends are fleeting, and music changes so rapidly that it’s practically impossible to keep up, and when you lag behind you are pilloried as a loser.

Don Mclean was not a ‘beautiful’ man. He was never going to make it onto the front covers of glossy magazines.
Don McLean did not produce music for the masses, his style was simple and unaffected by the changes in the music scene going on around him in the late 1970s.

Which is, perhaps, the reason that it has lasted.

How long ago was it that Oasis were the new Beatles? Is it really only a couple of years since Hearsay?

And yet Don McLean first released ‘American Pie’ in 1972.

Anyway, to this album. There are seventeen songs on the CD. Almost all of them could have been classics had they been on general release. But since there are so many, instead of reviewing them individually, I am going to pick out my top five.

1.Vincent.
Wow ! This song has the true makings of one of the most beautiful pieces of contemporary music ever written. A homage to the artist Van Gogh, it sums up the tragedy of his short life, and brings tears to my eyes every time I listen to it.

2. Wonderful Baby.
Okay, so maybe this isn’t one of his best songs musically, but when you listen to the words your whole heart fills with warmth, and you can’t help but smile. You can even picture (if you’ve ever watched little babies) them “counting their toes”. Great for getting the little ones off to sleep.

3. Prime Time.
One of the more up-tempo, rock type songs on the album, but don’t let that put you off. Again, McLean captures the essence of live in the U.S, this time with a hint of sarcasm(?) thrown in. Worth listening to if only to see how your life fits in.

4. And I Love You So.
Such an elegant, gentle love song that will have you dabbing at the tears. For those who have read my more personal reviews, you’ll understand when I say that listening to this keeps me going. Anyone who hasn’t read my previous stuff should try, just to find out how powerful this song is.

5. Castles In The Air.
This somewhat explains what I was saying earlier about non-conformance. The tune is soft and has a lullaby tone to it, but the words say much more.

I can hear you all, shocked, saying “What about American Pie?”.

That’s right. American Pie was a great song, but it wasn’t one of Don McLean’s better efforts. In fact, out of the seventeen songs on this extraordinary album, I would probably rank it about twelfth.

That’s how good it is.

Don McLean will not appeal to those people who want to run with the crowd for the sake of not being alone. Nor will it appeal to the Rockers, or Technoes who like to be in the nightclub every night getting smashed.

This album will, however, appeal to those people who like music for the beauty it portrays, those people who want to listen to the lyrics and dwell in the very essence of a song rather than skirt round the edge.

The Best of Don McLean is an album to listen to whilst wrapped in the arms of a loved one in front of a roaring log fire, with a bottle of wine and a box of the finest chocolates.

It truly is the finest folk/rock album of this or any other time.
 

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