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 Don McLean |
 Al Stewart |
 Don McLean |
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Review and photos by Frances Sealy Don McLean is most remembered for his eponymous song, "American Pie." However, the singer/songwriter has crafted many compositions that are melodic, sentimental and worthy of revisiting.Singer/songwriter, Al Stewart, made his indelible mark on popular music in 1976 with his Year of the Cat album. Several songs from the album gained popular attention and featured themes taken from past history. "American Pie" is considered one of the best songs ever written. Many may argue this point, but very few songs have elicited as many discussions as to what the song means. Maybe Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" comes to mind as another mystery. McLean told Rolling Stone, "I wrote the 'long long time ago' opening verse first because I was a big lover of Buddy Holly. I came up with the chorus a little later. A few months after that, I was in Philadelphia and I wrote the whole song in about an hour." Once you are beyond the first verse, the mystery and arguments begin. During the show, McLean quipped, "When people ask me what "American Pie" means, I say it means I don't have to work anymore. Having a hit song is like having an oil well." McLean recently auctioned the handwritten lyrics to the song for a hefty 1.2 million dollars. He lost four Grammy Awards to Neilson's "I Can't Live if Living Is Without You." Funny, people don't seem to remember that song anymore. McLean led the fans in a ten-minute sing along of "American Pie." Since it has been established that McLean does not have to work anymore, McLean must work because he enjoys performing. McLean's voice maintains perfect pitch and vocal clarity. A great example of this during the show was his performance of Roy Orbison's classic song, "Crying." McLean's reverence for the classic rockers was apparent when he introduced the song. In reference to Elvis and Orbison, McLean said, "Never lower your standards or your hair. I always hated it when the Beatles became popular and everyone lowered their hair." "Someone asked me if I was tired of singing "American Pie" or "Vincent. I can't imagine someone paying the high ticket prices and me disappoint them by not performing my most popular songs." McLean did perform his best known songs along with some cover songs and his newest compositions. McLean still has many stories to tell. McLean announced, "There is a very popular rapper who is extremely successful out there by the name of Drake. I'm sure you know who he is. If you don't, you are my kind of people. He put out a song called 'Do It Wrong" about three or four years ago. He did a video with Stevie Wonder. Turns out that he used two songs of mine for the lyrics of the song from my album, Prime Time. It was actually one of my better achievements, but it didn't sell. The idea was wonderful about America as a game show. Which here we are. He used the songs, "The Wrong Thing to Do" and "When a Good Thing Goes Bad." After our lawyers finished talking, I own 60% of a Drake song." It was very clear that McLean is not a fan of the newer brand of music. The two-hour set was filled with many candid stories about anything that came to McLean's mind. Al Stewart is an English folk-rock hero. Stewart may very well be in "a genre of one" when it comes to historical rock and roll. He has never abandoned his love for history in his music. His Year of the Cat album is iconic. Both Year of the Cat and Time Passages were platinum selling albums. Stewart has released 16 studio albums and three live albums. Year of the Cat was his seventh studio album and was produced by Alan Parsons. The album is considered Stewart's masterpiece. The one-hour set was well paced with Stewart's best-known songs including "On the Border," "Lord Grenville," "Flying Sorcery," "Sand in Your Shoes," and of course, "Year of the Cat." Stewart gave a narrative on the origins of each song. Stewart's voice is still strong, distinct, crisp and melodic. Dave Nachmanoff was the only accompaniment with Stewart and he was a very pleasant surprise. Nachmanoff has performed with Stewart for several years and he brought exceptional talent and swagger to the acoustic set. He is able to complete a two-person acoustic set with a sound that nears a much larger band. The set truly showcased Nachmanoff's guitar wizardry. Stewart did not pretend to be a great "finger picking" guitarist. He revealed that Robert Fripp (of King Crimson) gave him lessons on jazz chords when both were teenagers. Fripp later confessed that Stewart was the only one of his students to make it, doing so by ignoring everything Fripp had taught him. Both McLean and Stewart are seasoned and engaging as entertainers get. Catch this tour if it comes to your area. |
| McLean's set list: | |
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1. Singing the Blues
(Marty Robbins cover) 2. Everyday (Buddy Holly cover) 3. Jerusalem 4. And I Love You So 5. Crossroads 6. Hide nor Hair (Ray Charles cover) 7. Winterwood 8. It's Just the Sun 9. Botanical Gardens 10. The Lucky Guy |
11. Crying
(Roy Orbison cover) 12. Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash cover) 13. Empty Chairs 14. Sea Man 15. Castles in the Air 16. I Never Could Say No to You 17. Vincent 18. It's a Beautiful Life 19. American Pie |
 Don McLean |
 Don McLean |
 Al Stewart |
 Al Stewart |
 Al Stewart |
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