American Pie has become a part of the fabric of America. Don McLean joins me this week to talk about the 50th anniversary of the album/song and to give his wider feelings on a awful lot of things. He talks about working on new material, being watched by the FBI, those early days of his career in the 60's with Pete Seeger and his family lineage which winds back here to a small Scottish island!

American Pie was named as one of the five greatest songs of the twentieth century by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003 with Don himself being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004. His songs have been covered by such a wide and diverse array of artists from Elvis Presley to Madonna, Perry Como to current superstar Drake – while Tupac cited his love for Vincent.

His song Tapestry was the inspiration behind the launch of the environmental group Greenpeace and the royals Harry and Meghan Markle used his song And I Love You So as the theme for their wedding too!

He’s the first to admit in the interview that he’s not a people person, he’s a loner, he doesn’t like small talk – but he sure tells his stories to me.

Part of the Pantheon Podcast Network.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices