Don McLean Albums (23)
'Live Greatest Hits/For the Memories'
Release Date 10/6/2008
Tracks 41
Label Edsel
See Album Tracklist and Review
'You've Got to Share: Songs for Children'
Release Date 7/27/2004
Tracks 17
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Don McLean first expressed his interest in cowboys when he put his composition "Bronco Bill's Lament," about a disgruntled Hollywood cowboy, on his self-titled third album in 1972. Six years later, at the wrap party for his Chain Lightning LP, he joined with a studio full of drunken musicians to cut a lively version of Roy Rogers' "My Saddle Pal and I" that sat unreleased for a quarter-century until he put together this album, the third release on his own Don McLean Records label (following Don McLean Sings Marty Robbins and the live disc Starry Starry Night). Unlike "Bronco Bill's Lament," The Western Album takes a largely positive view of cowboys, Hollywood and otherwise, but by no means a reverent one. McLean doesn't care whether the songs come from Hollywood songwriters like Frank Loesser and Johnny Mercer or from "public domain," and while he and his fellow musicians can handle traditional arrangements, they also take some liberties. The medley of "Tulsa Time" and "Deep in the Heart of Texas," for example, is done as a rock & roll performance. "I'm an Old Cowhand," Mercer's humorous song about a phony cowboy, comes off as an earnest family singalong. McLean includes his own composition, "Lyndon Has a Bear Hug on Dallas," a tribute to the Dallas beltway named after Lyndon Johnson, as well as Tom Lehrer's satiric ode to nuclear testing in the West, "The Wild West Is Where I Wanna Be." McLean turns serious, and strips the arrangement down to his own guitar, for "Sioux Indians," an account of a bloody encounter between cowboys and Indians. So, The Western Album is a carefully considered and quite varied collection of music associated with cowboys, not just a genre exercise. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Don McLean's third official live album, Starry Starry Night, isn't precisely the soundtrack to the video of his PBS special, from a November 2, 1999, performance at Austin, TX's Paramount Theater, so much as another permutation of the show. Nanci Griffith's contribution is present, but Garth Brooks's songs aren't (as he explains in the notes, there are two different video editions that don't overlap 100 percent with each other or this release). Backed by a quartet (including drummer), and with a synthesizer replacing the string arrangements used in the original broadcast, as a result of an unspecified technical problem, this performance doesn't sound like either of McLean's two earlier live albums. As this was a Texas concert, it made doubly good sense to open with Buddy Holly's "Every Day" (and include Holly's "Raining in My Heart"), and he also provides a pair of songs from his then recent Marty Robbins album, plus Roy Orbison's "Crying." The rest is all McLean's material, and it's interesting to realize, beyond "American Pie," "Vincent," and "And I Love You So," just how many of his songs have penetrated the consciousness, more subtly but just as surely as those others -- "Castles in the Air," "Winterwood," and "If We Try" have all achieved some familiarity. Some of the material, such as "Tulsa Time/Deep in the Heart of Texas," works better with the full band than, say, "Castles in the Air," which didn't need the drummer, however restrained the latter tries to be. McLean seems a little less relaxed overall as a performer than he was on his other live releases, and Griffith's harmonies are welcome on "And I Love You So," which is delightfully extended, and on "Raining in My Heart." Other songs come to life in fresh and unique ways here, such as "Jerusalem," for which the band moves to the fore, playing full out and, coupled with McLean's robust singing, creating a truly majestic sound. As for "American Pie," it's done with fairly heavy synthesizer accompaniment, and between the latter and the two guitars and bass, this can safely be called the "big band" version (perhaps almost the "folk-rock" version?) of the song. The best moment in the performance comes immediately after that song, when McLean sings "Superman's Ghost," which refers to the actor George Reeves and the dangers of typecasting and career dead-ends -- his performance here is so good that even if the rest of the show weren't any good (and it is very good) the double-disc set would be worth owning just for this track. And the best is saved for last with a particularly poignant rendition of "Vincent." ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The strands of Don McLean's career trace back to "American Pie" not only because it was his first and biggest hit and demonstrated his songwriting ability, but also because it expressed his musical taste. Right off the bat, McLean declared that, for him, "the music died" in 1959 when Buddy Holly's plane went down. McLean spent the rest of his career demonstrating his affection for the pop music that was made before that date, or at any rate, in the same styles and mostly before the British Invasion of the mid-'60s, mixing in his original material with reverent revivals of hit songs from the era. In that context, his tribute to Marty Robbins, issued on his own Don McLean Records label, is of a piece with his demonstrated tastes. It's no surprise that McLean loves Robbins' music, which crossed over from country to pop, particularly in the second half of the '50s and the early '60s, or that he performs it so well here. What may surprise listeners at least a little is the song list. In his liner notes, McLean makes clear that he wanted to delve deeper than just the best-known Robbins songs, and he does. But that means that he ignores some of those Robbins signature tunes (a notable omission being "A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation)"), and that he sings some songs not generally associated with Robbins, but very much associated with other performers. For example, while Robbins may have recorded "Kaw-Liga," it is really known as a Hank Williams’ song; Williams wrote it and topped the country charts with it. And the overwrought "You Gave Me a Mountain" was a hit for Frankie Laine, not Robbins, with Elvis Presley also turning in a memorable rendition. By singing these songs, McLean doesn't really claim them for Robbins, he just introduces them into his own repertoire. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that, and it may even suggest that he should take on tributes to Williams or Laine next. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
McLean's second collection of seasonal favorites is as heartfelt as its predecessor -- a simple and reflective recording, Christmas Dreams is highlighted by renditions of "The Christmas Song," "Blue Christmas" and "Silent Night." ~ Marvin Jolly, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This budget-priced ten-song compilation, one of many in the Don McLean discography, includes the six chart singles McLean scored between late 1971 and early 1981, notably the mega-hit "American Pie," the broadly popular "Vincent," and the hit cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying." Filling out the collection are four tracks from the Tapestry and American Pie LPs, among them McLean's version of his song "And I Love You So," which was not a hit for McLean himself, but was covered by many artists, among them Perry Como, for whom it was a hit. To be comprehensive, the album would have to have included such key tracks as "Castles in the Air" and "Since I Don't Have You," but they are missing. Still, the album does contain the major hits from McLean's popular heyday. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Don McLean released several albums between 1981 and 1991, but all of them could be considered side projects, including a live record (Dominion), a compilation containing some new tracks (Greatest Hits Then & Now), a couple of collections of covers (For the Memories and For the Memories, Vols. 1 & 2), a country LP (Love Tracks), and a holiday release (Christmas). What he did not do for ten years was make an album like the ones he was known for, consisting entirely or mostly of his own original material. Headroom, with ten new McLean compositions, was his first such recording since 1981's Believers. On it, this 45-year-old '60s liberal looked at America a decade into the Reagan/Bush years and did not like what he saw. His criticism began with the lead-off title song, which featured topical lyrics touching on such contemporary matters as the Savings & Loan scandal, set to a rock & roll arrangement. The second song, "Fashion Victim," had a synthesized dance/pop sound, all the better to support a lyric attacking media trends in the social and political realms. "How did the land of Jefferson, how did the land of King/Become the land of hamburgers and raisins that can sing?," McLean asked. "Roosevelt was crippled, Lincoln was a geek/They'd never get elected, their clothes were never chic." The musical track might have sounded like something on MTV, but it wasn't likely to turn up there, and that was the idea. Next came the ballad "1967," in which a man recalled his friend who went to Vietnam with him and never came back. After this trio of socially conscious and bitter songs, the album turned somewhat more philosophical and occasionally romantic, including the love songs "One in a Row" and "Siamese Twins (Joined at the Heart)," but Headroom remained, on the whole, a collection of bitingly critical songs on which McLean, with his usual eloquence, set out his indictment of the state of things, circa 1991. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
