By Craig Horleman

A long, long time ago, Don McLean wrote a song that changed music history.

His song “American Pie” has been one of the most debated, cherished and performed tunes since its release 50 years ago.

The acclaimed singer-songwriter will celebrate that song’s golden anniversary and perform many of his other hits including “Vincent,” “Castles in the Air” and “And I Love You So” Saturday night at the Freeman Arts Pavilion in Selbyville.

After playing a gig tonight in Ocean City, New Jersey, it will be only his second live concert since before the pandemic hit in March of last year.

“I haven’t seen my band on stage in front of an audience in quite a while. I’m really happy and I really hope (the pandemic) doesn’t keep on going much longer because I did everything I needed to do. And I’d like to go back to singing again. But there’s always a new wrinkle in this sucker. You never know what’s going to happen,” Mr. McLean said this week by phone from his home in Rockland, Maine.

He’s getting back at it just in time. To mark the “American Pie” milestone, a documentary about the meaning of the song is in production, he recently released a new recording of the song with the a capella group Home Free and a Broadway musical about his life in the works.

“I just spent two or three hours with the guys who are shooting the documentary on the song ‘American Pie’ and we had a very fruitful time with that. So I’m pretty much finished with my part of that. That should be fun and interesting and exciting and so there’s that,” he said.

“And then there’s this world tour I’ve got set up. But what’s happened with this pandemic, in the old days, I should say before the pandemic, when somebody said they would do something, you can be sure that it was going to happen. Right now everything is sort of up in the air. It’s crazy.”

Mr. McLean has always refused to talk about the many meanings behind the words of “American Pie.” The documentary will take a lyrical peek behind the curtain.

“The filmmakers have gone to all sorts of places where certain parts of the song were written and it’s going to be very, very interesting. I think that people are going to really enjoy it,” he said.

Recorded and released on his “American Pie” album in 1971, the single was the number-one U.S. hit for four weeks in 1972 starting Jan. 15 after six weeks on the Billboard chart (where it entered at number 69).

At eight minutes and 42 seconds, it is the longest song to hit No. 1.

He has often joked that even if he was captured and tortured, he would never give up the secrets to the song that takes a trip not into music history but history in general, centered around the “day the music died” when Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper perished in a plane crash in 1959.

“There are no secrets involved. That’s the thing you’ll see when you see the movie. It’s all very transparent and I’ll explain it as I go along verse by verse,” he said.

“It does require a little explaining because a lot of it is personal stuff that had to do with me at the time, and also with the way the country was at the time, which was very inflamed, from the Vietnam War and civil rights riots and all sorts of stuff that happened in the 1960s that didn’t end until the 1970s. In 1970, 71, 72, 73 and when Nixon left office in 74, those were some of the raunchiest years in American history.”

He says the song has transcended generations.

“It has childlike aspects to it and children gravitate toward it. And that’s how it starts in a whole family setting. People will listen to it with their kids as they grow up, then forget about the song and have a lot of other things going on and then they hear the song again and think ‘Oh, I used to know that’ and get back into it again and so on,” he said.

“And then later on, they’re grown up and they’ll listen with their parents or their father or mother many times. I’ve had a young guy or girl come to me and say ‘You know, me and my dad used to listen to this together. He’s passed away and now this is something I have. I can hold onto him with this.’”

His audience took on an added dimension when Madonna recorded a truncated version of “American Pie” in 2000.

“Madonna’s version of ‘American Pie’ was a transformative moment. That was made when she was at the peak of her powers, although I guess she’s always at the peak of her powers. All of a sudden, (her fans) all discovered the song and her whole tour that she did was really sort of something that I would want to do with cowboy hats and guitars and it was a whole thing that she did and sold millions and millions of records as she always does,” Mr. McLean said.

“And it was the only time she’s ever sung a song that she didn’t have a hand in writing. She went way off the script on that one. So I was really honored because she’s as important as Elvis Presley or Frank Sinatra or anybody.”

Speaking of Elvis, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll recorded Mr. McLean’s “And I Love You So” in 1975. Mr. McLean also recorded two songs with Elvis’ backup group The Jordanaires — a remake of Roy Orbison’s “Crying” and a remake of his own song “Castles in the Air.”

Those were all huge moments in Mr. McLean’s career as Mr. Presley really inspired his own career.

“The first time I heard Elvis was in 1956. I was 11 years old. And I was a babe in the woods and I can imagine my parents raising me as a good Catholic boy and all of this and then all of a sudden we’re sitting around. It’s getting dark out and somebody has one of those big plastic, portable radios, which was a huge thing in those days,” he recalled.

“We’re sitting around and I hear ‘Heartbreak Hotel’. I was gone. Right there I said ‘This is the most amazing thing I ever heard.’ And so I was always looking for this guy’s records and this and that. And I saw photos of him with a guitar. And so I said to myself, ‘Well, if I could someday just learn to play that thing, maybe I could sing a tune and make a dollar. And that’s what I did.”

Mr. McLean is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a BBC Lifetime Achievement Award winner and “American Pie” has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.

So which of his accolades is he most proud? Well, none of those.

“There’s a 60-foot mural of me on the side of a building in New Rochelle, New York, along with Alicia Keys. The two of us are on this mural and it is enormous. And they did a series of them in New Rochelle. I remember growing up there and for probably about eight or 10 years, I was sort of a loser. Who does this guy think he is, singing around town and stuff? And then all of a sudden to have this happen and my thoughts were with my parents. If they only could have seen that,” he said.

It was a 2019 highlight in a long line of highlights for the 75-year-old troubadour as he looks back on his more than 50-year career.

“I suppose if I were in jail, it would seem that long. But time flies when you’re having fun and I’ve been having a lot of fun most of my life. I have had a terrific life,” he said.

“I’ve done exactly what I wanted to do. I was successful from the beginning. I’ve been given love and adoration and standing ovations and money and every kind of thing. And to say that life owes me anything would be ridiculous. I have been very blessed.”

Saturday’s 7 p.m. show will be opened by local singer/songwriter Bryan Russo.

Tickets, which are being sold in pods, can be obtained by visiting here.

Crabmeat mourned

The local music world was jolted last week with the loss of Jerry “Crabmeat” Thompson.

The Middletown musician, writer and teacher who penned Delaware’s unofficial state song “Small Wonder” died June 22 at Select Specialty/St. Francis Hospital, Wilmington, after a battle with lung issues.

Born in Philadelphia, he was a two-time Delaware Division of the Arts Artist Fellowship recipient and retired Middletown High School teacher.

According to his obituary, his music was played on Dr. Demento’s radio show and he performed all over North America and in Europe, Mexico, Spain and Costa Rica. His discography included “Animals, Vegetables, and Mineral Springs” which was recorded live at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington. One tune “One Ton Tomato” is a Georgia gardening radio show’s theme song.

He played many shows for the Delaware Friends of Folk in both concerts and their annual Delmarva Folk Festival, having performed just last year.

“There is no doubt that Crabmeat was one of a kind. He played for our Old State House series and multiple times at our coffee house and the Delmarva Folk Festival. And he did a typical ‘Crabmeat’ set for the video series we produced last summer sponsored by the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs,” said Friends of Folk President John Kidd.

“He could be funny, irreverent, ribald, and somber within the space of a song or two. He was an ardent supporter of environmental causes and enjoyed entertaining kids as much as he did grownups. His parodies are the stuff of legends — just give “One Ton Tomato” a listen. On stage or off, he always had a smile on his face and a glint in his eye that let you know you were somehow his friend. We will miss him.”

On July 11 at 1 p.m., a virtual service commemorating and celebrating Mr. Thompson’s life will be premiered on YouTube by St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Odessa at www.stpaulsodessa.org.

Acts added to folk festival

Festival organizers on Tuesday announced another six performers who will be featured at the 80th National Folk Festival. The festival returns to Salisbury, Maryland, Sept. 10-12, with performances, special family and Maryland folklife programming, diverse food and beverage offerings, and more — all presented free on outdoor stages in the heart of the city’s recently revitalized Downtown.

They include Héctor Del Curto’s Tango Quartet – Argentine tango; Panfilo’s Güera – Tejano conjunto fiddle; Spencer Taylor & the Highway QC’s – gospel; Springfield Exit – bluegrass and traditional country; The Irish American All-Stars – Irish.; and Zuni Olla Maidens – Zuni dance and song.

To learn more about these artists and their stories, visit here.

Now showing

New this weekend in theaters is the animated “Boss Baby: Back in Business” and the horror sequel “The Forever Purge.”