5 cool facts about Don McLean's American Pie song

Don McLean's American Pie (Image via Instagram/@thedonmclean)

Paramount's upcoming project, The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean's American Pie, is all set to delight music fans worldwide. The documentary prepares to bring forth the intriguing and much-anticipated story behind the iconic American Pie, whose lyrics have been a source of mystery for years. Mark Moormann will decipher this mystery with the help of Garth Brooks, Brian Wilson, Peter Gallagher, and Don McLean.

Music enthusiasts will already know that the song was initially inspired by the tragic plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. Richardson, hence the use of "the day that music died" in the title. But there is a lot more to know about the song that continues to resonate with listeners even after 50+ years of its inception.

Read on for five cool facts about the iconic American Pie.

---

Influence and unsung heroes: Five interesting facts about Don McLean's American Pie

1) American Pie was the longest song to top the US Billboard Hot 100 until Taylor Swift's All Too Well (Taylor's Version) released

The fabled Billboard chart is considered the prime destination for any song. Most chart-toppers are short, quirky numbers. However, Don McLean's American Pie is a whopping 8 minutes and 36 seconds long. When it was released in the 70s, it became the longest song to top the list in history.

Recently, Taylor Swift's 10-minute long All Too Well (Taylor's Version) took away the title of the longest song to feature at the top.

---

2) The song's release led to a massive spike of interest in Buddy Holly

As ironic as it may be, American Pie was a huge career boost for Don McLean and Buddy Holly. Sadly, the musician was not alive when this happened. According to reports, Holly's widow, Maria Elena, confirmed that Buddy Holly got a lot of publicity after the release of American Pie.

---

3) There were some legendary uncredited singers in the final chorus

The final background chorus boasted some great singers from the time, including Pete Seeger, James Taylor, Carly Simon, and Livingston Taylor. In the official credits, this all-star lineup was referred to as the "West Forty-Fourth Street Rhythm and Noise Choir." Though this information was never released publicly, later, producer Ed Freeman made this claim.

---

4) McLean was disappointed about the Buddy Holly hype in the song

Though the prolific singer meant to give a tribute to Buddy Holly, he was disappointed by the fact that the Buddy Holly reference became the prime source of interest. McLean felt that there was a lot more in the song that people missed out on. He explained his disappointment, saying:

"Because only the beginning is about Buddy Holly, and the rest of it goes on and talks about America and politics and the country, and trying to catch some kind of a special feeling that I had about my country,"

---

5) The first major cover of the song by Brady Bunch was a massive failure

A year after the release of Don McLean's American Pie, Brady Bunch decided to make a cover in 1972. The cover version failed in various departments, according to critics. Barry Williams wrote about this in his autobiography, saying:

"Worst of all, though, was our extraordinarily awful rendition of 'American Pie.’ Ouch!"

---

Don McLean's American Pie still continues to be extremely popular amongst fans.

The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean's American Pie will answer many such long-standing questions on July 19, 2022, on Paramount+.