1 00:00:01,869 --> 00:00:04,805 [ethereal music] 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 3 00:00:04,872 --> 00:00:09,277 - * MTV * 4 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 5 00:00:20,121 --> 00:00:24,325 [wind whooshing] 6 00:00:24,392 --> 00:00:27,061 - * A long, long time ago * 7 00:00:27,128 --> 00:00:29,130 - This could, quite possibly, be the greatest 8 00:00:29,197 --> 00:00:30,398 song in music history. 9 00:00:30,464 --> 00:00:32,400 - * I can still remember * 10 00:00:32,466 --> 00:00:35,169 * How that music used to make me smile * 11 00:00:35,236 --> 00:00:36,570 - There's something magical about it. 12 00:00:36,637 --> 00:00:37,971 It's transcendent. 13 00:00:38,038 --> 00:00:41,041 - * And I knew if I had my chance * 14 00:00:41,109 --> 00:00:44,612 - * That I could make those people dance * 15 00:00:44,678 --> 00:00:47,315 - * And maybe they'd be happy * 16 00:00:47,381 --> 00:00:49,016 - * For a while * 17 00:00:49,083 --> 00:00:51,519 - It feels like it's always existed. 18 00:00:51,585 --> 00:00:56,023 - * So bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 19 00:00:56,090 --> 00:00:59,026 - * Drove my Chevy to the levee * 20 00:00:59,093 --> 00:01:00,628 * But the levee was dry * 21 00:01:00,694 --> 00:01:04,932 - * Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye * 22 00:01:04,998 --> 00:01:07,401 - 90-year-old people to 10-year-old kids, 23 00:01:07,468 --> 00:01:08,836 everybody knows that song. 24 00:01:08,902 --> 00:01:13,073 - * This'll be the day that I die * 25 00:01:13,141 --> 00:01:16,144 - * Did you write the book of love? * 26 00:01:16,210 --> 00:01:17,478 - "American Pie" is an epic. 27 00:01:17,545 --> 00:01:19,647 It's "War and Peace." It's the big novel. 28 00:01:19,713 --> 00:01:21,949 - * If the Bible tells you so? * 29 00:01:22,015 --> 00:01:25,753 - It's woven into the fabric of America and our culture. 30 00:01:25,819 --> 00:01:28,389 - * Do you believe in rock 'n' roll? * 31 00:01:28,456 --> 00:01:29,590 I thought it was a cool idea. 32 00:01:29,657 --> 00:01:31,159 I could go deliver the paper, 33 00:01:31,225 --> 00:01:33,694 and one day there was this story, 34 00:01:33,761 --> 00:01:36,730 three rock 'n' roll stars killed in a plane crash. 35 00:01:36,797 --> 00:01:38,732 Buddy was now dead. 36 00:01:38,799 --> 00:01:41,535 * Well, I know that you're in love with him * 37 00:01:41,602 --> 00:01:43,604 - This is where the music died. 38 00:01:43,671 --> 00:01:44,772 - * Dancin' in the gym * 39 00:01:44,838 --> 00:01:47,708 The country was in an advanced 40 00:01:47,775 --> 00:01:50,978 state of psychic shock. 41 00:01:51,044 --> 00:01:54,448 And so, I said, "I got to have a big song about America." 42 00:01:56,184 --> 00:01:59,987 One day, it all came out like a genie out of a bottle. 43 00:02:00,053 --> 00:02:01,855 I knew I had the tiger by the tail. 44 00:02:01,922 --> 00:02:04,525 * The day the music * 45 00:02:04,592 --> 00:02:06,494 Everything took off like a rocket. 46 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,563 - It went to number one so fast. 47 00:02:09,630 --> 00:02:12,266 - * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 48 00:02:12,333 --> 00:02:14,435 - "American Pie" blew up the world. 49 00:02:14,502 --> 00:02:15,969 - * But the levee was dry * 50 00:02:16,036 --> 00:02:17,238 - I think I know the album cover 51 00:02:17,305 --> 00:02:18,539 as much as I know the song. 52 00:02:18,606 --> 00:02:19,973 I mean, Captain America thumb, it's iconic. 53 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,043 - * This'll be the day that I die * 54 00:02:23,110 --> 00:02:26,013 - "American Pie" was really encapsulating 55 00:02:26,079 --> 00:02:28,382 the experience of a whole generation. 56 00:02:28,449 --> 00:02:31,051 - * Now for ten years we've been on our own * 57 00:02:31,118 --> 00:02:33,721 - Everybody can relate to that song. 58 00:02:33,787 --> 00:02:37,090 "American Pie" drew you in deeply. 59 00:02:37,157 --> 00:02:38,592 - * But that's not how it used to be * 60 00:02:38,659 --> 00:02:41,462 I'm trying to do a kaleidoscopic, 61 00:02:41,529 --> 00:02:44,365 dream-like story about America. 62 00:02:44,432 --> 00:02:47,635 * The jester stole his thorny crown * 63 00:02:47,701 --> 00:02:51,472 I say "the jester stole his thorny crown." 64 00:02:51,539 --> 00:02:53,441 Elvis did not have a thorny crown. 65 00:02:55,175 --> 00:02:57,678 "A pink carnation," sure, I went to a lot of proms, 66 00:02:57,745 --> 00:02:59,513 but I never had a pickup truck. 67 00:02:59,580 --> 00:03:01,649 But I could have anything I wanted in my songs. 68 00:03:01,715 --> 00:03:04,652 * I saw Satan laughing with delight * 69 00:03:04,718 --> 00:03:06,620 - It's the kind of song you dream about writing 70 00:03:06,687 --> 00:03:09,089 that has meaning and has depth, 71 00:03:09,156 --> 00:03:11,792 has relevance to generations, you know, ongoing. 72 00:03:11,859 --> 00:03:15,363 all: * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 73 00:03:15,429 --> 00:03:17,097 - We're in the age of TikTok. 74 00:03:17,164 --> 00:03:20,033 Meanwhile, an eight-minute song is still 75 00:03:20,100 --> 00:03:22,236 getting radio play all over the world. 76 00:03:22,303 --> 00:03:25,273 - * Singin', "This'll be the day that I die" * 77 00:03:25,339 --> 00:03:26,807 It is a masterpiece. 78 00:03:26,874 --> 00:03:28,909 - No one's ever written anything like it since. 79 00:03:28,976 --> 00:03:30,611 - There's a reason it's been around for 50 years. 80 00:03:30,678 --> 00:03:32,613 * The day * 81 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:38,686 * The music died * 82 00:03:38,752 --> 00:03:40,521 - This is what the power of music is. 83 00:03:44,758 --> 00:03:49,330 - [echoing] * A long, long time ago * 84 00:03:49,397 --> 00:03:53,033 [dreamy music] 85 00:03:53,100 --> 00:03:55,035 You can see the house I grew up in 86 00:03:55,102 --> 00:03:57,505 in New Rochelle, it's still there. 87 00:03:58,872 --> 00:04:00,608 Being in the house with my parents, 88 00:04:00,674 --> 00:04:02,443 who I loved very much, 89 00:04:02,510 --> 00:04:07,047 and they were great people, but it was very restrictive. 90 00:04:08,649 --> 00:04:12,653 I was white, suburban, middle-class. 91 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:14,221 We believed in God. 92 00:04:14,288 --> 00:04:16,490 We believed in the church. 93 00:04:16,557 --> 00:04:19,327 We believed in our government. 94 00:04:19,393 --> 00:04:21,228 I was ill quite a bit. 95 00:04:21,295 --> 00:04:24,732 I had asthma and I would be out of school 96 00:04:24,798 --> 00:04:26,300 for weeks and weeks, 97 00:04:26,367 --> 00:04:29,903 stuck in the house and looking at kids playing outside. 98 00:04:29,970 --> 00:04:32,205 And I developed differently than they did. 99 00:04:32,272 --> 00:04:35,108 * * 100 00:04:35,175 --> 00:04:39,980 My father's idea of what he wanted for his son 101 00:04:40,047 --> 00:04:44,452 was a West Point guy, an athlete, warrior, 102 00:04:44,518 --> 00:04:47,888 intellectual, crew cut, upright American boy. 103 00:04:47,955 --> 00:04:49,790 And I thought, "I can't be farther apart 104 00:04:49,857 --> 00:04:51,592 from this guy than I am." 105 00:04:51,659 --> 00:04:54,495 - * Well, now, if your baby leaves you * 106 00:04:54,562 --> 00:04:56,997 * And you've got a tale to tell * 107 00:04:57,064 --> 00:04:58,499 * Well, just take a walk * 108 00:04:58,566 --> 00:05:00,501 - And that's when I first heard Elvis Presley. 109 00:05:00,568 --> 00:05:02,370 - * Heartbreak Hotel * 110 00:05:02,436 --> 00:05:06,239 - "Heartbreak Hotel," magic, takes your brains. 111 00:05:06,306 --> 00:05:08,742 - * You'll be lonely * 112 00:05:08,809 --> 00:05:11,845 * You'll be so lonely, you could die * 113 00:05:11,912 --> 00:05:13,781 - It just seemed to me that 114 00:05:13,847 --> 00:05:16,917 that image was a very romantic image. 115 00:05:16,984 --> 00:05:19,119 I've always been in love with romance, 116 00:05:19,186 --> 00:05:21,021 you know, whether it was Robin Hood 117 00:05:21,088 --> 00:05:23,491 or Superman or the Lone Ranger, 118 00:05:23,557 --> 00:05:26,494 and I started thinking I could morph myself 119 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,063 into this somehow, maybe if I could play the guitar. 120 00:05:32,132 --> 00:05:34,668 I've never talked about this in the song all these years, 121 00:05:34,735 --> 00:05:36,904 but I talk about "the sacred store," 122 00:05:36,970 --> 00:05:39,272 and the sacred store is the House of Music 123 00:05:39,339 --> 00:05:41,341 on Main Street in New Rochelle, 124 00:05:41,409 --> 00:05:43,210 and that's where I bought my records, 125 00:05:43,276 --> 00:05:46,213 and that's where I bought my first guitar. 126 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:48,516 And I started to learn. I learned three chords, 127 00:05:48,582 --> 00:05:51,485 and I was off to the races, but I drove everybody crazy. 128 00:05:51,552 --> 00:05:53,887 I'd play records over and over and over. 129 00:05:53,954 --> 00:05:56,289 Bo Diddley and Gene Vincent, 130 00:05:56,356 --> 00:05:57,625 all these great groups. 131 00:05:57,691 --> 00:06:00,160 I fell in love with Buddy Holly. 132 00:06:00,227 --> 00:06:03,130 [dreamy music] 133 00:06:03,196 --> 00:06:04,765 * * 134 00:06:04,832 --> 00:06:07,200 He had a rollicking sound. 135 00:06:07,267 --> 00:06:10,571 He was always full of joy and exuberance. 136 00:06:10,638 --> 00:06:14,742 * * 137 00:06:14,808 --> 00:06:17,177 A happy country boy sound 138 00:06:17,244 --> 00:06:19,680 with jingling and jangling guitars. 139 00:06:19,747 --> 00:06:21,849 And his songs were great. 140 00:06:23,417 --> 00:06:26,053 There was something else about Buddy Holly 141 00:06:26,119 --> 00:06:27,988 that he is only 21 or 22. 142 00:06:28,055 --> 00:06:30,724 He had a certain genius. 143 00:06:32,893 --> 00:06:34,562 He was a serious guy, you know. 144 00:06:34,628 --> 00:06:36,396 Country people were serious. 145 00:06:36,464 --> 00:06:37,831 You know, they've been through a lot, 146 00:06:37,898 --> 00:06:39,567 and they worked hard for their money. 147 00:06:39,633 --> 00:06:41,101 I mean, you go to Lubbock, Texas 148 00:06:41,168 --> 00:06:43,403 and all you see are cotton fields. 149 00:06:45,072 --> 00:06:48,008 Holly Tile was the company that the father had. 150 00:06:48,075 --> 00:06:50,110 Buddy would have been laying tile floors 151 00:06:50,177 --> 00:06:54,114 in bathrooms or picking cotton. 152 00:06:54,181 --> 00:06:56,183 - Where do you come from-- Lubbock, Texas? 153 00:06:56,249 --> 00:06:58,051 - Lubbock, Texas, yes. - Right after high school, 154 00:06:58,118 --> 00:06:59,753 you started playing together? 155 00:06:59,820 --> 00:07:01,121 - Yes, sir, that's right. - You were a big hit right 156 00:07:01,188 --> 00:07:03,557 from the start or has it been sort of a long... 157 00:07:03,624 --> 00:07:06,860 - Well, we've had a few rough times, I guess you'd say, 158 00:07:06,927 --> 00:07:08,862 but we've been real lucky getting it this quick. 159 00:07:08,929 --> 00:07:11,899 - He had made recordings in Nashville, 160 00:07:11,965 --> 00:07:14,067 which were not successful. 161 00:07:14,134 --> 00:07:17,304 And then he went to Clovis, Mew Mexico, 162 00:07:17,370 --> 00:07:20,007 to Norman Petty's studio 163 00:07:20,073 --> 00:07:21,709 and recorded many of the same songs, 164 00:07:21,775 --> 00:07:23,143 including "That'll Be The Day," 165 00:07:23,210 --> 00:07:25,278 and suddenly he had a number one record. 166 00:07:29,382 --> 00:07:32,052 Norman Petty was the difference. 167 00:07:32,119 --> 00:07:35,889 He knew what to do to commercialize Buddy Holly. 168 00:07:41,929 --> 00:07:43,831 There was a--an alchemy. 169 00:07:43,897 --> 00:07:45,499 He made magic. 170 00:07:52,405 --> 00:07:54,675 And knowing it was not only all over the country, 171 00:07:54,742 --> 00:07:56,844 but all around the world. 172 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,950 [eerie atmospheric music] 173 00:08:03,016 --> 00:08:08,421 * * 174 00:08:11,224 --> 00:08:13,994 - We are very proud Iowa farmers. 175 00:08:14,061 --> 00:08:16,029 My grandfather started the tradition 176 00:08:16,096 --> 00:08:17,931 back in the 1920s. 177 00:08:17,998 --> 00:08:19,933 This is my son, and now Andrew 178 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:21,501 and his cousin are involved in it. 179 00:08:23,571 --> 00:08:26,173 - This field has been in our family for generations, 180 00:08:26,239 --> 00:08:27,975 and it's really important to us 181 00:08:28,041 --> 00:08:29,543 because it's our livelihood, 182 00:08:29,610 --> 00:08:32,445 but also there's no other field in the countryside 183 00:08:32,512 --> 00:08:34,347 that's got more history than this field. 184 00:08:36,283 --> 00:08:39,352 - This is a place where one of the first 185 00:08:39,419 --> 00:08:41,789 big rock 'n' roll tragedies occurred. 186 00:08:44,758 --> 00:08:46,259 It's very simple, 187 00:08:46,326 --> 00:08:47,995 it's in the middle of a cornfield, 188 00:08:48,061 --> 00:08:51,231 it's not fancy, no flashing lights. 189 00:08:51,298 --> 00:08:55,769 * * 190 00:08:55,836 --> 00:08:58,005 This is where the music died. 191 00:09:00,908 --> 00:09:03,677 This is where the music died. 192 00:09:03,744 --> 00:09:07,014 - * I can't remember if I cried * 193 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:10,584 * When I read about his widowed bride * 194 00:09:10,651 --> 00:09:15,122 - In 1971, I was just beginning to explore music, 195 00:09:15,188 --> 00:09:17,524 and "American Pie" was one of those songs. 196 00:09:17,591 --> 00:09:21,094 I listened to it over and over again. 197 00:09:21,161 --> 00:09:23,296 I had no idea that it had anything 198 00:09:23,363 --> 00:09:26,533 to do about Clear Lake or the farm that we owned. 199 00:09:29,236 --> 00:09:30,804 - This story in from Clear Lake, Iowa, 200 00:09:30,871 --> 00:09:32,873 three of the nation's top rock 'n' roll singing stars, 201 00:09:32,940 --> 00:09:35,275 Ritchie Valens, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, 202 00:09:35,342 --> 00:09:37,210 and Buddy Holly died today with their pilot 203 00:09:37,277 --> 00:09:39,246 in the crash of a chartered plane. 204 00:09:40,948 --> 00:09:46,086 - In 1979, when a local DJ named the Mad Hatter started 205 00:09:46,153 --> 00:09:48,555 the first Buddy Holly tribute, 206 00:09:48,622 --> 00:09:50,691 and then this gentleman, Ken Paquette, 207 00:09:50,758 --> 00:09:52,459 did the research and said, 208 00:09:52,525 --> 00:09:55,495 "Okay, this is where the plane crashed." 209 00:09:55,562 --> 00:09:58,498 [country music] 210 00:09:58,565 --> 00:09:59,767 * * 211 00:09:59,833 --> 00:10:01,601 He put a monument out there, 212 00:10:01,669 --> 00:10:03,804 and people started coming searching for the place, 213 00:10:03,871 --> 00:10:06,940 so I had our welder make an extra big set of glasses, 214 00:10:07,007 --> 00:10:08,541 and I mounted 'em out there, 215 00:10:08,608 --> 00:10:10,243 and of course, that's kind of turned into a little bit 216 00:10:10,310 --> 00:10:12,245 of a monument in itself. 217 00:10:13,380 --> 00:10:17,718 When Don's song came out, it just lit up the enthusiasm 218 00:10:17,785 --> 00:10:20,453 and the interest in Buddy and in that story. 219 00:10:22,489 --> 00:10:23,957 Buddy and Ritchie and The Bopper, 220 00:10:24,024 --> 00:10:25,693 the guys were so young. 221 00:10:25,759 --> 00:10:27,127 Ritchie was only 17. 222 00:10:27,194 --> 00:10:28,561 That fateful night, 223 00:10:28,628 --> 00:10:30,898 they entertained a couple thousand fans. 224 00:10:30,964 --> 00:10:32,900 It all ended out here. 225 00:10:32,966 --> 00:10:34,802 Now this is a pilgrimage. 226 00:10:34,868 --> 00:10:37,237 People from all over the world travel here. 227 00:10:37,304 --> 00:10:39,306 We'll occasionally have a hayride out here, 228 00:10:39,372 --> 00:10:41,008 and we'll sing "American Pie." 229 00:10:41,074 --> 00:10:43,143 Everybody knows that song. 230 00:10:43,210 --> 00:10:47,147 That is the song of our lives. 231 00:10:47,214 --> 00:10:50,818 - * A long, long time ago * 232 00:10:50,884 --> 00:10:55,088 * I can still remember how that music * 233 00:10:55,155 --> 00:10:59,760 * Used to make me smile * 234 00:10:59,827 --> 00:11:02,896 - "American Pie, it's woven into the fabric 235 00:11:02,963 --> 00:11:05,332 of America and our culture. 236 00:11:05,398 --> 00:11:08,501 - * That I could make those people dance * 237 00:11:08,568 --> 00:11:11,671 - It just sort of feels like it's always existed. 238 00:11:11,739 --> 00:11:14,407 It's just ubiquitous and predates 239 00:11:14,474 --> 00:11:15,843 time itself or something. 240 00:11:15,909 --> 00:11:20,680 - * The day the music * 241 00:11:20,748 --> 00:11:24,117 - I'm told we're the world's first all-vocal country band. 242 00:11:24,184 --> 00:11:28,388 all: * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 243 00:11:28,455 --> 00:11:31,024 - "American Pie," it's one of those songs 244 00:11:31,091 --> 00:11:33,493 that I have known as long as I can remember. 245 00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:35,796 - I've been singing that song my whole life. 246 00:11:35,863 --> 00:11:39,199 - I remember my mother singing that song to me, just as a song 247 00:11:39,266 --> 00:11:40,834 that never leaves you, it's just always there. 248 00:11:40,901 --> 00:11:44,571 - By the time I remember hearing that song on the radio, 249 00:11:44,637 --> 00:11:46,706 I feel like I already knew all the words. 250 00:11:46,774 --> 00:11:49,242 * Did you write the book of love? * 251 00:11:49,309 --> 00:11:52,746 * And do you have faith in God above? * 252 00:11:52,813 --> 00:11:55,482 - When our manager mentioned to us that Don was interested 253 00:11:55,548 --> 00:11:57,885 in doing a special edition of the song 254 00:11:57,951 --> 00:12:00,453 for its 50th anniversary and including us, 255 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:02,189 we didn't even have to think about it. 256 00:12:02,255 --> 00:12:05,192 - * Can music save your mortal soul? * 257 00:12:05,258 --> 00:12:08,996 - We certainly felt a sense of responsibility, 258 00:12:09,062 --> 00:12:12,399 just being handed the reins 259 00:12:12,465 --> 00:12:14,868 to such an important, iconic song. 260 00:12:14,935 --> 00:12:19,206 - * With a pink carnation and a pickup truck * 261 00:12:19,272 --> 00:12:22,575 - Don put a lot of trust in us, and so, luckily, 262 00:12:22,642 --> 00:12:25,779 he was thrilled with what we came up with. 263 00:12:25,846 --> 00:12:29,216 He just added his vocal to the mix and it was magic. 264 00:12:29,282 --> 00:12:32,419 all: * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 265 00:12:32,485 --> 00:12:35,655 * Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry * 266 00:12:35,722 --> 00:12:38,391 - The day the music died was such 267 00:12:38,458 --> 00:12:40,593 an earth-shattering moment, 268 00:12:40,660 --> 00:12:43,797 and then Don actually put it into words, 269 00:12:43,864 --> 00:12:47,267 what everybody was feeling, but wasn't really able to say. 270 00:12:47,334 --> 00:12:51,638 He used such incredible imagery and metaphors 271 00:12:51,704 --> 00:12:54,641 that allowed the audience to inject their own 272 00:12:54,707 --> 00:12:57,010 personal meaning into the song as well. 273 00:12:57,077 --> 00:13:00,080 [dreamy music] 274 00:13:00,147 --> 00:13:02,582 * * 275 00:13:02,649 --> 00:13:06,887 There's a lot of things that can unify us in strange ways. 276 00:13:06,954 --> 00:13:10,190 We're united in our grief and sense of loss. 277 00:13:10,257 --> 00:13:11,658 That is what Don was able 278 00:13:11,724 --> 00:13:13,593 to articulate through "American Pie." 279 00:13:13,660 --> 00:13:15,762 Just the imagery of that chorus alone, 280 00:13:15,829 --> 00:13:18,365 the idea of a bunch of good old boys 281 00:13:18,431 --> 00:13:20,067 drinking whiskey and rye and singing, 282 00:13:20,133 --> 00:13:21,501 "This'll be the day that I die." 283 00:13:21,568 --> 00:13:24,237 It's a horrible thing to be singing about, 284 00:13:24,304 --> 00:13:26,673 yet they're all singing about it together. 285 00:13:26,739 --> 00:13:30,310 - * And the three men I admire most * 286 00:13:30,377 --> 00:13:33,513 * The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost * 287 00:13:33,580 --> 00:13:35,282 - When he wrote it, we were kind of 288 00:13:35,348 --> 00:13:38,418 on the tail end of the two-minute pop song. 289 00:13:38,485 --> 00:13:41,488 Meanwhile, he comes out with this eight-minute song 290 00:13:41,554 --> 00:13:44,524 that gets played on the radio, and that's unheard of. 291 00:13:44,591 --> 00:13:50,430 - * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 292 00:13:50,497 --> 00:13:52,432 - Now we're in the age of TikTok 293 00:13:52,499 --> 00:13:53,901 where people don't want to see anything 294 00:13:53,967 --> 00:13:55,135 longer than a few seconds. 295 00:13:55,202 --> 00:13:57,404 Meanwhile, "American Pie" is still 296 00:13:57,470 --> 00:13:59,839 getting radio play all over the world. 297 00:13:59,907 --> 00:14:04,111 - * Singing "This'll be the day that I die" * 298 00:14:04,177 --> 00:14:05,745 - We were on tour in Europe. 299 00:14:05,812 --> 00:14:08,581 I was at some bar at 1:00 in the morning, 300 00:14:08,648 --> 00:14:09,983 and then "American Pie" came on, 301 00:14:10,050 --> 00:14:11,484 and everyone sang every word, 302 00:14:11,551 --> 00:14:13,153 and no one spoke any English. 303 00:14:13,220 --> 00:14:17,224 - * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 304 00:14:17,290 --> 00:14:18,825 * Drove my Chevy to the levee * 305 00:14:18,892 --> 00:14:20,227 - There's something magical about it. 306 00:14:20,293 --> 00:14:21,861 Everyone knows that song. 307 00:14:21,929 --> 00:14:25,232 Everyone on the planet can sing a chorus of that song. 308 00:14:25,298 --> 00:14:26,666 It's transcendent. 309 00:14:26,733 --> 00:14:33,306 - * Singing "This'll be the day that I die" * 310 00:14:33,373 --> 00:14:36,843 [cheers and applause] 311 00:14:38,145 --> 00:14:41,048 [cheerful music] 312 00:14:41,114 --> 00:14:42,549 * * 313 00:14:42,615 --> 00:14:44,551 - My father wanted me to work, 314 00:14:44,617 --> 00:14:46,186 so I thought it was a cool idea, 315 00:14:46,253 --> 00:14:47,420 I could go deliver the paper, 316 00:14:47,487 --> 00:14:49,656 and that would be fun. 317 00:14:52,525 --> 00:14:57,597 I had a Sears Roebuck fat tire bike. 318 00:14:57,664 --> 00:15:00,467 It had no gears or anything. 319 00:15:00,533 --> 00:15:02,970 It was like riding a cast-iron lawnmower, 320 00:15:03,036 --> 00:15:04,804 is what it was like. 321 00:15:07,540 --> 00:15:09,776 I like the romance of throwing the paper, 322 00:15:09,842 --> 00:15:12,512 and "Yes, I'm the paper boy, that's right. 323 00:15:12,579 --> 00:15:14,214 I'll have your paper tomorrow, don't worry." 324 00:15:14,281 --> 00:15:15,949 You know, this kind of thing. 325 00:15:18,451 --> 00:15:19,652 It was cold. 326 00:15:19,719 --> 00:15:22,155 February in those days was cold. 327 00:15:22,222 --> 00:15:25,158 [echoing] * February made me shiver * 328 00:15:25,225 --> 00:15:27,927 And you can see my house, 329 00:15:27,995 --> 00:15:31,498 there's kind of a stoop, there's a cement block, 330 00:15:31,564 --> 00:15:34,867 and they would throw the papers on that, 331 00:15:34,934 --> 00:15:36,536 and they'd be bound up, 332 00:15:36,603 --> 00:15:38,771 and so you'd cut it open 333 00:15:38,838 --> 00:15:41,908 and start putting the papers in your sack. 334 00:15:47,147 --> 00:15:50,417 And one day I opened it up, and there was this story. 335 00:15:50,483 --> 00:15:56,723 [echoing] * Bad news on the doorstep * 336 00:15:56,789 --> 00:16:01,294 Three rock 'n' roll stars killed in plane crash, 337 00:16:01,361 --> 00:16:04,197 and it was my guy who was killed. 338 00:16:04,264 --> 00:16:06,566 Buddy was now dead. 339 00:16:08,301 --> 00:16:11,371 I was in absolute shock. 340 00:16:11,438 --> 00:16:13,273 Man, I read the whole story. 341 00:16:13,340 --> 00:16:18,778 I think I might have actually cried, it was that personal. 342 00:16:18,845 --> 00:16:21,714 I felt like, you know, you lost your first love, 343 00:16:21,781 --> 00:16:24,051 or you broke up with your first girlfriend. 344 00:16:24,117 --> 00:16:26,753 You know, that dark, horrible thing 345 00:16:26,819 --> 00:16:28,721 that comes over a teenager, you know, 346 00:16:28,788 --> 00:16:30,290 and it's like the end of the world. 347 00:16:30,357 --> 00:16:36,996 * * 348 00:16:37,064 --> 00:16:40,767 All of a sudden, you get this horrible death 349 00:16:40,833 --> 00:16:43,603 personally affecting me with this pain 350 00:16:43,670 --> 00:16:45,938 that I never had experienced before. 351 00:16:50,009 --> 00:16:51,878 So it just hurt. 352 00:16:51,944 --> 00:16:54,947 Can't intellectualize it. It hurt me. 353 00:16:58,685 --> 00:17:01,088 And then when that "Buddy Holly Story: Volume 1" 354 00:17:01,154 --> 00:17:03,623 came out right after, 355 00:17:03,690 --> 00:17:05,225 that just did me in 356 00:17:05,292 --> 00:17:07,760 because there were so many beautiful songs on there. 357 00:17:07,827 --> 00:17:12,732 [echoing] * Something touched me deep inside * 358 00:17:12,799 --> 00:17:15,902 You know, I was so touched and moved 359 00:17:15,968 --> 00:17:17,837 by this beautiful face, 360 00:17:17,904 --> 00:17:20,039 and nobody talked about him 'cause he was dead. 361 00:17:20,107 --> 00:17:22,809 Americans didn't talk about dead people. 362 00:17:22,875 --> 00:17:23,776 Onward. 363 00:17:23,843 --> 00:17:26,813 [eerie atmospheric music] 364 00:17:26,879 --> 00:17:29,682 * * 365 00:17:29,749 --> 00:17:32,219 - The original Winter Dance Party, 366 00:17:32,285 --> 00:17:34,020 it was kind of a mishmash. 367 00:17:34,087 --> 00:17:35,888 It was kind of a last minute tour 368 00:17:35,955 --> 00:17:38,391 that was put together all over the Midwest 369 00:17:38,458 --> 00:17:41,361 in the middle of January, when it was cold and windy 370 00:17:41,428 --> 00:17:44,364 and snowy and had a lousy bus without a heater. 371 00:17:44,431 --> 00:17:46,733 The heater kept breaking down, so you can imagine 372 00:17:46,799 --> 00:17:49,102 how cold it was on that bus. 373 00:17:49,169 --> 00:17:52,105 [rockabilly music] 374 00:17:52,172 --> 00:17:54,907 * * 375 00:17:54,974 --> 00:17:56,609 Buddy and Ritchie and The Bopper, 376 00:17:56,676 --> 00:17:58,811 these were the rock 'n' roll stars of the day. 377 00:17:58,878 --> 00:18:02,815 They all had top hits, and it was a thrill to have 378 00:18:02,882 --> 00:18:06,853 this group of artists come to little old Clear Lake, Iowa 379 00:18:06,919 --> 00:18:09,922 to perform on the stage at the Surf Ballroom. 380 00:18:09,989 --> 00:18:14,361 * * 381 00:18:14,427 --> 00:18:17,130 From the Surf, they were scheduled to go to Minnesota. 382 00:18:17,197 --> 00:18:20,700 Even in today's day and age, those are long treks. 383 00:18:20,767 --> 00:18:23,102 So when they got to Clear Lake, 384 00:18:23,170 --> 00:18:25,405 Buddy was tired of riding on that cold bus, 385 00:18:25,472 --> 00:18:28,040 and so he asked Carol Anderson, 386 00:18:28,107 --> 00:18:29,709 who was the manager of the Surf, 387 00:18:29,776 --> 00:18:33,646 to find a plane so they could fly to Fargo 388 00:18:33,713 --> 00:18:36,082 and play in Moorhead, Minnesota. 389 00:18:36,149 --> 00:18:38,618 [muffled music] 390 00:18:38,685 --> 00:18:39,852 [music getting louder] 391 00:18:39,919 --> 00:18:42,289 [Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba"] 392 00:18:42,355 --> 00:18:44,557 - * Para bailar La Bamba * 393 00:18:44,624 --> 00:18:47,126 * Para bailar La Bamba * 394 00:18:47,194 --> 00:18:49,962 * Se necesito una poca de gracia * 395 00:18:50,029 --> 00:18:51,531 - The show that night was a fabulous show. 396 00:18:51,598 --> 00:18:53,200 I mean, you can imagine. 397 00:18:53,266 --> 00:18:54,667 It was unbelievable. 398 00:18:54,734 --> 00:18:57,904 - * Arriba, y arriba * 399 00:18:57,970 --> 00:18:59,772 * Y arriba, y arriba * 400 00:18:59,839 --> 00:19:03,876 * Por ti seré, por ti seré, por ti * 401 00:19:03,943 --> 00:19:07,113 * Yo no soy marinero * 402 00:19:07,180 --> 00:19:10,183 * Yo no soy marinero, soy capitán * 403 00:19:10,250 --> 00:19:13,486 [muffled] * Soy capitán, soy capitán * 404 00:19:15,988 --> 00:19:18,758 - The show ended about after midnight. 405 00:19:18,825 --> 00:19:22,195 Waylon Jennings and Buddy had this exchange. 406 00:19:22,262 --> 00:19:24,564 Buddy said, "I hope the bus breaks down." 407 00:19:24,631 --> 00:19:26,299 And Waylon says, "I hope the plane crashes." 408 00:19:26,366 --> 00:19:28,868 - [muffled] * Para bailar La Bamba * 409 00:19:28,935 --> 00:19:30,903 * Para bailar La Bamba * 410 00:19:30,970 --> 00:19:35,708 * Se necesito una poca de gracia * 411 00:19:35,775 --> 00:19:37,210 [tinny] * Una poca de gracia * 412 00:19:37,277 --> 00:19:40,247 * Para mi, para ti, y arriba, y arriba * 413 00:19:40,313 --> 00:19:43,216 [somber music] 414 00:19:43,283 --> 00:19:44,917 * * 415 00:19:44,984 --> 00:19:47,487 - And Carol was the manager, he was the one that put 'em 416 00:19:47,554 --> 00:19:49,689 in the station wagon and took 'em out 417 00:19:49,756 --> 00:19:51,491 to the Mason City Airport. 418 00:19:53,893 --> 00:19:56,563 - I put 'em in the airplane, 419 00:19:56,629 --> 00:19:59,866 and I talked to all three of those boys that night 420 00:19:59,932 --> 00:20:02,034 before they got in the airplane. 421 00:20:02,101 --> 00:20:04,971 They were just kids. 422 00:20:05,037 --> 00:20:11,678 * * 423 00:20:11,744 --> 00:20:15,047 - They took off about 1:00, and to be honest, 424 00:20:15,114 --> 00:20:16,783 they weren't in the air very long. 425 00:20:19,151 --> 00:20:20,820 - I could see the taillight of the airplane, 426 00:20:20,887 --> 00:20:22,221 and the aircraft, in my opinion, 427 00:20:22,289 --> 00:20:25,124 was going down slowly, 428 00:20:25,191 --> 00:20:27,927 and it went down about three miles northwest of us. 429 00:20:30,430 --> 00:20:32,465 I said to the man in the tower with me, 430 00:20:32,532 --> 00:20:35,101 who was a weatherman, that the airplane was going down, 431 00:20:35,167 --> 00:20:37,337 and he said, "No, that's an optical illusion," 432 00:20:37,404 --> 00:20:39,339 but I'd watched a lot of airplanes, 433 00:20:39,406 --> 00:20:42,275 and I hoped I was wrong. 434 00:20:44,176 --> 00:20:47,079 - Well, the FAA report says it was pilot error. 435 00:20:47,146 --> 00:20:49,749 Roger Peterson, who was a young Clear Lake kid, 436 00:20:49,816 --> 00:20:54,654 got disoriented and actually just wasn't able 437 00:20:54,721 --> 00:20:56,389 to read the instruments correctly, 438 00:20:56,456 --> 00:20:59,426 got discombobulated, and thought he was going up, 439 00:20:59,492 --> 00:21:00,860 and he was really descending, 440 00:21:00,927 --> 00:21:02,895 and just flew the plane into the ground. 441 00:21:05,632 --> 00:21:07,400 They couldn't have been in the air more 442 00:21:07,467 --> 00:21:11,704 than three or four minutes, maybe four or five miles. 443 00:21:13,139 --> 00:21:17,577 Their plane came down at a very high rate 444 00:21:17,644 --> 00:21:20,613 of descent because one of the wings cut 445 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:22,482 a trench into the frozen ground. 446 00:21:22,549 --> 00:21:26,753 They skidded about 500 feet with the tail going up, 447 00:21:26,819 --> 00:21:28,421 and because there was a little bit of a ridge 448 00:21:28,488 --> 00:21:30,757 at the fence line. 449 00:21:30,823 --> 00:21:33,560 Jerry Dwyer actually got up the next morning 450 00:21:33,626 --> 00:21:34,994 and went out and got in a plane, 451 00:21:35,061 --> 00:21:36,563 'cause he'd heard that they had not 452 00:21:36,629 --> 00:21:38,598 reached their destination. 453 00:21:38,665 --> 00:21:41,634 In just a couple of minutes after he was airborne, 454 00:21:41,701 --> 00:21:43,002 he radioed back to the airport, 455 00:21:43,069 --> 00:21:44,737 and then they called the Sheriff. 456 00:21:46,673 --> 00:21:48,174 - I did call to make sure 457 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:49,909 that the people got out there as quick as they could. 458 00:21:49,976 --> 00:21:52,512 I was hoping that some of the people were still alive 459 00:21:52,579 --> 00:21:53,746 or maybe all of 'em, 460 00:21:53,813 --> 00:21:55,247 and it turned out they weren't, 461 00:21:55,314 --> 00:21:56,983 any of them. 462 00:22:00,420 --> 00:22:03,055 - It was a very tragic scene. 463 00:22:03,122 --> 00:22:06,959 A lot of officials, photographers. 464 00:22:10,363 --> 00:22:15,101 Something that Clear Lake never wished to be famous for. 465 00:22:15,167 --> 00:22:17,336 - Three of the nation's top rock 'n' roll singing stars, 466 00:22:17,404 --> 00:22:19,706 Ritchie Valens, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, 467 00:22:19,772 --> 00:22:21,741 and Buddy Holly died today with their pilot 468 00:22:21,808 --> 00:22:23,376 in the crash of a chartered plane. 469 00:22:23,443 --> 00:22:25,945 - A lot of family members heard it on the news 470 00:22:26,012 --> 00:22:28,648 rather than being notified. 471 00:22:33,620 --> 00:22:37,390 So it was a gruesome scene, and it was a real tragedy. 472 00:22:37,457 --> 00:22:42,829 * * 473 00:22:42,895 --> 00:22:45,698 [laid-back music] 474 00:22:45,765 --> 00:22:49,469 * * 475 00:22:49,536 --> 00:22:51,504 - I grew up in the middle of America. 476 00:22:51,571 --> 00:22:53,139 I grew up in Oklahoma. 477 00:22:53,205 --> 00:22:55,875 Dad worked in the oil fields, 478 00:22:55,942 --> 00:22:57,844 Golden Gloves boxing champion, 479 00:22:57,910 --> 00:22:59,912 former Marine Corps Korean War. 480 00:22:59,979 --> 00:23:02,081 My mom was a housewife, 481 00:23:02,148 --> 00:23:04,116 former singer who gave it up 482 00:23:04,183 --> 00:23:07,119 to raise six children, and I was the baby of the six. 483 00:23:08,555 --> 00:23:12,258 Mom loved Patsy. She loved Aretha, Jack Greene. 484 00:23:12,324 --> 00:23:14,694 Dad was more of the working man's stuff, 485 00:23:14,761 --> 00:23:17,363 so Jones, Haggard, Buck Owens, 486 00:23:17,430 --> 00:23:21,200 and there I was, the guy that was taking it all in. 487 00:23:21,267 --> 00:23:23,903 Me and my mom hung out a lot because I was the baby. 488 00:23:23,970 --> 00:23:26,238 So some days, you know, you'd be sick for school. 489 00:23:26,305 --> 00:23:28,174 We had one car, so we'd have to drive Dad in 490 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,309 and out of Oklahoma City and go pick him up. 491 00:23:30,376 --> 00:23:31,811 And in that car ride, 492 00:23:31,878 --> 00:23:33,245 I remember hearing "American Pie" 493 00:23:33,312 --> 00:23:36,148 for the first time and just loving it. 494 00:23:36,215 --> 00:23:39,952 - * Oh, and there we were, all in one place * 495 00:23:40,019 --> 00:23:43,389 * A generation lost in space * 496 00:23:43,456 --> 00:23:46,092 - The youth that's in those drums, 497 00:23:46,158 --> 00:23:49,095 the youth that's in that piano, that's all over the place. 498 00:23:49,161 --> 00:23:52,499 - * Come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick * 499 00:23:52,565 --> 00:23:56,603 - And this soft voice that is so confident 500 00:23:56,669 --> 00:24:00,507 it earns its place among all that activity going on. 501 00:24:00,573 --> 00:24:02,475 It's fabulous. 502 00:24:02,542 --> 00:24:06,412 - * Oh, and as I watched him on the stage * 503 00:24:06,479 --> 00:24:08,380 - So I knew that song backward and forward 504 00:24:08,447 --> 00:24:11,417 before I could ever play guitar or anything. 505 00:24:11,484 --> 00:24:15,788 What I didn't know was how much of a song 506 00:24:15,855 --> 00:24:17,890 it would become for me. 507 00:24:17,957 --> 00:24:23,295 * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 508 00:24:23,362 --> 00:24:25,164 Especially early in your career, 509 00:24:25,231 --> 00:24:27,099 it was fun, man, you'd try and shake it up, 510 00:24:27,166 --> 00:24:29,001 so you'd do sing-alongs at the end of the night, 511 00:24:29,068 --> 00:24:31,437 and "American Pie" was probably 90% of the time. 512 00:24:31,504 --> 00:24:35,207 * Boys was drinking whiskey and rye * 513 00:24:35,274 --> 00:24:36,976 It was always what we ended Willies with 514 00:24:37,043 --> 00:24:38,410 when I played colleges. 515 00:24:40,780 --> 00:24:42,615 We get a record label, and probably about the third day, 516 00:24:42,682 --> 00:24:43,783 there's a thing called Bull Run. 517 00:24:43,850 --> 00:24:45,184 Bull Run is this thing in DC 518 00:24:45,251 --> 00:24:47,186 where they're gonna put about 12 acts on stage. 519 00:24:47,253 --> 00:24:49,455 People are going to know the last two or three, 520 00:24:49,522 --> 00:24:51,858 but all the ones up front, they kind of sit through. 521 00:24:51,924 --> 00:24:53,225 I'm one of those sit through guys, 522 00:24:53,292 --> 00:24:55,094 'cause we don't have anything out yet. 523 00:24:57,830 --> 00:25:00,733 Right after the first song, the big downbeat, 524 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:02,769 something goes wrong, 525 00:25:02,835 --> 00:25:04,503 Everything is out, 526 00:25:04,571 --> 00:25:06,873 everything except my guitar and my mic. 527 00:25:06,939 --> 00:25:08,340 And the first line out of my mouth-- 528 00:25:08,407 --> 00:25:10,109 I'll remember it the rest of my life, was... 529 00:25:10,176 --> 00:25:13,946 * A long, long time ago * 530 00:25:14,013 --> 00:25:16,849 And you just watch the whole place stop. 531 00:25:16,916 --> 00:25:20,753 The guy going up to get a beer stopped, turns, and you see it. 532 00:25:20,820 --> 00:25:22,722 They came in. 533 00:25:22,789 --> 00:25:24,223 They don't know who this guy is, 534 00:25:24,290 --> 00:25:25,925 but he's singing probably the greatest song 535 00:25:25,992 --> 00:25:27,226 in music history, 536 00:25:27,293 --> 00:25:28,527 and they're all singing with you. 537 00:25:28,595 --> 00:25:32,031 And at that point, not only did I have them, 538 00:25:32,098 --> 00:25:35,935 more importantly, I knew they had me. 539 00:25:36,002 --> 00:25:38,805 But to take it on to the next level 540 00:25:38,871 --> 00:25:40,873 and see it happen there too, 541 00:25:40,940 --> 00:25:43,175 it was just amazing. 542 00:25:43,242 --> 00:25:45,712 [eerie atmospheric music] 543 00:25:45,778 --> 00:25:48,114 * * 544 00:25:48,180 --> 00:25:53,452 - I had been doing extremely poorly in school. 545 00:25:53,519 --> 00:25:57,456 I was a freshman at Iona Preparatory School, 546 00:25:57,523 --> 00:26:00,526 Catholic, taught by Irish Christian brothers. 547 00:26:00,593 --> 00:26:04,496 They looked like priests, and it was very Dickensian. 548 00:26:06,065 --> 00:26:08,367 My mother had gone away, and I'm waiting 549 00:26:08,434 --> 00:26:10,803 for this horrible report card to come home. 550 00:26:10,870 --> 00:26:12,739 My father's in a good mood. You know, I think, "Oh, man, 551 00:26:12,805 --> 00:26:14,807 when this happens, he ain't gonna be in a good mood." 552 00:26:14,874 --> 00:26:17,176 So the report card comes. 553 00:26:18,945 --> 00:26:21,247 My father, he looked at this thing, 554 00:26:21,313 --> 00:26:23,182 and he said, "This is awful, 555 00:26:23,249 --> 00:26:25,251 "and you cannot go on like this, 556 00:26:25,317 --> 00:26:27,253 and what is gonna become of you?" 557 00:26:27,319 --> 00:26:29,521 Course, it wasn't low-key. He was yelling, you know, 558 00:26:29,588 --> 00:26:31,290 'cause he had a temper. 559 00:26:31,357 --> 00:26:35,995 He felt all this silliness with music was impinging on 560 00:26:36,062 --> 00:26:38,931 and diminishing my schoolwork. 561 00:26:38,998 --> 00:26:40,767 So I went to sleep. 562 00:26:40,833 --> 00:26:44,336 It's like 1:00 in the morning, and all of a sudden, 563 00:26:44,403 --> 00:26:47,539 my father has his arms around his chest. 564 00:26:47,606 --> 00:26:50,342 He comes in to me and he's crying. 565 00:26:50,409 --> 00:26:53,379 He's saying, "God, help me." 566 00:26:53,445 --> 00:26:55,481 Ambulance came, the police came, 567 00:26:55,547 --> 00:26:58,284 and they had him wrapped up on a stretcher. 568 00:26:58,350 --> 00:27:00,052 They're bringing him down the stairs, 569 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,021 and he just looked up at me and he smiled. 570 00:27:04,190 --> 00:27:07,026 Two hours later, I'm sleeping. 571 00:27:07,093 --> 00:27:10,229 The door opens, and my uncle is there. 572 00:27:10,296 --> 00:27:12,832 He said, "There's some bad news for you, Donny," 573 00:27:12,899 --> 00:27:14,901 and he told me. 574 00:27:14,967 --> 00:27:17,103 "Your father died tonight." 575 00:27:17,169 --> 00:27:20,807 [somber music] 576 00:27:20,873 --> 00:27:22,975 I am ruined. 577 00:27:23,042 --> 00:27:25,177 I mean, I was really mad. 578 00:27:26,713 --> 00:27:30,382 That was very painful, and it lasted a long time. 579 00:27:31,851 --> 00:27:36,022 It was almost like the happy '50s were over. 580 00:27:38,157 --> 00:27:40,326 When my father died, home left me, 581 00:27:40,392 --> 00:27:41,961 'cause it wasn't there anymore. 582 00:27:42,028 --> 00:27:45,497 You can imagine how important music became to me, 583 00:27:45,564 --> 00:27:48,000 creating something out of myself, 584 00:27:48,067 --> 00:27:50,236 moving away from all this. 585 00:27:52,638 --> 00:27:57,409 Once I had the guitar going, this folk thing started. 586 00:27:57,476 --> 00:28:02,081 I'd just write songs and follow my instincts. 587 00:28:02,148 --> 00:28:04,450 And I started playing around town. 588 00:28:04,516 --> 00:28:08,520 I would plan a concert almost every month. 589 00:28:08,587 --> 00:28:12,925 It was now about 1964, so I was about 18, 590 00:28:12,992 --> 00:28:14,560 and I had quit school 591 00:28:14,626 --> 00:28:16,128 'cause I wanted to be a singer. 592 00:28:16,195 --> 00:28:20,767 - * John Henry, when he was a baby * 593 00:28:20,833 --> 00:28:23,736 * Settin' down on his mammy's knee * 594 00:28:23,803 --> 00:28:26,372 - But now I was learning songs 595 00:28:26,438 --> 00:28:28,808 that had substance of some kind. 596 00:28:28,875 --> 00:28:31,510 They weren't little songs. They were big songs. 597 00:28:31,577 --> 00:28:34,146 Woody Guthrie's "Roll On, Columbia" 598 00:28:34,213 --> 00:28:36,515 was a big song about the Columbia River 599 00:28:36,582 --> 00:28:38,751 and the men that built the Grand Coulee Dam. 600 00:28:38,818 --> 00:28:41,153 - * There's a great and peaceful river * 601 00:28:41,220 --> 00:28:43,155 * In a land that's fair to see * 602 00:28:43,222 --> 00:28:45,091 - A song like "Roll On, Columbia," 603 00:28:45,157 --> 00:28:46,625 you start about talking about 604 00:28:46,692 --> 00:28:48,995 our country took the challenge, 605 00:28:49,061 --> 00:28:50,629 so you describe how it was. 606 00:28:50,696 --> 00:28:54,266 - * Roll, Columbia, won't you roll, roll, roll * 607 00:28:54,333 --> 00:28:55,835 - And each time, "Roll on, Columbia." 608 00:28:55,902 --> 00:28:57,970 - * Won't you roll, roll, roll * 609 00:28:58,037 --> 00:29:00,739 - And then you're talking about these mighty men labored 610 00:29:00,807 --> 00:29:03,342 by day and by night to build this thing. 611 00:29:03,409 --> 00:29:07,046 - * Seldom you see such a beautiful sight * 612 00:29:07,113 --> 00:29:08,948 - Third verse, you're understanding 613 00:29:09,015 --> 00:29:10,516 what's happening. 614 00:29:10,582 --> 00:29:12,484 And by the fourth verse, you hear that chorus, 615 00:29:12,551 --> 00:29:14,553 I mean, it all makes sense. 616 00:29:14,620 --> 00:29:15,922 That's the key. 617 00:29:15,988 --> 00:29:19,591 - * Roll on, Columbia, roll on * 618 00:29:19,658 --> 00:29:23,896 * Roll on, Columbia, roll on * 619 00:29:23,963 --> 00:29:28,100 * Your power is turning our darkness to dawn * 620 00:29:28,167 --> 00:29:29,435 * So roll on * 621 00:29:29,501 --> 00:29:31,037 - "Tutti Frutti" and "Don't Be Cruel" 622 00:29:31,103 --> 00:29:32,905 are fabulous small songs, 623 00:29:32,972 --> 00:29:35,374 and they changed the world with those simple songs, 624 00:29:35,441 --> 00:29:38,010 but these songs were more complicated 625 00:29:38,077 --> 00:29:40,479 and more interesting in terms of what they're teaching you 626 00:29:40,546 --> 00:29:42,748 about your country and about yourself. 627 00:29:42,815 --> 00:29:45,151 You know, who are we as Americans? 628 00:29:45,217 --> 00:29:46,552 A guy like me thought, 629 00:29:46,618 --> 00:29:48,420 "Wow, gee, I could write a song like that 630 00:29:48,487 --> 00:29:50,756 "with a little chorus in between and a little story, 631 00:29:50,823 --> 00:29:53,059 and a little chorus, and a little story," 632 00:29:53,125 --> 00:29:55,294 and that's what "American Pie" does. 633 00:29:55,361 --> 00:29:58,630 - * Well, come on, let's go, let's go * 634 00:29:58,697 --> 00:30:00,766 * Let's go, little darlin' * 635 00:30:00,833 --> 00:30:03,402 * And tell me that you'll never leave me * 636 00:30:03,469 --> 00:30:05,171 - I'm Connie Valens. 637 00:30:05,237 --> 00:30:07,206 Ritchie Valens was my brother. 638 00:30:07,273 --> 00:30:08,875 - * Again, again, and again * 639 00:30:08,941 --> 00:30:10,676 * Well now, swing * 640 00:30:10,742 --> 00:30:13,112 - The classic car show, it's about the time, 641 00:30:13,179 --> 00:30:15,347 it's about the '50s, just like my brother. 642 00:30:15,414 --> 00:30:17,249 You know, there's still an innocence there. 643 00:30:17,316 --> 00:30:18,918 There's a purity. 644 00:30:18,985 --> 00:30:21,921 [gentle music] 645 00:30:21,988 --> 00:30:23,322 * * 646 00:30:23,389 --> 00:30:26,258 We were born in the San Fernando Valley. 647 00:30:26,325 --> 00:30:28,460 Ritchie, he was just real warm, 648 00:30:28,527 --> 00:30:30,729 real loving, very protective. 649 00:30:33,099 --> 00:30:35,401 He discovered he was a pretty good singer and guitar player. 650 00:30:35,467 --> 00:30:39,271 My mom used to say he could make that guitar cry. 651 00:30:40,907 --> 00:30:43,742 The next thing you know, he's touring. 652 00:30:43,809 --> 00:30:46,245 Everything was just happening so fast. 653 00:30:46,312 --> 00:30:49,448 He was 17 with a big dream. 654 00:30:52,684 --> 00:30:55,554 My sister and I were walking home from school, 655 00:30:55,621 --> 00:30:58,124 and somebody said, "Your brother's dead." 656 00:30:58,190 --> 00:31:01,093 We just held hands and started running towards our house. 657 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:03,162 [somber music] 658 00:31:03,229 --> 00:31:06,032 Mama was sitting in the middle of the living room, 659 00:31:06,098 --> 00:31:07,466 and she turned around and looked at me, 660 00:31:07,533 --> 00:31:09,801 and she just looked so sad, 661 00:31:09,868 --> 00:31:12,972 and she just said 662 00:31:13,039 --> 00:31:15,507 that Ritchie had been killed. 663 00:31:15,574 --> 00:31:18,945 I remember just dropping to my knees 664 00:31:19,011 --> 00:31:21,347 and putting my head in her lap, 665 00:31:21,413 --> 00:31:25,351 and she just put her hand on my head. 666 00:31:26,652 --> 00:31:28,254 And that was the beginning 667 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:30,189 of a very dark time in our lives. 668 00:31:30,256 --> 00:31:37,363 * * 669 00:31:37,429 --> 00:31:41,067 The Surf is the cathedral of rock 'n' roll. 670 00:31:41,133 --> 00:31:43,135 This is the last place he was, 671 00:31:43,202 --> 00:31:46,772 and a little part of him will always be here, 672 00:31:46,838 --> 00:31:49,841 and every time I walk in, I feel it. 673 00:31:53,145 --> 00:31:55,948 And sometimes I just come up on the stage, 674 00:31:56,015 --> 00:31:57,849 and I stand where he stood. 675 00:31:59,418 --> 00:32:03,956 And it's like he's still with us. 676 00:32:04,023 --> 00:32:06,058 He always will be. 677 00:32:06,125 --> 00:32:11,964 - * Oh, Donna, oh, Donna * 678 00:32:12,031 --> 00:32:14,700 - I first heard of Don McLean and "American Pie" 679 00:32:14,766 --> 00:32:16,668 in the '70s when it was released. 680 00:32:16,735 --> 00:32:20,672 - * Donna was her name * 681 00:32:20,739 --> 00:32:23,275 - I thought he did a beautiful job. 682 00:32:23,342 --> 00:32:25,611 Obviously, he felt something 683 00:32:25,677 --> 00:32:28,247 very near and dear in the tragedy. 684 00:32:28,314 --> 00:32:29,648 It was so heartfelt, 685 00:32:29,715 --> 00:32:33,019 and the lyrics are just beautiful. 686 00:32:33,085 --> 00:32:34,553 I thought it was pretty cool 687 00:32:34,620 --> 00:32:37,256 that somebody would care enough to do that. 688 00:32:37,323 --> 00:32:42,128 - * Oh, Donna, oh * 689 00:32:42,194 --> 00:32:44,430 - We were all very touched. 690 00:32:44,496 --> 00:32:47,366 It was another little bit of healing for our family. 691 00:32:50,802 --> 00:32:53,972 - There was this inch-square advertisement 692 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:55,607 in the "New York Times," 693 00:32:55,674 --> 00:32:59,011 said, "Pete Seeger sings for Hudson River sloop." 694 00:33:00,679 --> 00:33:04,350 I got in my car, and it was a little concert 695 00:33:04,416 --> 00:33:06,518 in Garrison, New York, 696 00:33:06,585 --> 00:33:09,721 directly across from West Point. 697 00:33:12,891 --> 00:33:15,727 And then I find Osborne's Castle, 698 00:33:15,794 --> 00:33:18,364 which is where this event was held. 699 00:33:18,430 --> 00:33:20,866 The castle was way up on the hill, 700 00:33:20,932 --> 00:33:24,070 but there was this low area with rolling fields. 701 00:33:24,136 --> 00:33:28,674 - * I'm gonna lay down my sword and shield * 702 00:33:28,740 --> 00:33:31,643 * Down by the riverside * 703 00:33:31,710 --> 00:33:35,647 - Seeger, he plays banjo on this plywood stage 704 00:33:35,714 --> 00:33:37,516 and the one microphone, 705 00:33:37,583 --> 00:33:40,186 and then during a break, I introduced myself, 706 00:33:40,252 --> 00:33:42,088 and he knew who I was because I'd been writing him 707 00:33:42,154 --> 00:33:43,789 since junior high school. 708 00:33:43,855 --> 00:33:48,527 And he liked me and he asked me to be on a concert in 1968. 709 00:33:48,594 --> 00:33:51,397 And I got right involved with that, right away. 710 00:33:51,463 --> 00:33:55,801 all: * Bye, bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye * 711 00:33:55,867 --> 00:33:58,070 - He took me under his wing and brought me around 712 00:33:58,137 --> 00:34:01,373 and had me open for him or be a guest on his show, 713 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:03,642 and then he put this gang of singers together, 714 00:34:03,709 --> 00:34:05,010 and I was part of that. 715 00:34:05,077 --> 00:34:09,915 - * Well, I thought I heard the captain say * 716 00:34:09,981 --> 00:34:12,718 - Suddenly, I'm in this whole world. 717 00:34:12,784 --> 00:34:16,655 It's art, it's recordings, it's live performing. 718 00:34:19,191 --> 00:34:22,528 Seeger took us to the Newport Folk Festival in 1969. 719 00:34:22,594 --> 00:34:24,730 That was a big deal. 720 00:34:24,796 --> 00:34:27,533 It's still one of the high points of my entire life. 721 00:34:29,067 --> 00:34:33,739 Van Morrison, James Taylor, Muddy Waters was there. 722 00:34:35,541 --> 00:34:36,975 Somehow or other, 723 00:34:37,042 --> 00:34:40,412 they let the Everly Brothers come to Newport-- 724 00:34:40,479 --> 00:34:41,747 rock 'n' roll. 725 00:34:41,813 --> 00:34:44,483 - * Gimme rock 'n' roll music * 726 00:34:44,550 --> 00:34:47,386 * Whoo, any old way you choose it * 727 00:34:47,453 --> 00:34:48,920 - Wow. 728 00:34:48,987 --> 00:34:54,793 They came on stage, and they were incredible. 729 00:34:54,860 --> 00:34:57,863 - * If you knew, Peggy Sue * 730 00:34:57,929 --> 00:35:01,533 * Just how my heart yearned for you, oh, Peggy * 731 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:02,968 - I had been reading, you know, 732 00:35:03,034 --> 00:35:04,703 what little bit I could, and I knew 733 00:35:04,770 --> 00:35:07,539 that the Everlys were very close to Buddy Holly. 734 00:35:07,606 --> 00:35:10,509 - * I need you, Peggy Sue * 735 00:35:10,576 --> 00:35:12,311 - So after the show was over, 736 00:35:12,378 --> 00:35:14,713 I had to say hello to them. 737 00:35:14,780 --> 00:35:17,115 So I went to Phil Everly, and I said, 738 00:35:17,183 --> 00:35:19,551 "You know, I know that you knew Buddy Holly. 739 00:35:19,618 --> 00:35:22,288 Could you tell me a little bit about him and what happened?" 740 00:35:22,354 --> 00:35:25,391 He said, "We were very good friends," he said, 741 00:35:25,457 --> 00:35:27,326 "And Buddy decided to take a plane 742 00:35:27,393 --> 00:35:30,629 to get out ahead of the tour to get his laundry done." 743 00:35:30,696 --> 00:35:35,100 "He died for dirty laundry," I thought to myself. Wow. 744 00:35:35,167 --> 00:35:37,536 Man, he's a human being 745 00:35:37,603 --> 00:35:39,971 with a sack of dirty clothes. 746 00:35:40,038 --> 00:35:42,774 Gee, the whole thing started coming back. 747 00:35:42,841 --> 00:35:47,979 Front and center, it was absolutely haunting me now. 748 00:35:49,581 --> 00:35:54,720 - * A long, long time ago * 749 00:35:54,786 --> 00:35:56,455 When you look back at Garth Brooks' career, 750 00:35:56,522 --> 00:35:57,989 if you remember anything from it, 751 00:35:58,056 --> 00:36:00,292 you'll remember Central Park will be the crown jewel. 752 00:36:00,359 --> 00:36:03,094 1997, August 7, beautiful night. 753 00:36:03,161 --> 00:36:06,632 * And I knew if I had my chance * 754 00:36:06,698 --> 00:36:08,634 - Garth Brooks, I'd heard about him singing 755 00:36:08,700 --> 00:36:10,536 "American Pie" from the beginning 756 00:36:10,602 --> 00:36:12,170 when he was just getting started. 757 00:36:12,238 --> 00:36:14,473 Then bigger, bigger, bigger, every year, bigger, 758 00:36:14,540 --> 00:36:16,174 always singing this song. 759 00:36:16,242 --> 00:36:20,512 So the big word now is that he's gonna play Central Park. 760 00:36:20,579 --> 00:36:23,782 - * With every paper I'd deliver * 761 00:36:23,849 --> 00:36:27,052 - So I get a fax, he wants me to be on the show. 762 00:36:27,118 --> 00:36:30,589 - * I couldn't take one more step * 763 00:36:30,656 --> 00:36:33,325 We had a million people show up, live TV. 764 00:36:33,392 --> 00:36:35,060 It could not be going better, 765 00:36:35,126 --> 00:36:39,331 and then we go into our final leg of our stuff, 766 00:36:39,398 --> 00:36:43,201 and knowing that you're about to tell these people 767 00:36:43,269 --> 00:36:46,272 that Don McLean's gonna come out and sing "American Pie," 768 00:36:46,338 --> 00:36:48,139 you were 16-foot tall. 769 00:36:48,206 --> 00:36:49,174 You knew it. 770 00:36:49,241 --> 00:36:51,076 Ladies and gentlemen, 771 00:36:51,142 --> 00:36:53,712 it's a great honor and a great privilege, 772 00:36:53,779 --> 00:36:55,146 Mr. Don McLean. 773 00:36:55,213 --> 00:36:58,817 [cheers and applause] 774 00:36:58,884 --> 00:37:03,722 And when I introduced him, God, he looked fantastic. 775 00:37:03,789 --> 00:37:05,724 He came out with that smile, 776 00:37:05,791 --> 00:37:08,460 and he gets to be the guy in the cape. 777 00:37:08,527 --> 00:37:11,229 And he wears the cape well, man. 778 00:37:14,266 --> 00:37:16,868 - Sing the chorus again! 779 00:37:16,935 --> 00:37:20,238 * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 780 00:37:20,306 --> 00:37:24,810 * Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry * 781 00:37:24,876 --> 00:37:27,513 - He comes out, and he just gets 782 00:37:27,579 --> 00:37:31,016 that big old guitar going, and it's just a little slower, 783 00:37:31,082 --> 00:37:34,853 so you see all million people just kind of lean in, 784 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:37,956 and everybody's inner child comes out. 785 00:37:38,023 --> 00:37:40,726 - * And I went down to the sacred store * 786 00:37:40,792 --> 00:37:44,162 * Where I'd heard the music years before * 787 00:37:44,229 --> 00:37:48,434 * But the man there said the music wouldn't play * 788 00:37:48,500 --> 00:37:51,236 I like a crowd that's happy, 789 00:37:51,303 --> 00:37:52,671 And they were very happy. 790 00:37:52,738 --> 00:37:55,106 It was a summer night, and they were loose, 791 00:37:55,173 --> 00:37:57,242 and they were ready, and I love that. 792 00:37:57,309 --> 00:38:03,949 both: * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 793 00:38:04,015 --> 00:38:10,922 * Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry * 794 00:38:10,989 --> 00:38:14,326 - "American Pie" isn't about a nation as much 795 00:38:14,393 --> 00:38:17,796 as it is about that drive of independence, 796 00:38:17,863 --> 00:38:19,398 that drive of discovery, 797 00:38:19,465 --> 00:38:22,267 that drive of believing anything is possible. 798 00:38:22,334 --> 00:38:24,202 Freedom within you. 799 00:38:24,269 --> 00:38:25,871 Okay now, New York. 800 00:38:25,937 --> 00:38:29,508 We want to hear just you guys singing. 801 00:38:29,575 --> 00:38:31,710 * We were singin'... * 802 00:38:31,777 --> 00:38:33,078 all: * Bye-bye... * 803 00:38:33,144 --> 00:38:36,848 - People found a road map in this song 804 00:38:36,915 --> 00:38:38,684 that is a million different things 805 00:38:38,750 --> 00:38:40,085 to a million different people. 806 00:38:40,151 --> 00:38:42,554 "American Pie" is one of those few songs 807 00:38:42,621 --> 00:38:43,889 you can stand behind and go, 808 00:38:43,955 --> 00:38:45,924 "This is what the power of music is." 809 00:38:45,991 --> 00:38:50,228 both: * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 810 00:38:50,295 --> 00:38:53,031 - Talk about the perfect night needs the perfect ending, 811 00:38:53,098 --> 00:38:54,433 how about pulling one of the greatest 812 00:38:54,500 --> 00:38:57,403 singer-songwriter artists in history out? 813 00:38:57,469 --> 00:38:59,538 How about him singing his ass off, 814 00:38:59,605 --> 00:39:02,608 and then, oh, yeah, this could quite possibly be 815 00:39:02,674 --> 00:39:04,443 the greatest song in music history 816 00:39:04,510 --> 00:39:07,078 that you get to end the biggest night of your career on. 817 00:39:07,145 --> 00:39:08,580 Don McLean! 818 00:39:08,647 --> 00:39:10,315 [cheers and applause] 819 00:39:10,382 --> 00:39:13,452 I think you're looking at a 50-year-old song 820 00:39:13,519 --> 00:39:15,987 that gets prettier every year, 821 00:39:16,054 --> 00:39:18,089 classier every year. 822 00:39:18,156 --> 00:39:20,459 This thing-- this thing is timeless, 823 00:39:20,526 --> 00:39:24,696 because no one's ever written anything like it since. 824 00:39:24,763 --> 00:39:27,399 [country music] 825 00:39:27,466 --> 00:39:29,468 * * 826 00:39:29,535 --> 00:39:31,202 - I graduated in 1968 827 00:39:31,269 --> 00:39:33,972 with this degree that I knew I'd never use. 828 00:39:35,373 --> 00:39:39,645 In 1969, I had just been out of school a year 829 00:39:39,711 --> 00:39:42,781 and I had a three-album deal with Media Arts Records. 830 00:39:42,848 --> 00:39:44,883 * And if she asks you why * 831 00:39:44,950 --> 00:39:47,986 * You can then tell her that I told you * 832 00:39:48,053 --> 00:39:51,657 * That I'm tired of castles in the air * 833 00:39:51,723 --> 00:39:54,192 I moved up to the Hudson River. 834 00:39:54,259 --> 00:39:56,495 * Hills of forest green * 835 00:39:56,562 --> 00:39:59,130 * Where the mountains touch the sky * 836 00:39:59,197 --> 00:40:01,867 I lived in this little gate house 837 00:40:01,933 --> 00:40:04,736 to an estate in Cold Spring, New York. 838 00:40:04,803 --> 00:40:06,972 It was pretty primitive. 839 00:40:07,038 --> 00:40:09,675 No heat, very cold in the winter, 840 00:40:09,741 --> 00:40:12,210 but I rented it very inexpensively. 841 00:40:12,277 --> 00:40:17,382 * Save me from all the trouble and the pain * 842 00:40:17,449 --> 00:40:19,084 Up on the second floor, 843 00:40:19,150 --> 00:40:20,886 there was a tiny little bedroom, 844 00:40:20,952 --> 00:40:24,122 and there was a chair I put rockers on, 845 00:40:24,189 --> 00:40:26,224 and I would rock on that thing 846 00:40:26,291 --> 00:40:30,161 and type on my little typewriter and write songs. 847 00:40:30,228 --> 00:40:32,063 * Why I can't remain * 848 00:40:32,130 --> 00:40:34,265 I was writing furiously now. 849 00:40:34,332 --> 00:40:36,401 I was inspired by the people that I met, 850 00:40:36,468 --> 00:40:38,069 the artists, the writers, 851 00:40:38,136 --> 00:40:41,372 the scientists, the political people. 852 00:40:41,439 --> 00:40:45,110 And the first album I made was called "Tapestry." 853 00:40:45,176 --> 00:40:47,979 And I'm making "Tapestry" in 1969 854 00:40:48,046 --> 00:40:51,917 in Berkeley, California, and there'd be a small riot 855 00:40:51,983 --> 00:40:54,419 every day I was making that record. 856 00:40:54,486 --> 00:40:58,790 They are gassing the guys coming to the sessions, 857 00:40:58,857 --> 00:41:01,126 like, every day, so I'm thinking, 858 00:41:01,192 --> 00:41:03,895 it's crazy, what's gonna happen to the country now? 859 00:41:03,962 --> 00:41:05,296 Things are getting worse. 860 00:41:08,967 --> 00:41:12,070 We had had numerous assassinations 861 00:41:12,137 --> 00:41:13,972 throughout the '60s. 862 00:41:15,273 --> 00:41:17,008 The Kennedy assassination, 863 00:41:17,075 --> 00:41:19,277 Martin Luther King, 864 00:41:19,344 --> 00:41:22,213 and RFK. 865 00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:24,415 We had the war in Vietnam. 866 00:41:26,885 --> 00:41:28,987 Rage against Nixon 867 00:41:29,054 --> 00:41:32,257 and the chaotic insanity that was out there. 868 00:41:34,092 --> 00:41:36,127 It broke up families, 869 00:41:36,194 --> 00:41:37,963 tearing the whole place apart. 870 00:41:39,565 --> 00:41:43,401 The country was in an advanced state 871 00:41:43,468 --> 00:41:44,903 of psychic shock. 872 00:41:46,437 --> 00:41:49,207 Drugs everywhere. Everybody's smoking dope 873 00:41:49,274 --> 00:41:51,376 and sleeping with everybody else. 874 00:41:53,478 --> 00:41:56,615 And all this bedlam and riots and burning cities, 875 00:41:56,682 --> 00:42:00,151 and I'm always standing back trying to read the signs. 876 00:42:00,218 --> 00:42:01,887 All right, what's this mean? 877 00:42:01,953 --> 00:42:04,122 You know, and tried to put it somehow 878 00:42:04,189 --> 00:42:06,925 in my simple way into some of these songs. 879 00:42:09,460 --> 00:42:11,129 I was working on this second record, 880 00:42:11,196 --> 00:42:12,898 but I wasn't happy with it, 881 00:42:12,964 --> 00:42:16,968 and so I said, "I got to have a big song about America." 882 00:42:17,035 --> 00:42:19,170 I just really knew I wanted to do this. 883 00:42:23,775 --> 00:42:27,913 One day, I was up there sitting on the little bed, 884 00:42:27,979 --> 00:42:31,249 and I turned this tape recorder on, 885 00:42:31,316 --> 00:42:35,153 and I just started singing... 886 00:42:35,220 --> 00:42:38,456 * A long, long time ago * 887 00:42:38,523 --> 00:42:43,829 * I can still remember how that music used to make me smile * 888 00:42:45,496 --> 00:42:47,465 [recording] * And I knew if I had my chance * 889 00:42:47,532 --> 00:42:49,768 * That I could make those people dance * 890 00:42:49,835 --> 00:42:54,005 * And maybe they'd be happy for a while * 891 00:42:54,072 --> 00:42:57,676 * But February made me shiver * 892 00:42:57,743 --> 00:43:00,378 * With every paper I'd deliver * 893 00:43:00,445 --> 00:43:03,014 * Bad news on the doorstep * 894 00:43:03,081 --> 00:43:06,618 * I couldn't take one more step * 895 00:43:06,685 --> 00:43:08,419 * I can't remember if I cried * 896 00:43:08,486 --> 00:43:11,923 * When I read about his widowed bride * 897 00:43:11,990 --> 00:43:15,727 [live] * But something touched me deep inside * 898 00:43:15,794 --> 00:43:21,900 * The day the music died * 899 00:43:21,967 --> 00:43:25,436 I said, whoa. 900 00:43:25,503 --> 00:43:27,138 What is that? 901 00:43:27,205 --> 00:43:29,775 This whole thing was coming up in me, 902 00:43:29,841 --> 00:43:35,046 for all those years before of thinking of Buddy, 903 00:43:35,113 --> 00:43:37,148 and it all came out right through 904 00:43:37,215 --> 00:43:38,684 to the day the music died. 905 00:43:38,750 --> 00:43:41,419 Every single word I wrote just came 906 00:43:41,486 --> 00:43:43,655 like a genie out of a bottle. 907 00:43:43,722 --> 00:43:47,358 And I said to myself, "Wow, I got something." 908 00:43:47,425 --> 00:43:50,595 So I'm thinking as a few weeks went by, 909 00:43:50,662 --> 00:43:52,597 I don't want this to be a ballad, 910 00:43:52,664 --> 00:43:55,734 so I got to write a hot chorus. 911 00:43:55,801 --> 00:43:57,102 I waited a long time, 912 00:43:57,168 --> 00:43:59,304 and then I came up with this crazy chorus. 913 00:43:59,370 --> 00:44:03,008 [recording] * So bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 914 00:44:03,074 --> 00:44:07,545 * I drove me Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry * 915 00:44:07,612 --> 00:44:11,216 * Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye * 916 00:44:11,282 --> 00:44:15,620 * And singing, "This'll be the day that I die" * 917 00:44:15,687 --> 00:44:19,324 * This'll be the day that I die * 918 00:44:19,390 --> 00:44:21,259 I had already written about the idea, 919 00:44:21,326 --> 00:44:23,528 the Holly thing was now right front and center, 920 00:44:23,594 --> 00:44:25,330 and so I said, "This'll be the day that I die." 921 00:44:25,396 --> 00:44:26,898 I had to have that in there. 922 00:44:26,965 --> 00:44:30,501 You know, that way I keep it flowing forward in the chorus. 923 00:44:30,568 --> 00:44:33,104 It was from, "That'll Be the Day That I Die." 924 00:44:33,171 --> 00:44:35,306 Buddy learned that phrase 925 00:44:35,373 --> 00:44:37,709 from "The Searchers," the John Wayne movie 926 00:44:37,776 --> 00:44:40,645 where the Duke says, "That'll be the day." 927 00:44:40,712 --> 00:44:44,649 And there was a song that Pete Seeger used to sing, 928 00:44:44,716 --> 00:44:47,118 and it was called "Bye-bye, My Roseanna." 929 00:44:47,185 --> 00:44:48,519 And he would sing... 930 00:44:48,586 --> 00:44:52,791 both: * Bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye * 931 00:44:52,858 --> 00:44:56,995 * Bye-bye, my Roseanna * 932 00:44:57,062 --> 00:44:59,064 And that "bye-bye" thing stayed in my head, 933 00:44:59,130 --> 00:45:02,500 I think, from that one, so I put it in there. 934 00:45:02,567 --> 00:45:06,704 I chose "American Pie," because you're as American, 935 00:45:06,772 --> 00:45:09,307 as apple pie, but I just dropped the apple out, 936 00:45:09,374 --> 00:45:13,278 and I said, "American Pie, whoa, that's great." 937 00:45:13,344 --> 00:45:15,546 I knew I had the tiger by the tail. 938 00:45:15,613 --> 00:45:18,316 [stirring music] 939 00:45:18,383 --> 00:45:20,285 I got this hot chorus, 940 00:45:20,351 --> 00:45:22,387 and I got this beautiful opening, 941 00:45:22,453 --> 00:45:25,390 and now I'm thinking, well, where do I go with this? 942 00:45:25,456 --> 00:45:28,093 'Cause I want to write a song about America, 943 00:45:28,159 --> 00:45:29,694 but I don't want to write a song 944 00:45:29,761 --> 00:45:33,965 like anybody ever wrote about America before. 945 00:45:34,032 --> 00:45:36,534 [birds chirping] 946 00:45:36,601 --> 00:45:39,504 [stirring music] 947 00:45:39,570 --> 00:45:41,239 * * 948 00:45:41,306 --> 00:45:42,540 - I was second-generation, 949 00:45:42,607 --> 00:45:44,642 'cause I grew up in a Greek household. 950 00:45:44,709 --> 00:45:47,478 I was born in San Francisco, only there for a year, 951 00:45:47,545 --> 00:45:49,714 in LA another year, and then grew up in Gary, Indiana. 952 00:45:51,316 --> 00:45:52,884 Before even I'm an artist, 953 00:45:52,951 --> 00:45:55,153 I'm somebody who's just interested in the humanities 954 00:45:55,220 --> 00:45:56,822 and in history, you know, and philosophy, 955 00:45:56,888 --> 00:45:58,489 especially, and poetry. 956 00:45:58,556 --> 00:46:00,725 And a lot of these people that I've sculpted 957 00:46:00,792 --> 00:46:02,593 have pressed the boundaries of things. 958 00:46:02,660 --> 00:46:04,329 They wanted to see a better world, 959 00:46:04,395 --> 00:46:06,531 they wanted to be part of that. 960 00:46:08,066 --> 00:46:09,767 Don, I had seen him in a show, 961 00:46:09,835 --> 00:46:11,970 "The American Dream Machine," and I thought, wow. 962 00:46:12,037 --> 00:46:13,371 It was so sensitive, 963 00:46:13,438 --> 00:46:15,773 and he was reshaping how I thought about the ecology. 964 00:46:18,209 --> 00:46:19,710 I said I'd like to sculpt him, 965 00:46:19,777 --> 00:46:21,479 and I think the first time he sat, 966 00:46:21,546 --> 00:46:24,615 he played the guitar for ten hours straight. 967 00:46:24,682 --> 00:46:25,884 Then he came here and did the same thing 968 00:46:25,951 --> 00:46:27,118 right in this very room. 969 00:46:29,254 --> 00:46:31,489 He doesn't miss a thing. 970 00:46:31,556 --> 00:46:34,659 He's very open to the muse, 971 00:46:34,725 --> 00:46:37,328 so all that goes into the music. 972 00:46:37,395 --> 00:46:38,629 "American Pie" is "War and Peace." 973 00:46:38,696 --> 00:46:42,267 It's the "Moby Dick." It's the big novel. 974 00:46:42,333 --> 00:46:44,435 He has a narrative like a dream. 975 00:46:44,502 --> 00:46:45,971 You create all the characters in your dreams, 976 00:46:46,037 --> 00:46:47,538 so you're part of all of them. 977 00:46:47,605 --> 00:46:49,841 You know, the jester and the king. 978 00:46:49,908 --> 00:46:52,743 He was there at the right time and captured so much 979 00:46:52,810 --> 00:46:55,213 of that history that he was part of too, 980 00:46:55,280 --> 00:46:57,215 but he knows that history so well. 981 00:46:59,184 --> 00:47:00,718 If Don hadn't written "American Pie," 982 00:47:00,785 --> 00:47:02,420 no one would ever have written it. 983 00:47:02,487 --> 00:47:04,622 See, it's unique to who he was, 984 00:47:04,689 --> 00:47:07,225 where in space and time he grew up. 985 00:47:10,795 --> 00:47:13,498 We're in front of my Freedom Sculpture. 986 00:47:13,564 --> 00:47:15,867 You see the struggle to break free. 987 00:47:17,869 --> 00:47:20,638 And I wanted to put a poet in my sculpture, 988 00:47:20,705 --> 00:47:23,441 and the poet in my life, besides reading Robert Frost 989 00:47:23,508 --> 00:47:25,710 and T.S. Eliot and others, was Don McLean. 990 00:47:27,778 --> 00:47:30,548 Don's song, "American Pie," is an epic song, 991 00:47:30,615 --> 00:47:32,050 not just because of its length, 992 00:47:32,117 --> 00:47:33,851 but because of its scope, 993 00:47:33,919 --> 00:47:37,488 and I wanted to have some sense of that in my sculpture. 994 00:47:39,357 --> 00:47:42,193 "American Pie" is an open-ended piece. 995 00:47:42,260 --> 00:47:43,962 It's not so specific 996 00:47:44,029 --> 00:47:46,331 that you can't put yourself in there. 997 00:47:47,665 --> 00:47:49,200 What happens with Don McLean's song, 998 00:47:49,267 --> 00:47:52,803 and with this for me, is if you leave it open-ended, 999 00:47:52,870 --> 00:47:55,140 you're inviting people to participate and to have 1000 00:47:55,206 --> 00:47:57,608 a dialogue with you, to make themselves part of it, 1001 00:47:57,675 --> 00:47:59,710 and they become very emotionally involved. 1002 00:48:02,347 --> 00:48:05,583 With Don, "American Pie", there are little mysteries, 1003 00:48:05,650 --> 00:48:07,752 and Don is about mystery with his music. 1004 00:48:07,818 --> 00:48:09,520 He even talks about his song, "American Pie," 1005 00:48:09,587 --> 00:48:11,456 being a kind of a dream. 1006 00:48:11,522 --> 00:48:12,991 Turning your dreams into reality 1007 00:48:13,058 --> 00:48:14,725 is what we do as artists. 1008 00:48:20,498 --> 00:48:23,334 [Tim Hardin's "Bird on the Wire"] 1009 00:48:23,401 --> 00:48:25,403 * * 1010 00:48:25,470 --> 00:48:28,306 I was working on this "American Pie" song, 1011 00:48:28,373 --> 00:48:30,508 and I had eight or nine songs 1012 00:48:30,575 --> 00:48:32,743 that were going to go on the album, 1013 00:48:32,810 --> 00:48:34,845 and now the question was how to make 1014 00:48:34,912 --> 00:48:36,447 a good record out of it. 1015 00:48:36,514 --> 00:48:39,350 - * I have tried in my way * 1016 00:48:39,417 --> 00:48:40,918 - I heard a couple of records, 1017 00:48:40,986 --> 00:48:43,188 one by Tim Hardin called "Bird on a Wire." 1018 00:48:43,254 --> 00:48:45,423 - * Tried in my way * 1019 00:48:45,490 --> 00:48:46,958 - Ooh, I liked that record. 1020 00:48:47,025 --> 00:48:48,926 There was some nice things on there. 1021 00:48:48,994 --> 00:48:50,561 - * Free * 1022 00:48:50,628 --> 00:48:52,830 - Ed Freeman is the producer, 1023 00:48:52,897 --> 00:48:55,733 so I said, I want this guy, Ed Freeman. 1024 00:48:58,036 --> 00:49:01,106 - Don came over to my apartment in New York 1025 00:49:01,172 --> 00:49:04,042 and played me some songs, and I wasn't 1026 00:49:04,109 --> 00:49:05,776 all that impressed, frankly. 1027 00:49:05,843 --> 00:49:10,348 But I needed a job, so I thought, well, okay. 1028 00:49:10,415 --> 00:49:13,484 And then, slowly, as we started working, 1029 00:49:13,551 --> 00:49:15,586 I started realizing, oh, wait a minute, 1030 00:49:15,653 --> 00:49:17,855 this guy is the real deal. 1031 00:49:20,825 --> 00:49:23,228 - I had the album, I knew how I wanted it to sound, 1032 00:49:23,294 --> 00:49:24,895 I had the producer. 1033 00:49:24,962 --> 00:49:28,133 It was all progressing, but I didn't have the big one, 1034 00:49:28,199 --> 00:49:32,637 and the big one had to blow them all away. 1035 00:49:35,540 --> 00:49:38,543 - I remember Don played me the first verse 1036 00:49:38,609 --> 00:49:40,645 and chorus of "American Pie," 1037 00:49:40,711 --> 00:49:43,348 and he said he hadn't finished writing it at that point, 1038 00:49:43,414 --> 00:49:45,150 so I said, "You should finish that, 1039 00:49:45,216 --> 00:49:47,285 that it sounds like it could be a hit." 1040 00:49:49,087 --> 00:49:51,889 - Now I'm thinking, well, where do I go with this? 1041 00:49:51,956 --> 00:49:54,159 'Cause I want to write a song about the new America, 1042 00:49:54,225 --> 00:49:57,195 which is rock 'n' roll, which is people's involvement 1043 00:49:57,262 --> 00:50:00,731 in politics and the connection between all that, 1044 00:50:00,798 --> 00:50:03,301 rather than, you know, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," 1045 00:50:03,368 --> 00:50:05,036 or "This Land is your Land." 1046 00:50:05,103 --> 00:50:09,474 * So bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 1047 00:50:09,540 --> 00:50:10,975 * I drove my Chevy to the levee * 1048 00:50:11,042 --> 00:50:12,710 The chorus came out, and then when I had that, 1049 00:50:12,777 --> 00:50:14,479 I said, well, I've got the engine now 1050 00:50:14,545 --> 00:50:15,880 to get this thing going. 1051 00:50:15,946 --> 00:50:19,584 All I've got to do is sing the slow part 1052 00:50:19,650 --> 00:50:22,587 of the song to a rock 'n' roll beat. 1053 00:50:22,653 --> 00:50:25,256 In other words, and take "A long, long time ago. 1054 00:50:25,323 --> 00:50:26,857 Did you write the book of love?" 1055 00:50:26,924 --> 00:50:30,461 It's the same thing, sped up to rock 'n' roll. 1056 00:50:30,528 --> 00:50:33,131 * Did you write the book of love? * 1057 00:50:33,198 --> 00:50:36,534 * And do you have faith in God above? * 1058 00:50:36,601 --> 00:50:38,669 And it must have been a month or two later, 1059 00:50:38,736 --> 00:50:41,739 I wrote all the verses in, like, an hour. 1060 00:50:41,806 --> 00:50:44,975 * Do you believe in rock and roll? * 1061 00:50:45,042 --> 00:50:47,678 I was building it. I could hear it. 1062 00:50:47,745 --> 00:50:49,347 I could feel it, that something was going on, 1063 00:50:49,414 --> 00:50:50,915 bigger than me. 1064 00:50:50,981 --> 00:50:53,851 I was trying to create some sort of an abstract, 1065 00:50:53,918 --> 00:50:57,788 dream-like story about America. 1066 00:50:57,855 --> 00:51:00,958 * Well, I know that you're in love with him * 1067 00:51:01,025 --> 00:51:04,395 * I, I saw you dancing in the gym * 1068 00:51:04,462 --> 00:51:06,564 The song came to me in one shot. 1069 00:51:06,631 --> 00:51:08,766 There were a lot of spiral notebook pages, 1070 00:51:08,833 --> 00:51:11,569 and I say how the song is gonna be constructed, 1071 00:51:11,636 --> 00:51:14,272 I make a little blueprint of the song. 1072 00:51:14,339 --> 00:51:18,709 * In a coat he borrowed from James Dean, and a voice * 1073 00:51:18,776 --> 00:51:22,180 After I wrote the whole thing, I'm sure I sat down, 1074 00:51:22,247 --> 00:51:23,314 and I was still trying to figure out 1075 00:51:23,381 --> 00:51:24,682 how to get out of it. 1076 00:51:24,749 --> 00:51:26,984 * And when he'd had enough of that * 1077 00:51:27,051 --> 00:51:30,221 * He pinched the queen and passed the hat * 1078 00:51:30,288 --> 00:51:32,257 You know, it couldn't end and it couldn't fade, 1079 00:51:32,323 --> 00:51:33,658 so I didn't know what to do. 1080 00:51:33,724 --> 00:51:34,759 So I thought, well, the only thing I can do 1081 00:51:34,825 --> 00:51:36,561 is slow down like it started. 1082 00:51:36,627 --> 00:51:39,464 Perfect. Exactly right. 1083 00:51:39,530 --> 00:51:41,932 * And the three men I admire most * 1084 00:51:41,999 --> 00:51:44,335 * The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost * 1085 00:51:44,402 --> 00:51:47,205 - Then, of course, he finished "American Pie," and I thought, 1086 00:51:47,272 --> 00:51:50,541 well, no radio station is gonna play this thing 1087 00:51:50,608 --> 00:51:53,077 because it's 8.5 minutes long, 1088 00:51:53,144 --> 00:51:54,979 but it's a really good song. 1089 00:51:55,045 --> 00:51:59,450 - * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 1090 00:51:59,517 --> 00:52:01,286 I just knew I had something 1091 00:52:01,352 --> 00:52:04,755 that I thought was incredibly great and fun, 1092 00:52:04,822 --> 00:52:07,892 but that nobody else might dig at all. 1093 00:52:07,958 --> 00:52:14,332 * Singing, "This'll be the day that I die" * 1094 00:52:14,399 --> 00:52:17,034 That's enough for today, [laughs] 1095 00:52:18,636 --> 00:52:21,206 [martial music] 1096 00:52:21,272 --> 00:52:23,274 - Welcome to Philadelphia. 1097 00:52:23,341 --> 00:52:25,610 It's a beautiful city on a beautiful day, 1098 00:52:25,676 --> 00:52:28,846 and it's my pleasure to show you my hometown. 1099 00:52:28,913 --> 00:52:31,081 This building right here is the true 1100 00:52:31,148 --> 00:52:32,883 ground zero of the United States. 1101 00:52:32,950 --> 00:52:36,187 Independence Hall established justice. 1102 00:52:36,254 --> 00:52:38,589 This is where the Declaration of Independence 1103 00:52:38,656 --> 00:52:39,957 "promote the general welfare," 1104 00:52:40,024 --> 00:52:41,859 The articles of Confederation 1105 00:52:41,926 --> 00:52:43,928 "ensure domestic tranquility," 1106 00:52:43,994 --> 00:52:46,431 and the Constitution of the United States 1107 00:52:46,497 --> 00:52:47,765 were all written and signed. 1108 00:52:47,832 --> 00:52:50,768 That is the birthplace of the United States. 1109 00:52:52,102 --> 00:52:55,673 My name is Clark DeLeon, and I saw Don McLean sing 1110 00:52:55,740 --> 00:52:57,508 "American Pie" for the first time. 1111 00:52:57,575 --> 00:53:00,645 [dreamy music] 1112 00:53:00,711 --> 00:53:02,913 The story was that Don performed "American Pie" 1113 00:53:02,980 --> 00:53:05,750 for the first time at Temple University, 1114 00:53:05,816 --> 00:53:08,686 but I know this happened at St. Joe's University 1115 00:53:08,753 --> 00:53:10,955 at the field house. 1116 00:53:11,021 --> 00:53:13,624 I am a columnist at the "Philadelphia Inquirer," 1117 00:53:13,691 --> 00:53:15,860 so I wrote about it, I talked to Don McLean 1118 00:53:15,926 --> 00:53:17,862 and I just set the record straight. 1119 00:53:17,928 --> 00:53:20,665 And then when I called him up, he readily admitted it. 1120 00:53:20,731 --> 00:53:25,236 * * 1121 00:53:25,303 --> 00:53:27,004 It was March, it was a rainy day. 1122 00:53:27,071 --> 00:53:29,440 My wife and I went to see Laura Nyro. 1123 00:53:29,507 --> 00:53:33,278 Now, Don McLean was just a throw in and the opening act. 1124 00:53:33,344 --> 00:53:35,045 So we got there, and this field house, 1125 00:53:35,112 --> 00:53:36,914 I remember we were sitting in the side. 1126 00:53:36,981 --> 00:53:39,550 He came out and was just-- immediately had the crowd, 1127 00:53:39,617 --> 00:53:41,719 but then he said, "I've got this new song. 1128 00:53:41,786 --> 00:53:43,921 It's so new, I haven't even learned all the words." 1129 00:53:43,988 --> 00:53:45,556 And he said, "I'm gonna need some help 1130 00:53:45,623 --> 00:53:46,957 "from the audience here. 1131 00:53:47,024 --> 00:53:48,959 Can you--" and he holds it to a young woman. 1132 00:53:49,026 --> 00:53:50,361 "Would you mind holding these up?" 1133 00:53:50,428 --> 00:53:52,997 while he began the song. 1134 00:53:53,063 --> 00:53:55,266 - * A long, long time ago * 1135 00:53:55,333 --> 00:53:58,769 * I can still remember how that music * 1136 00:53:58,836 --> 00:54:01,406 * used to make me smile * 1137 00:54:01,472 --> 00:54:04,642 In '70, I was still doing double bills, 1138 00:54:04,709 --> 00:54:06,477 and I was opening for Laura Nyro. 1139 00:54:06,544 --> 00:54:07,945 After I had written the song 1140 00:54:08,012 --> 00:54:10,848 and I had all the handwritten pages and stuff, 1141 00:54:10,915 --> 00:54:14,051 I went and typed up something so I could remember it, 1142 00:54:14,118 --> 00:54:17,288 and I seem to remember that I had a little girl come 1143 00:54:17,355 --> 00:54:20,458 out of the crowd, and I gave her the lyrics to hold, 1144 00:54:20,525 --> 00:54:22,293 and I sang the song. 1145 00:54:22,360 --> 00:54:25,730 * And while Lennon read a book on Marx * 1146 00:54:25,796 --> 00:54:28,799 - The actual singing of the song got lost 1147 00:54:28,866 --> 00:54:31,702 in my memory of all these words, you know, 1148 00:54:31,769 --> 00:54:33,170 and you didn't know what the song was about, 1149 00:54:33,237 --> 00:54:35,105 you just knew it had a really snappy chorus. 1150 00:54:35,172 --> 00:54:36,807 And of course, by the end of it, 1151 00:54:36,874 --> 00:54:38,108 everyone's singing "American Pie." 1152 00:54:38,175 --> 00:54:39,344 It was great. 1153 00:54:39,410 --> 00:54:42,847 - * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 1154 00:54:42,913 --> 00:54:44,482 - What was the crowd reaction? 1155 00:54:44,549 --> 00:54:46,283 - Not much. Okay. 1156 00:54:46,351 --> 00:54:47,818 Because the song was so different, 1157 00:54:47,885 --> 00:54:49,620 they never heard anything like it. 1158 00:54:49,687 --> 00:54:52,122 * This'll be the day that I die * 1159 00:54:52,189 --> 00:54:54,058 You know, you can get immediate reaction 1160 00:54:54,124 --> 00:54:55,793 from an audience, it doesn't necessarily 1161 00:54:55,860 --> 00:54:57,194 mean the song's any good. 1162 00:54:57,261 --> 00:54:59,797 You know, this had to be made into a record. 1163 00:54:59,864 --> 00:55:02,199 * The day that I die * 1164 00:55:02,266 --> 00:55:04,402 - By the end of the song, you knew something was going on. 1165 00:55:04,469 --> 00:55:06,504 He said, you might be hearing this soon. 1166 00:55:06,571 --> 00:55:07,772 He said that from the stage, 1167 00:55:07,838 --> 00:55:09,574 and he was right. 1168 00:55:09,640 --> 00:55:13,378 [atmospheric music] 1169 00:55:13,444 --> 00:55:16,547 - One of the most talented young singer-songwriters 1170 00:55:16,614 --> 00:55:18,383 I know, his name is Don McLean, 1171 00:55:18,449 --> 00:55:20,651 and he's just written a brand-new song 1172 00:55:20,718 --> 00:55:22,620 that has got me bugged. 1173 00:55:22,687 --> 00:55:23,921 I can't get it out of my head, 1174 00:55:23,988 --> 00:55:25,856 even though I can't sing it right. 1175 00:55:25,923 --> 00:55:29,026 It's a history of rock 'n' roll in six verses, 1176 00:55:29,093 --> 00:55:31,028 and it's got a beautiful chorus. 1177 00:55:31,095 --> 00:55:32,663 Now, believe it or not, this is the first time 1178 00:55:32,730 --> 00:55:35,666 I've ever sung the song. 1179 00:55:35,733 --> 00:55:39,269 * Long, long time ago, I can still remember * 1180 00:55:39,336 --> 00:55:41,939 * How that music used to make me smile * 1181 00:55:42,006 --> 00:55:43,941 - The record label, they weren't entirely 1182 00:55:44,008 --> 00:55:47,011 secure about Don at all. 1183 00:55:47,077 --> 00:55:51,449 At one point, the head of A&R called me up and said, 1184 00:55:51,516 --> 00:55:53,017 "This guy is a no-talent." 1185 00:55:53,083 --> 00:55:54,919 Those were his exact words. 1186 00:55:54,985 --> 00:55:59,089 - * The day the music died * 1187 00:55:59,156 --> 00:56:00,324 Now, I suppose I have the drummers 1188 00:56:00,391 --> 00:56:02,527 and everybody else coming in here. 1189 00:56:02,593 --> 00:56:05,095 - We recorded in studio A 1190 00:56:05,162 --> 00:56:07,197 at the Record Plant on 48th Street. 1191 00:56:09,199 --> 00:56:11,235 - We started to work together. 1192 00:56:11,301 --> 00:56:13,303 It was a contentious relationship. 1193 00:56:15,272 --> 00:56:17,307 - We had some terrible disagreements. 1194 00:56:17,374 --> 00:56:19,944 We used to stand out in the hallway, 1195 00:56:20,010 --> 00:56:22,913 and I would start conversations with, 1196 00:56:22,980 --> 00:56:24,982 "The trouble with you is, Don..." 1197 00:56:25,049 --> 00:56:27,284 [laughs] You know? 1198 00:56:27,351 --> 00:56:28,553 - Oh, well, he didn't even want me 1199 00:56:28,619 --> 00:56:30,287 to play guitar on the record. 1200 00:56:30,354 --> 00:56:33,658 - But I did not appreciate his rhythm guitar playing, 1201 00:56:33,724 --> 00:56:35,660 and originally I wanted to replace it 1202 00:56:35,726 --> 00:56:37,462 with a studio guitarist. 1203 00:56:37,528 --> 00:56:40,765 - I said, well, I'm playing guitar on the record, okay? 1204 00:56:43,167 --> 00:56:46,403 Here I was, coming into his life as crazy as I could be. 1205 00:56:46,471 --> 00:56:48,305 He wasn't all that sane either, 1206 00:56:48,372 --> 00:56:50,174 but at the same time, he brought in wonderful 1207 00:56:50,240 --> 00:56:53,511 players and wrote some beautiful strings. 1208 00:56:53,578 --> 00:56:54,879 He was very talented. 1209 00:56:57,314 --> 00:57:00,050 And so, I was being constantly thrilled. 1210 00:57:00,117 --> 00:57:01,519 I had "Empty Chairs," 1211 00:57:01,586 --> 00:57:03,921 I had "Crossroads," I had "Winter Wood." 1212 00:57:03,988 --> 00:57:07,157 I had the album, but I didn't have the big one. 1213 00:57:07,224 --> 00:57:10,961 * Did you write the book of love? * 1214 00:57:11,028 --> 00:57:13,163 * Do you have faith in God above? * 1215 00:57:13,230 --> 00:57:15,633 - "American Pie," we put together 1216 00:57:15,700 --> 00:57:17,401 in the rehearsal studio. 1217 00:57:17,468 --> 00:57:21,872 Don was not really comfortable playing with a rhythm section. 1218 00:57:21,939 --> 00:57:24,174 What I did with Don is I got him together 1219 00:57:24,241 --> 00:57:27,411 with a couple of players who were very good, 1220 00:57:27,478 --> 00:57:30,781 but weren't hardcore studio players, 1221 00:57:30,848 --> 00:57:33,584 and we rehearsed for two weeks. 1222 00:57:33,651 --> 00:57:38,055 - * Well, I know that you're in love with him * 1223 00:57:38,122 --> 00:57:40,591 - It was just myself, Don, Freeman, 1224 00:57:40,658 --> 00:57:43,027 and I believe, the drummer, Roy Markowitz. 1225 00:57:43,093 --> 00:57:44,929 So it was just Don and a rhythm section, 1226 00:57:44,995 --> 00:57:46,230 kind of bare bones. 1227 00:57:48,633 --> 00:57:51,368 - We started rehearsals. This is a struggle. 1228 00:57:51,435 --> 00:57:54,572 In a way, "American Pie," it kept sounding like a polka, 1229 00:57:54,639 --> 00:57:55,840 and it really annoyed me. 1230 00:57:55,906 --> 00:57:58,008 I said, this is really bad. 1231 00:58:01,011 --> 00:58:02,980 The day we're recording "American Pie," 1232 00:58:03,047 --> 00:58:04,649 we still didn't have it right. 1233 00:58:04,715 --> 00:58:06,283 The groove, we don't have it. 1234 00:58:06,350 --> 00:58:08,719 To Ed Freeman's credit, he would come up 1235 00:58:08,786 --> 00:58:11,155 with things that would just save everything, 1236 00:58:11,221 --> 00:58:13,323 and he brings a young man 1237 00:58:13,390 --> 00:58:15,760 to the session named Paul Griffin. 1238 00:58:15,826 --> 00:58:17,995 - We added the electric guitar 1239 00:58:18,062 --> 00:58:21,098 and Paul Griffin on piano at the last minute. 1240 00:58:21,165 --> 00:58:23,167 I had worked with Griffin before. 1241 00:58:23,233 --> 00:58:24,935 I knew he was the right guy. 1242 00:58:25,002 --> 00:58:26,503 [piano music] 1243 00:58:26,571 --> 00:58:29,106 - Griffin had never heard the song in his life, 1244 00:58:29,173 --> 00:58:31,576 so here we are trying it for the first time. 1245 00:58:31,642 --> 00:58:35,846 * * 1246 00:58:35,913 --> 00:58:37,948 - We stumbled through a few takes. 1247 00:58:38,015 --> 00:58:39,850 Paul Griffin, he didn't really know what to do 1248 00:58:39,917 --> 00:58:41,686 with the first verse, and he was very nervous. 1249 00:58:41,752 --> 00:58:44,622 * * 1250 00:58:44,689 --> 00:58:48,993 - And they put my guitar in his earphones. 1251 00:58:49,059 --> 00:58:52,429 [guitar riffing] 1252 00:58:52,496 --> 00:58:55,966 And I hit that thing hard, and I play it loud. 1253 00:58:56,033 --> 00:58:59,570 And all of a sudden, Griffin, he starts playing this thing. 1254 00:58:59,637 --> 00:59:02,707 [lively piano] 1255 00:59:02,773 --> 00:59:05,175 He's going, "Whoa!" And he starts playing 1256 00:59:05,242 --> 00:59:07,311 the piano like a gospel stride piano. 1257 00:59:07,377 --> 00:59:10,180 * * 1258 00:59:10,247 --> 00:59:12,216 He's just rolling and rocking 1259 00:59:12,282 --> 00:59:16,086 and kicking it here and backing off there and, 1260 00:59:16,153 --> 00:59:17,755 you know, just changing everything 1261 00:59:17,822 --> 00:59:21,058 as we're moving along and building from verse to verse. 1262 00:59:23,127 --> 00:59:24,995 - Paul Griffin was the hero. 1263 00:59:25,062 --> 00:59:26,797 He was just an amazing cat. 1264 00:59:26,864 --> 00:59:28,899 Gospel, jazz, chops-- 1265 00:59:28,966 --> 00:59:30,768 just such a monster. 1266 00:59:30,835 --> 00:59:33,738 - * Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye * 1267 00:59:33,804 --> 00:59:36,641 I'm kicking his ass, you know, and he's kicking my ass, 1268 00:59:36,707 --> 00:59:38,709 and the two of us together making the drummer go 1269 00:59:38,776 --> 00:59:40,044 where he's supposed to go, 1270 00:59:40,110 --> 00:59:41,545 and everybody else falls in line. 1271 00:59:43,513 --> 00:59:46,951 - The track was just, like, so rocking, man. 1272 00:59:48,552 --> 00:59:50,087 - Well, I knew we were where we were supposed to be. 1273 00:59:50,154 --> 00:59:52,456 It felt great. It was jumping and, 1274 00:59:52,522 --> 00:59:54,024 you know, it was what I wanted. 1275 00:59:54,091 --> 00:59:57,127 * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 1276 00:59:57,194 --> 01:00:00,497 - There was that one take where it was just magic, 1277 01:00:00,564 --> 01:00:01,999 and it just happened. 1278 01:00:02,066 --> 01:00:04,434 - * Boys were drinking whiskey and rye * 1279 01:00:04,501 --> 01:00:07,137 Paul Griffin, he came in at the last moment, 1280 01:00:07,204 --> 01:00:10,675 and Hail Mary pass, saved the whole dang thing. 1281 01:00:10,741 --> 01:00:12,476 I said, that's it! 1282 01:00:14,011 --> 01:00:17,247 - When they finished, I just hit the talk back, 1283 01:00:17,314 --> 01:00:18,983 and I said, "Y'all better come in here 1284 01:00:19,049 --> 01:00:20,184 and take a listen to this." 1285 01:00:20,250 --> 01:00:21,952 And everybody was high-fiving 1286 01:00:22,019 --> 01:00:23,921 each other and dancing around. 1287 01:00:23,988 --> 01:00:26,456 It was clear to everybody, 1288 01:00:26,523 --> 01:00:29,559 we all knew it was great. 1289 01:00:29,626 --> 01:00:32,663 [dreamy music] 1290 01:00:32,730 --> 01:00:35,165 * * 1291 01:00:35,232 --> 01:00:38,669 Well, then we did the vocals. 1292 01:00:38,736 --> 01:00:41,739 - I sang the song probably about 30 times, 1293 01:00:41,806 --> 01:00:45,910 singing things that were very riffy, you know, high notes. 1294 01:00:45,976 --> 01:00:47,444 Ed didn't like that. 1295 01:00:48,946 --> 01:00:51,415 - We went to the mat about that more than once. 1296 01:00:51,481 --> 01:00:55,185 What I ended up doing is recording a lot of vocals 1297 01:00:55,252 --> 01:00:57,487 and then splicing together the parts 1298 01:00:57,554 --> 01:00:58,956 that I considered iconic. 1299 01:00:59,023 --> 01:01:00,457 But we got it, in the end. 1300 01:01:00,524 --> 01:01:04,228 - Well, finally, we got a coherent mix and vocal. 1301 01:01:04,294 --> 01:01:06,997 Everything was right, and it was very good. 1302 01:01:07,064 --> 01:01:08,365 - I think the only thing 1303 01:01:08,432 --> 01:01:10,400 that we were in agreement about, 1304 01:01:10,467 --> 01:01:13,337 is that we were both fiercely committed 1305 01:01:13,403 --> 01:01:15,773 to this song being a masterpiece. 1306 01:01:15,840 --> 01:01:17,407 We were not leaving the studio 1307 01:01:17,474 --> 01:01:20,110 until this thing was brilliant, 1308 01:01:20,177 --> 01:01:22,713 and we didn't, and it is. 1309 01:01:22,780 --> 01:01:25,750 [country music] 1310 01:01:25,816 --> 01:01:32,723 * * 1311 01:01:32,790 --> 01:01:36,894 - You have freedom to be whoever you want to be. 1312 01:01:36,961 --> 01:01:38,562 You have a right to dream in the US. 1313 01:01:38,628 --> 01:01:39,563 It's the American Dream. 1314 01:01:43,500 --> 01:01:45,870 RCA Studios is definitely one of the most 1315 01:01:45,936 --> 01:01:48,405 beautiful studios I've ever been in my entire life. 1316 01:01:48,472 --> 01:01:49,673 My second record, 1317 01:01:49,740 --> 01:01:51,541 "Different Kinds of Light," I cut here. 1318 01:01:53,778 --> 01:01:56,346 But now I've got to return and do this amazing song here. 1319 01:01:56,413 --> 01:01:59,649 * February made me shiver * 1320 01:01:59,716 --> 01:02:01,185 [indistinct] 1321 01:02:01,251 --> 01:02:02,853 "American Pie" in the UK, 1322 01:02:02,920 --> 01:02:04,621 literally everywhere at the end of a night. 1323 01:02:04,688 --> 01:02:06,190 Yeah, everyone will have a beer in hand 1324 01:02:06,256 --> 01:02:09,426 and be singing that in a comraderie way. 1325 01:02:09,493 --> 01:02:13,764 I just remember being extremely struck by that song. 1326 01:02:13,831 --> 01:02:16,700 This thing about the melody that feels completely timeless. 1327 01:02:16,767 --> 01:02:17,968 - Are you ready? - Yeah, I'll give it a go, 1328 01:02:18,035 --> 01:02:19,804 see what happens. 1329 01:02:19,870 --> 01:02:23,307 * A long, long time ago * 1330 01:02:23,373 --> 01:02:25,275 - Think it's the album cover, right? 1331 01:02:25,342 --> 01:02:27,144 I think I know the album cover 1332 01:02:27,211 --> 01:02:28,512 as much as I know the song. 1333 01:02:28,578 --> 01:02:29,646 I mean, the Captain America thumb, 1334 01:02:29,713 --> 01:02:30,647 I mean, come on. 1335 01:02:30,714 --> 01:02:31,949 It's this chord. 1336 01:02:32,016 --> 01:02:33,517 - Yeah, I think it's-- - Whatever that is. 1337 01:02:33,583 --> 01:02:36,954 Honestly, this song is terrifying to cut. 1338 01:02:37,021 --> 01:02:39,389 I woke up this morning, had a little panic attack about it. 1339 01:02:39,456 --> 01:02:41,892 I think she did too, because it's such an iconic 1340 01:02:41,959 --> 01:02:43,427 song you've heard a million times. 1341 01:02:43,493 --> 01:02:46,096 It is so ingrained in people's mind, 1342 01:02:46,163 --> 01:02:48,365 and so to even dare touch it 1343 01:02:48,432 --> 01:02:50,567 or try to reinvent it is pretty crazy. 1344 01:02:50,634 --> 01:02:56,874 - * A long, long time ago, I can still remember * 1345 01:02:56,941 --> 01:03:02,512 * How that music used to make me smile * 1346 01:03:02,579 --> 01:03:07,017 * And I knew if I had my chance * 1347 01:03:07,084 --> 01:03:10,254 It made me feel sad when I was singing the start of the song. 1348 01:03:10,320 --> 01:03:13,657 The somberness of, you know, "Bye-bye, Miss American Pie," 1349 01:03:13,723 --> 01:03:16,626 the story of that, I felt that pretty heavy today. 1350 01:03:16,693 --> 01:03:20,931 * So bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 1351 01:03:20,998 --> 01:03:23,733 * Drove my Chevy to the levee * 1352 01:03:23,800 --> 01:03:25,702 To be telling a story like Don's, 1353 01:03:25,769 --> 01:03:27,872 to be telling a story like "American Pie," 1354 01:03:27,938 --> 01:03:30,640 with Dave, with these incredible musicians, 1355 01:03:30,707 --> 01:03:32,409 and to be a part of that, I feel, like, 1356 01:03:32,476 --> 01:03:34,078 genuinely, truly honored. 1357 01:03:34,144 --> 01:03:36,680 * This'll be the day that I die * 1358 01:03:36,746 --> 01:03:38,382 It is a masterpiece. 1359 01:03:38,448 --> 01:03:39,917 There's a reason it's been around for 50 years. 1360 01:03:39,984 --> 01:03:43,487 * Oh, did you write the book of love? * 1361 01:03:43,553 --> 01:03:47,224 * And do you have faith in God above? * 1362 01:03:47,291 --> 01:03:50,594 * If the Bible tells you so? * 1363 01:03:52,129 --> 01:03:55,765 - I'm Rudy Perez, and I was born in Pinar Del Río, Cuba. 1364 01:03:55,832 --> 01:03:58,435 I remember the first time I heard "American Pie," 1365 01:03:58,502 --> 01:04:00,370 it must have been in '76. 1366 01:04:00,437 --> 01:04:03,207 It was a song that drew you in deeply. 1367 01:04:03,273 --> 01:04:06,310 - * Real slow * 1368 01:04:06,376 --> 01:04:08,645 - Everybody can relate to that song. 1369 01:04:08,712 --> 01:04:11,348 "American Pie" crossed generations 1370 01:04:11,415 --> 01:04:14,218 and is still resonating with people today. 1371 01:04:14,284 --> 01:04:17,554 - * You both kicked off your shoes * 1372 01:04:17,621 --> 01:04:21,691 * Man, I dig those rhythm and blues, oh * 1373 01:04:21,758 --> 01:04:24,794 - With the turmoil that's still going on, 1374 01:04:24,861 --> 01:04:26,931 that song is still very up-to-date. 1375 01:04:26,997 --> 01:04:28,465 I mean, it's just magical. 1376 01:04:28,532 --> 01:04:32,736 - * But I knew I was out of luck the day * 1377 01:04:32,802 --> 01:04:34,939 - When I listen to "American Pie," 1378 01:04:35,005 --> 01:04:37,874 it just reminds me of what America means to me. 1379 01:04:37,942 --> 01:04:39,509 America means freedom. 1380 01:04:39,576 --> 01:04:42,812 - * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 1381 01:04:42,879 --> 01:04:45,015 * Drove my Chevy to the levee * 1382 01:04:45,082 --> 01:04:47,617 * But the levee was dry * 1383 01:04:47,684 --> 01:04:49,653 - I think the song "American Pie" has just always 1384 01:04:49,719 --> 01:04:51,555 echoed through the United States' history. 1385 01:04:51,621 --> 01:04:53,757 It's almost like a national anthem of sorts 1386 01:04:53,823 --> 01:04:55,192 to a lot of people. 1387 01:04:55,259 --> 01:04:58,662 - * This'll be the day that I die * 1388 01:04:58,728 --> 01:05:01,565 "Newsweek" magazine came out with this big article 1389 01:05:01,631 --> 01:05:04,668 about the top ten dying cities in the United States. 1390 01:05:04,734 --> 01:05:07,371 My hometown, Grand Rapids, Michigan, was one of them, 1391 01:05:07,437 --> 01:05:08,772 and we were like, you know what, 1392 01:05:08,838 --> 01:05:11,075 we need to strike back against this. 1393 01:05:11,141 --> 01:05:14,411 - * When the jester sang for the king and queen * 1394 01:05:14,478 --> 01:05:16,380 - We were like, let's make this lip dub video 1395 01:05:16,446 --> 01:05:17,948 and just pack it full of everyone 1396 01:05:18,015 --> 01:05:20,117 with all the energy and fight back 1397 01:05:20,184 --> 01:05:21,418 and say, this is who we are. 1398 01:05:23,587 --> 01:05:26,090 The track that I chose, "American Pie," 1399 01:05:26,156 --> 01:05:29,159 it felt so full of Americana 1400 01:05:29,226 --> 01:05:31,495 and this hope for the future, 1401 01:05:31,561 --> 01:05:33,597 and it felt representative of the city 1402 01:05:33,663 --> 01:05:34,731 and what we were trying to do. 1403 01:05:34,798 --> 01:05:37,934 - * No verdict was returned * 1404 01:05:38,002 --> 01:05:42,572 - We loved it because it spoke to dark times 1405 01:05:42,639 --> 01:05:45,642 in our country's history, as well as to our hope 1406 01:05:45,709 --> 01:05:47,744 that we could change it and that we could 1407 01:05:47,811 --> 01:05:49,579 uplift ourselves to a higher place. 1408 01:05:49,646 --> 01:05:52,049 - * The music died * 1409 01:05:52,116 --> 01:05:54,551 - Grand Rapids, Michigan was "American Pie." 1410 01:05:54,618 --> 01:05:57,354 - * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 1411 01:05:57,421 --> 01:05:58,655 - All of these people singing it 1412 01:05:58,722 --> 01:06:00,524 out in the streets together, 1413 01:06:00,590 --> 01:06:02,726 they associated with that song, 1414 01:06:02,792 --> 01:06:04,728 and they knew that it meant something 1415 01:06:04,794 --> 01:06:08,098 and that it did represent what this town was about, 1416 01:06:08,165 --> 01:06:11,468 the all-American story that we still idealize, 1417 01:06:11,535 --> 01:06:13,237 that we still want to be true. 1418 01:06:13,303 --> 01:06:15,572 - * The day * 1419 01:06:15,639 --> 01:06:22,712 * The music died * 1420 01:06:24,348 --> 01:06:27,284 [funky music] 1421 01:06:27,351 --> 01:06:29,853 * * 1422 01:06:29,919 --> 01:06:32,856 - "American Pie" really hit the nail on the head. 1423 01:06:32,922 --> 01:06:34,924 The record company, they loved it 1424 01:06:34,991 --> 01:06:38,628 and sent me over to a man named George Whiteman, 1425 01:06:38,695 --> 01:06:41,131 who was a fashion photographer, 1426 01:06:41,198 --> 01:06:44,734 and he had a big studio and long-legged ladies were 1427 01:06:44,801 --> 01:06:47,137 coming in and kissing Georgie, "Oh, Georgie." 1428 01:06:47,204 --> 01:06:49,173 He says, "Hi Don, you know, I heard the record. 1429 01:06:49,239 --> 01:06:52,509 Great record. Come on inside. I'm gonna paint your thumb." 1430 01:06:54,010 --> 01:06:55,612 So he painted my thumb, 1431 01:06:55,679 --> 01:06:58,115 and then I looked down the guitar. 1432 01:06:58,182 --> 01:07:00,350 And the thing is that there are children's 1433 01:07:00,417 --> 01:07:02,752 nursery rhymes in "American Pie." 1434 01:07:02,819 --> 01:07:04,788 You know, "Jack be nimble, Jack be quick." 1435 01:07:04,854 --> 01:07:06,490 So he went one step further-- 1436 01:07:06,556 --> 01:07:08,392 "Little Jack Horner sat in the corner, 1437 01:07:08,458 --> 01:07:10,327 "eating his Christmas pie, 1438 01:07:10,394 --> 01:07:11,628 put in his thumb and pulled out a plum, 1439 01:07:11,695 --> 01:07:13,563 and said, what a good boy am I." 1440 01:07:13,630 --> 01:07:16,366 That's not in the song, but the implication is that, 1441 01:07:16,433 --> 01:07:18,335 you now, it's another nursery rhyme. 1442 01:07:18,402 --> 01:07:20,137 I said, absolutely right, perfect. 1443 01:07:20,204 --> 01:07:22,539 I would have never thought of it in 100 million years. 1444 01:07:22,606 --> 01:07:25,342 [stirring music] 1445 01:07:25,409 --> 01:07:28,245 And then, about two weeks later, we get the word 1446 01:07:28,312 --> 01:07:32,349 that United Artists is buying Media Arts Records. 1447 01:07:34,618 --> 01:07:36,920 Mainly because they love "American Pie." 1448 01:07:36,986 --> 01:07:39,156 They think it's a hit record and a hit album, 1449 01:07:39,223 --> 01:07:40,357 and they're all excited. 1450 01:07:40,424 --> 01:07:47,131 * * 1451 01:07:47,197 --> 01:07:48,932 Everything took off like a rocket. 1452 01:07:48,998 --> 01:07:51,768 * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 1453 01:07:51,835 --> 01:07:54,171 * Drove my Chevy to the levee * 1454 01:07:54,238 --> 01:07:55,805 * But the levee was dry * 1455 01:07:55,872 --> 01:07:59,776 - It went from zero to number one so fast. 1456 01:07:59,843 --> 01:08:02,912 - * This'll the day that I die * 1457 01:08:02,979 --> 01:08:05,715 * This'll be the day that I die * 1458 01:08:05,782 --> 01:08:07,684 "American Pie" blew up the world. 1459 01:08:07,751 --> 01:08:11,455 * Now, for ten years we've been on our own * 1460 01:08:11,521 --> 01:08:13,190 * And moss grows fat * 1461 01:08:13,257 --> 01:08:16,260 - The album and the single became number one, 1462 01:08:16,326 --> 01:08:19,028 and it stayed up there for weeks and weeks. 1463 01:08:20,564 --> 01:08:22,666 - It was the longest hit record 1464 01:08:22,732 --> 01:08:24,168 that had ever been released. 1465 01:08:24,234 --> 01:08:27,036 - Three minutes was the limit to any song, 1466 01:08:27,103 --> 01:08:29,539 but "American Pie" just broke that rule. 1467 01:08:29,606 --> 01:08:32,008 It was just a complete phenomenon. 1468 01:08:33,777 --> 01:08:35,545 - People heard the short version of the song 1469 01:08:35,612 --> 01:08:38,047 on the radio, and they heard the long version on the album, 1470 01:08:38,114 --> 01:08:40,417 and they called up all the radio stations and said, 1471 01:08:40,484 --> 01:08:41,651 we want to hear the whole thing 1472 01:08:41,718 --> 01:08:43,220 when you play the top 40. 1473 01:08:43,287 --> 01:08:44,954 So now they all had to make decisions, 1474 01:08:45,021 --> 01:08:46,623 do we play this one guy's song? 1475 01:08:46,690 --> 01:08:48,392 We've got to give him 8.5 minutes? 1476 01:08:48,458 --> 01:08:49,993 But they did it, played it off the album. 1477 01:08:50,059 --> 01:08:52,962 - * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 1478 01:08:53,029 --> 01:08:54,864 - There was a radio station, I remember, 1479 01:08:54,931 --> 01:08:56,766 in New York that played it over and over, 1480 01:08:56,833 --> 01:09:00,804 end to end with nothing else for eight hours in a row. 1481 01:09:00,870 --> 01:09:03,207 - * This'll be the day that I die * 1482 01:09:03,273 --> 01:09:04,508 - It was just unheard of. 1483 01:09:04,574 --> 01:09:06,643 - * This'll be the day that I die * 1484 01:09:06,710 --> 01:09:08,578 So I'm thinking, 1485 01:09:08,645 --> 01:09:11,047 this is amazing, and I'm loving it. 1486 01:09:12,649 --> 01:09:14,284 There's never been a phenomenon 1487 01:09:14,351 --> 01:09:15,485 like "American Pie." 1488 01:09:15,552 --> 01:09:16,786 I was smiled on. 1489 01:09:16,853 --> 01:09:19,189 I was as surprised as anybody 1490 01:09:19,256 --> 01:09:20,924 that I could make magic. 1491 01:09:20,990 --> 01:09:23,927 [dreamy music] 1492 01:09:23,993 --> 01:09:25,695 * * 1493 01:09:25,762 --> 01:09:27,130 - The more I listened to it, 1494 01:09:27,197 --> 01:09:30,734 I thought, wow, this is like an epic. 1495 01:09:39,343 --> 01:09:42,646 "American Pie" was really encapsulating 1496 01:09:42,712 --> 01:09:44,581 the experience of a whole generation. 1497 01:09:44,648 --> 01:09:47,083 We were witness to the death 1498 01:09:47,150 --> 01:09:49,319 of the American dream. 1499 01:09:49,386 --> 01:09:52,422 We went through both Kennedys being shot, 1500 01:09:52,489 --> 01:09:54,924 Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, 1501 01:09:54,991 --> 01:09:57,694 Vietnam, you know, hippies thought we were gonna 1502 01:09:57,761 --> 01:10:00,096 take over the world with love and peace... 1503 01:10:02,399 --> 01:10:04,668 And it didn't happen. 1504 01:10:04,734 --> 01:10:07,537 For me, "American Pie" is the eulogy 1505 01:10:07,604 --> 01:10:11,641 for a dream that didn't take place. 1506 01:10:13,109 --> 01:10:15,445 It was real important that way. 1507 01:10:15,512 --> 01:10:17,614 I think we all needed it. 1508 01:10:17,681 --> 01:10:20,484 It was an acknowledgement of what we had been through, 1509 01:10:20,550 --> 01:10:24,187 and in a way, because it was an acknowledgement, 1510 01:10:24,254 --> 01:10:25,955 we could move on. 1511 01:10:27,391 --> 01:10:30,327 [stirring music] 1512 01:10:30,394 --> 01:10:37,534 * * 1513 01:10:40,604 --> 01:10:44,841 - Here we go, Don McLean. Take two, mark. 1514 01:10:44,908 --> 01:10:46,510 - I feel like I want to talk about the actual 1515 01:10:46,576 --> 01:10:48,044 writing of the song. 1516 01:10:48,111 --> 01:10:49,546 - Okay. 1517 01:10:49,613 --> 01:10:52,616 I'm trying to do a kaleidoscopic, 1518 01:10:52,682 --> 01:10:56,520 dream-like, impressionistic, 1519 01:10:56,586 --> 01:10:58,955 yet understandable thing. 1520 01:10:59,022 --> 01:11:03,660 The first verse of the song is biographical. 1521 01:11:03,727 --> 01:11:06,029 * Long, long time ago * 1522 01:11:06,095 --> 01:11:08,498 * I can still remember how that music * 1523 01:11:08,565 --> 01:11:10,934 * Used to make me smile * 1524 01:11:11,000 --> 01:11:12,969 Buddy was like a lost brother 1525 01:11:13,036 --> 01:11:15,905 or somebody that died in the war or-- 1526 01:11:15,972 --> 01:11:19,743 there was this yearning I had in me always, 1527 01:11:19,809 --> 01:11:22,245 and I could never talk to anybody about it, 1528 01:11:22,312 --> 01:11:24,548 because it was just all in me. 1529 01:11:24,614 --> 01:11:29,152 * The day the music died * 1530 01:11:29,218 --> 01:11:31,254 So let's see now, the second verse-- 1531 01:11:31,321 --> 01:11:32,288 how's it go? 1532 01:11:32,356 --> 01:11:33,890 Do you remember? [laughs] 1533 01:11:33,957 --> 01:11:37,761 * Now do you believe in rock 'n' roll? * 1534 01:11:37,827 --> 01:11:41,998 * Can music save your mortal soul? * 1535 01:11:42,065 --> 01:11:45,335 "Can music save your mortal soul?" 1536 01:11:45,402 --> 01:11:48,304 See, that's the theology in me coming out. 1537 01:11:48,372 --> 01:11:51,307 In the church, they only talk about your immortal soul. 1538 01:11:51,375 --> 01:11:54,578 I'm saying, can music save your mortal soul, 1539 01:11:54,644 --> 01:11:57,313 as a man, now, being alive? 1540 01:11:57,381 --> 01:11:59,416 * Well, I know that you're in * 1541 01:11:59,483 --> 01:12:01,184 "Well, I know that you're in love with him 1542 01:12:01,250 --> 01:12:03,620 "'cause I saw you dancing in the gym. 1543 01:12:03,687 --> 01:12:05,889 You both kicked off your shoes." 1544 01:12:05,955 --> 01:12:07,223 * You both kicked off your shoes * 1545 01:12:07,290 --> 01:12:09,926 "Man, I dig those rhythm and blues." 1546 01:12:09,993 --> 01:12:11,595 So this is all me, little old me, 1547 01:12:11,661 --> 01:12:14,464 seeing other kids being happy 1548 01:12:14,531 --> 01:12:17,367 and hearing the music going on behind them, 1549 01:12:17,434 --> 01:12:21,971 and seeing other things happen that I wasn't a part of. 1550 01:12:22,038 --> 01:12:25,241 "Yeah, I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck." 1551 01:12:25,308 --> 01:12:28,878 Now, that's a take off on having bronchial asthma. 1552 01:12:28,945 --> 01:12:30,980 I was "bronching," but I was still a stallion, 1553 01:12:31,047 --> 01:12:32,348 you know what I mean? 1554 01:12:32,416 --> 01:12:35,485 * I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck * 1555 01:12:35,552 --> 01:12:37,387 "With a pink carnation..." 1556 01:12:37,454 --> 01:12:40,289 * And a pickup truck, but I knew I * 1557 01:12:40,356 --> 01:12:42,058 Sure, I went to a lot of proms, 1558 01:12:42,125 --> 01:12:43,893 but I never had a pickup truck, 1559 01:12:43,960 --> 01:12:46,362 but I could have anything I wanted in my songs. 1560 01:12:49,065 --> 01:12:52,268 Since my father died, I have no family. 1561 01:12:52,335 --> 01:12:54,638 You know, I have my mother, but my mother 1562 01:12:54,704 --> 01:12:56,473 and I went sort of different ways. 1563 01:12:56,540 --> 01:12:59,008 * Oh, for ten years we've been on our own * 1564 01:12:59,075 --> 01:13:00,744 That's me talking, "For ten years I've been 1565 01:13:00,810 --> 01:13:02,245 "on my own. 1566 01:13:02,311 --> 01:13:04,047 Moss grows fat on a rolling stone." 1567 01:13:04,113 --> 01:13:05,248 I think I was putting on weight. 1568 01:13:05,314 --> 01:13:06,716 I thought I was, you know, getting fat 1569 01:13:06,783 --> 01:13:08,284 and lazy and stuff. 1570 01:13:08,351 --> 01:13:11,120 * When the jester sang for the king and queen * 1571 01:13:11,187 --> 01:13:13,322 "When the jester sang for the king and queen." 1572 01:13:13,389 --> 01:13:15,659 Now, there's been this discussion 1573 01:13:15,725 --> 01:13:17,561 about the jester over and over. 1574 01:13:17,627 --> 01:13:20,897 You know, I certainly would have mentioned Dylan's name 1575 01:13:20,964 --> 01:13:22,298 if I had meant to mention him. 1576 01:13:22,365 --> 01:13:24,333 I would have said Bob or something else, 1577 01:13:24,400 --> 01:13:26,302 but I didn't, 'cause it ain't him. 1578 01:13:26,369 --> 01:13:31,007 The king, I say, "The jester stole his thorny crown." 1579 01:13:31,074 --> 01:13:33,142 I didn't mention Elvis Presley, 1580 01:13:33,209 --> 01:13:35,545 because Elvis did not have a thorny crown. 1581 01:13:35,612 --> 01:13:38,081 Jesus Christ has a thorny crown. 1582 01:13:38,147 --> 01:13:41,017 If I'd wanted to say Elvis instead of the King, 1583 01:13:41,084 --> 01:13:42,852 I would have said Elvis. 1584 01:13:42,919 --> 01:13:45,054 I say James Dean in the song. 1585 01:13:45,121 --> 01:13:49,292 So what you have is this mythology that I'm inventing 1586 01:13:49,358 --> 01:13:52,929 of this insulting, happy jester. 1587 01:13:52,996 --> 01:13:56,500 Oh, I'll just grab the king's crown off his head 1588 01:13:56,566 --> 01:13:58,301 and see if he laughs at that, 1589 01:13:58,367 --> 01:13:59,669 see if that's funny. 1590 01:13:59,736 --> 01:14:04,007 * And while Lennon read a book on Marx * 1591 01:14:04,073 --> 01:14:06,175 "And Lennon read a book on Marx." 1592 01:14:06,242 --> 01:14:09,546 Well, that applies to both John Lennon and the real Lenin. 1593 01:14:09,613 --> 01:14:11,180 [chuckles] 1594 01:14:11,247 --> 01:14:13,416 Communism radicalized John Lennon, 1595 01:14:13,483 --> 01:14:16,252 and Lenin was radicalized by Marx. 1596 01:14:18,622 --> 01:14:20,089 So now the next verse is... 1597 01:14:20,156 --> 01:14:23,259 * Helter-skelter in the summer swelter * 1598 01:14:23,326 --> 01:14:26,963 "Eight miles high" definitely came from the name of a song. 1599 01:14:27,030 --> 01:14:30,299 * Eight miles high and falling fast * 1600 01:14:30,366 --> 01:14:31,735 I thought that was a great song. 1601 01:14:31,801 --> 01:14:34,638 The "eight miles high" idea, I loved that. 1602 01:14:34,704 --> 01:14:38,708 Now, there was a song that Josh White used to sing 1603 01:14:38,775 --> 01:14:40,777 called "Bottle Up and Go." 1604 01:14:40,844 --> 01:14:44,480 * There I am in the grass * 1605 01:14:44,548 --> 01:14:46,783 * Mm-mmm a forward pass * 1606 01:14:46,850 --> 01:14:49,318 * You got to bottle up and go * 1607 01:14:49,385 --> 01:14:52,822 So that was the idea of a forward pass in the grass. 1608 01:14:52,889 --> 01:14:56,492 * The grass, the players tried for a forward pass * 1609 01:14:56,560 --> 01:14:59,763 "With a jester on the sidelines." 1610 01:14:59,829 --> 01:15:01,665 That meant, this wasn't funny anymore. 1611 01:15:01,731 --> 01:15:03,332 This wasn't funny at all. 1612 01:15:03,399 --> 01:15:06,302 * The halftime air was sweet perfume * 1613 01:15:06,369 --> 01:15:09,739 * While the sergeants played a marching tune * 1614 01:15:09,806 --> 01:15:13,209 And then the rest of the lyric is about the people trying 1615 01:15:13,276 --> 01:15:15,411 to take over, and they would be pushed back 1616 01:15:15,478 --> 01:15:19,215 by the marching band, the military-industrial complex. 1617 01:15:19,282 --> 01:15:22,451 * The marching band refused to yield * 1618 01:15:22,518 --> 01:15:24,821 I was always marching against the war in Vietnam. 1619 01:15:24,888 --> 01:15:27,957 We were constantly being pushed aside 1620 01:15:28,024 --> 01:15:31,995 in this relentless desire to destroy Southeast Asia. 1621 01:15:32,061 --> 01:15:35,098 * There we were all in one place * 1622 01:15:35,164 --> 01:15:38,301 "The generation lost in space." 1623 01:15:38,367 --> 01:15:42,672 We're out in the middle of an endless universe. 1624 01:15:42,739 --> 01:15:46,810 None of us are important except to each other, 1625 01:15:46,876 --> 01:15:48,645 and we're all lost in space, 1626 01:15:48,712 --> 01:15:52,315 because the war was hotter than it ever was before. 1627 01:15:52,381 --> 01:15:55,051 * I met a girl who sang the blues * 1628 01:15:55,118 --> 01:15:58,121 * And I asked her for some happy news * 1629 01:15:58,187 --> 01:16:00,056 "I met a girl who sang the blues, 1630 01:16:00,123 --> 01:16:01,557 I asked her for some happy news." 1631 01:16:01,625 --> 01:16:03,793 Well, you see, I'd gotten the bad news 1632 01:16:03,860 --> 01:16:05,028 in the front of the song. 1633 01:16:05,094 --> 01:16:06,896 Now I'm asking her for some happy news 1634 01:16:06,963 --> 01:16:08,765 at the end of the song. 1635 01:16:08,832 --> 01:16:12,135 * But she just smiled and turned away * 1636 01:16:12,201 --> 01:16:13,770 And you know how it is when a woman 1637 01:16:13,837 --> 01:16:17,506 or anybody smile and turn away like that? 1638 01:16:17,573 --> 01:16:20,877 She knew something, but she wasn't gonna say anything. 1639 01:16:20,944 --> 01:16:23,012 She doesn't give me good news. 1640 01:16:23,079 --> 01:16:25,715 * And I went down to the sacred store * 1641 01:16:25,782 --> 01:16:28,985 * Where I'd heard the music years before * 1642 01:16:29,052 --> 01:16:31,054 "Went down to the sacred store." 1643 01:16:31,120 --> 01:16:33,256 Now I'm going back to New Rochelle. 1644 01:16:33,322 --> 01:16:36,159 They said, "The music doesn't play anymore, Don." 1645 01:16:36,225 --> 01:16:38,327 The country was headed in the wrong direction, 1646 01:16:38,394 --> 01:16:41,564 toward an evil god of some sort, 1647 01:16:41,631 --> 01:16:43,466 and that's how the song ends. 1648 01:16:43,532 --> 01:16:45,802 * And the three men I admire most * 1649 01:16:45,869 --> 01:16:48,104 * The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost * 1650 01:16:48,171 --> 01:16:50,439 "The three men I admire most, 1651 01:16:50,506 --> 01:16:53,376 caught the last train for the coast," 1652 01:16:53,442 --> 01:16:57,446 so even God has been corrupted. 1653 01:16:57,513 --> 01:17:01,484 He's going to Los Angeles. [laughs] 1654 01:17:01,550 --> 01:17:04,453 [bombastic music] 1655 01:17:04,520 --> 01:17:10,526 * * 1656 01:17:10,593 --> 01:17:15,231 - "A long, long time ago lived a lonely newspaper boy." 1657 01:17:15,298 --> 01:17:16,632 I'm Peter Gallagher. 1658 01:17:16,700 --> 01:17:19,168 I'm an actor and singer. 1659 01:17:19,235 --> 01:17:21,671 I'm here to read an audiobook 1660 01:17:21,738 --> 01:17:23,907 all inspired by Don McLean's 1661 01:17:23,973 --> 01:17:26,209 epic, "American Pie." 1662 01:17:26,275 --> 01:17:28,845 "He never missed a porch or a sidewalk 1663 01:17:28,912 --> 01:17:30,980 with his finely crafted fling." 1664 01:17:31,047 --> 01:17:33,216 What this song and this story provides 1665 01:17:33,282 --> 01:17:35,919 all of us is the chance for us to recognize 1666 01:17:35,985 --> 01:17:39,088 what we share in terms of the past. 1667 01:17:39,155 --> 01:17:42,591 "His bike transformed into a stealthy steed." 1668 01:17:42,658 --> 01:17:44,894 It's just a whole world in there, 1669 01:17:44,961 --> 01:17:46,562 and you can hear and see in it 1670 01:17:46,629 --> 01:17:50,399 what you need to hear and see in any given moment. 1671 01:17:50,466 --> 01:17:53,970 "The newspaper boy gently picked up the guitar 1672 01:17:54,037 --> 01:17:55,805 and slung it over his shoulder." 1673 01:17:55,872 --> 01:17:58,975 I was eager to contribute to something 1674 01:17:59,042 --> 01:18:01,978 that might make people feel connected again. 1675 01:18:02,045 --> 01:18:06,615 "Something had touched him deep inside." 1676 01:18:06,682 --> 01:18:07,917 - * We started singin' * 1677 01:18:07,984 --> 01:18:10,754 * My, my, this here Anakin guy * 1678 01:18:10,820 --> 01:18:12,488 * May be Vader someday later, 1679 01:18:12,555 --> 01:18:14,257 * Now he's just a small fry * 1680 01:18:14,323 --> 01:18:17,460 Well, in 1999 when "Star Wars" was coming out 1681 01:18:17,526 --> 01:18:19,162 with the "Phantom Menace," so I knew I wanted 1682 01:18:19,228 --> 01:18:22,231 to write a song parody about "Star Wars." 1683 01:18:22,298 --> 01:18:24,700 And I flashed on the idea of using "American Pie," 1684 01:18:24,768 --> 01:18:27,003 because it's one of my all-time favorite songs. 1685 01:18:27,070 --> 01:18:29,438 * We finally got to Coruscant * 1686 01:18:29,505 --> 01:18:31,574 I think "American Pie" is eternal. 1687 01:18:31,640 --> 01:18:34,377 There's some magic baked into that song. 1688 01:18:34,443 --> 01:18:36,412 * How good the boy could be * 1689 01:18:36,479 --> 01:18:38,314 * * 1690 01:18:38,381 --> 01:18:39,983 When "The Saga Begins" came out, 1691 01:18:40,049 --> 01:18:41,985 it was a huge hit on Radio Disney, 1692 01:18:42,051 --> 01:18:43,987 so a lot of pre-teens were listening to the song. 1693 01:18:44,053 --> 01:18:45,454 They didn't know "American Pie," 1694 01:18:45,521 --> 01:18:46,589 they just thought, oh, it's a funny Weird Al 1695 01:18:46,655 --> 01:18:47,991 song about "Star Wars." 1696 01:18:48,057 --> 01:18:51,727 The following year, Madonna did a cover version 1697 01:18:51,795 --> 01:18:54,030 of "American Pie," like, kind of a disco version, 1698 01:18:54,097 --> 01:18:56,732 and all these kids were thinking, 1699 01:18:56,800 --> 01:19:00,369 how come Madonna is doing an unfunny version 1700 01:19:00,436 --> 01:19:02,671 of a Weird Al song? [laughs] 1701 01:19:02,738 --> 01:19:05,641 - [singing in Spanish] 1702 01:19:05,708 --> 01:19:12,615 * * 1703 01:19:15,351 --> 01:19:17,020 - I remember when you called me. 1704 01:19:17,086 --> 01:19:18,888 "Hey, doing the remake 1705 01:19:18,955 --> 01:19:20,723 "of 'American Pie,' 1706 01:19:20,790 --> 01:19:23,059 our version, putting Spanish in it." 1707 01:19:23,126 --> 01:19:24,828 I was like, man, are you kidding me? 1708 01:19:24,894 --> 01:19:26,762 What an honor, no-brainer. 1709 01:19:26,830 --> 01:19:29,698 - I mean, it's such a classic. - It's just so powerful. 1710 01:19:29,765 --> 01:19:33,069 [singing in Spanish] 1711 01:19:40,309 --> 01:19:42,478 - Jencarlos, he really understood 1712 01:19:42,545 --> 01:19:45,481 how to, someway, say the same story 1713 01:19:45,548 --> 01:19:47,783 of the original song, but in Spanish. 1714 01:19:50,753 --> 01:19:52,755 I knew about the song since I was like 12. 1715 01:19:52,822 --> 01:19:54,157 My dad had it. 1716 01:19:54,223 --> 01:19:56,659 It's such an impactful song. 1717 01:19:56,725 --> 01:19:59,595 - [singing in Spanish] 1718 01:19:59,662 --> 01:20:04,433 * Again, bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 1719 01:20:04,500 --> 01:20:06,269 - You know how many times growing up that song played? 1720 01:20:06,335 --> 01:20:10,406 - I've been singing this song as a fan for so many years. 1721 01:20:10,473 --> 01:20:12,241 * Them good old boys * 1722 01:20:12,308 --> 01:20:14,944 I see it as us, from our culture, 1723 01:20:15,011 --> 01:20:16,946 tipping our hats off to the original. 1724 01:20:17,013 --> 01:20:19,548 * The day that I die * 1725 01:20:19,615 --> 01:20:22,919 Still, to date, that song has transcended. 1726 01:20:22,986 --> 01:20:25,088 It's still so inspiring. 1727 01:20:25,154 --> 01:20:26,923 What a masterpiece. 1728 01:20:26,990 --> 01:20:30,626 - * And there we were all in one place * 1729 01:20:30,693 --> 01:20:34,563 * A generation lost in space * 1730 01:20:34,630 --> 01:20:36,599 When I first heard "American Pie," I said, 1731 01:20:36,665 --> 01:20:38,301 hey, what is this new record I'm listening to? 1732 01:20:38,367 --> 01:20:40,136 You know, and I listened and listened, 1733 01:20:40,203 --> 01:20:43,072 and I was so blown away because he takes you on a journey. 1734 01:20:43,139 --> 01:20:45,541 It's like, each verse is different, 1735 01:20:45,608 --> 01:20:47,143 he goes through different phases. 1736 01:20:47,210 --> 01:20:48,811 I love the melody, 1737 01:20:48,878 --> 01:20:50,746 and of course, Don's lyrics are really great. 1738 01:20:50,813 --> 01:20:53,482 * You both kicked off your shoes * 1739 01:20:53,549 --> 01:20:55,551 "We both kicked off our shoes, 1740 01:20:55,618 --> 01:20:57,586 and I dig those rhythm and blues." 1741 01:20:57,653 --> 01:21:01,724 * As the flames climbed high into the night * 1742 01:21:01,790 --> 01:21:03,859 Don, well, he's up there with the best of them. 1743 01:21:03,927 --> 01:21:06,996 He's just a very, very talented songwriter, 1744 01:21:07,063 --> 01:21:09,265 and he deserves his success. 1745 01:21:09,332 --> 01:21:10,934 Thank you. 1746 01:21:11,000 --> 01:21:12,936 [cheering] 1747 01:21:13,002 --> 01:21:16,940 all: * We were singin' "Bye-bye, Miss American Pie" * 1748 01:21:17,006 --> 01:21:18,241 - I was doing a TV show 1749 01:21:18,307 --> 01:21:19,875 called "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist," 1750 01:21:19,943 --> 01:21:21,444 and after my character dies, 1751 01:21:21,510 --> 01:21:24,047 the entire cast sing "American Pie." 1752 01:21:24,113 --> 01:21:27,316 all: * Singing, this'll be the day that I die * 1753 01:21:27,383 --> 01:21:29,418 - It was amazing to see just 1754 01:21:29,485 --> 01:21:32,421 how powerful that song is, still. 1755 01:21:32,488 --> 01:21:33,689 It really is timeless. 1756 01:21:33,756 --> 01:21:37,493 - * I met a girl who sang the blues * 1757 01:21:37,560 --> 01:21:39,162 - "Zoey's" was a show that I was 1758 01:21:39,228 --> 01:21:41,931 executive music producer for and produced a lot of songs, 1759 01:21:41,998 --> 01:21:44,867 none better or bigger than "American Pie" 1760 01:21:44,934 --> 01:21:46,169 for the finale of the season. 1761 01:21:46,235 --> 01:21:49,005 - * I went down to the sacred store * 1762 01:21:49,072 --> 01:21:50,406 * Where I'd heard the music * 1763 01:21:50,473 --> 01:21:52,475 - As a songwriter, it's the kind of song 1764 01:21:52,541 --> 01:21:54,410 you dream about writing, that has meaning 1765 01:21:54,477 --> 01:21:56,412 and has depth, has relevance, 1766 01:21:56,479 --> 01:21:58,714 and is something that continues to be relevant 1767 01:21:58,781 --> 01:22:00,916 to generations, you know, ongoing. 1768 01:22:00,984 --> 01:22:04,487 - * In the streets, the children screamed * 1769 01:22:04,553 --> 01:22:08,958 * The lovers cried and the poets dreamed * 1770 01:22:09,025 --> 01:22:10,960 "American Pie" has always been a part of my life. 1771 01:22:11,027 --> 01:22:13,262 You know, when my dad drove me to preschool, 1772 01:22:13,329 --> 01:22:14,763 we were listening to it. 1773 01:22:14,830 --> 01:22:17,033 My dad wanted me to know the history of that song, 1774 01:22:17,100 --> 01:22:18,067 because it's important. 1775 01:22:18,134 --> 01:22:20,269 It's heavy. It's meaningful. 1776 01:22:20,336 --> 01:22:23,939 * And the three men I admire the most * 1777 01:22:24,007 --> 01:22:26,742 There's a world that's created with this song 1778 01:22:26,809 --> 01:22:29,112 that is our world, but also isn't. 1779 01:22:29,178 --> 01:22:32,315 It's more tragic and it's more beautiful. 1780 01:22:32,381 --> 01:22:34,583 * The day * 1781 01:22:34,650 --> 01:22:40,289 * The music died * 1782 01:22:40,356 --> 01:22:43,292 [stirring music] 1783 01:22:43,359 --> 01:22:50,499 * * 1784 01:23:19,695 --> 01:23:22,531 - Don, my name's Jeff Nicholas. I'm president of the Surf, 1785 01:23:22,598 --> 01:23:24,700 I want to welcome you to the Surf Ballroom. 1786 01:23:24,767 --> 01:23:26,269 - Pleasure to be here. - I'd like to 1787 01:23:26,335 --> 01:23:27,370 show you the ballroom a little bit. 1788 01:23:27,436 --> 01:23:28,837 - Definitely. - Yeah. 1789 01:23:28,904 --> 01:23:31,840 So the ballroom was designed to simulate walking out 1790 01:23:31,907 --> 01:23:37,213 on the beach and dancing under the deep blue sky. 1791 01:23:37,280 --> 01:23:38,481 We kind of consider it 1792 01:23:38,547 --> 01:23:40,716 the soundstage of American music. 1793 01:23:40,783 --> 01:23:43,552 - Well, it's certainly an important place. 1794 01:23:43,619 --> 01:23:46,489 - * American boy * - * American boy * 1795 01:23:46,555 --> 01:23:50,693 - * Invented rock 'n' roll * - * Rock 'n' roll * 1796 01:23:50,759 --> 01:23:53,262 - All that stuff from the late '40s 1797 01:23:53,329 --> 01:23:55,631 right on through to the mid '60s, 1798 01:23:55,698 --> 01:23:58,634 that music is the essence of everything. 1799 01:23:58,701 --> 01:24:01,237 - * They caused a sensation * 1800 01:24:01,304 --> 01:24:04,873 - So here we are, walking on the stage of American music. 1801 01:24:04,940 --> 01:24:08,377 - * Shook up the nation * - * American boy * 1802 01:24:08,444 --> 01:24:10,713 - The original stage ended right here. 1803 01:24:10,779 --> 01:24:12,315 - So you mean Buddy would be standing here? 1804 01:24:12,381 --> 01:24:15,851 - Buddy would have stood here, Waylon would have stood here, 1805 01:24:15,918 --> 01:24:17,986 and Tommy also would have been here, 1806 01:24:18,053 --> 01:24:19,888 and you know, Carl Bunch, the drummer, 1807 01:24:19,955 --> 01:24:22,024 was still in the hospital in Green Bay 1808 01:24:22,091 --> 01:24:23,826 with frostbitten fingers and toes. 1809 01:24:23,892 --> 01:24:26,129 They mixed and matched. Buddy would play drums, 1810 01:24:26,195 --> 01:24:28,631 and Ritchie would play drums, and everybody, 1811 01:24:28,697 --> 01:24:31,667 they just figured out a way to make the show. 1812 01:24:31,734 --> 01:24:34,170 - And I've been thinking about Buddy Holly a lot. 1813 01:24:34,237 --> 01:24:36,605 When I came up with that original part of the song, 1814 01:24:36,672 --> 01:24:39,975 it came out in a sad, poignant way. 1815 01:24:40,042 --> 01:24:43,045 - When "American Pie" came on, that was the time I believed 1816 01:24:43,112 --> 01:24:45,581 that the focus started to be back on those guys. 1817 01:24:45,648 --> 01:24:48,617 - Well, I remember the song was number one, 1818 01:24:48,684 --> 01:24:51,587 and they started playing Buddy's music 1819 01:24:51,654 --> 01:24:53,088 on the radio again. 1820 01:24:53,156 --> 01:24:56,825 Buddy brought me to life, I brought Buddy to life. 1821 01:24:56,892 --> 01:24:57,926 [laughs] 1822 01:25:02,131 --> 01:25:04,167 - Oh, my goodness. 1823 01:25:04,233 --> 01:25:05,801 - How do you do? - How do you do? 1824 01:25:05,868 --> 01:25:08,937 What a pleasure and an honor, Mr. McLean. 1825 01:25:09,004 --> 01:25:11,039 Thank you. Thank you. 1826 01:25:11,106 --> 01:25:13,376 I have a little something I want to say. 1827 01:25:13,442 --> 01:25:14,610 I just want to thank you 1828 01:25:14,677 --> 01:25:17,646 for writing "The Day the Music Died." 1829 01:25:17,713 --> 01:25:23,018 You immortalized my brother, JP, and Buddy. 1830 01:25:23,085 --> 01:25:28,491 You took a terrible tragedy and made rock 'n' roll history. 1831 01:25:28,557 --> 01:25:32,161 Thank you. Thank you so much. 1832 01:25:32,228 --> 01:25:33,596 See that up there? 1833 01:25:33,662 --> 01:25:36,399 - I hardly don't know what to say. 1834 01:25:36,465 --> 01:25:37,600 - A friend of ours painted that, 1835 01:25:37,666 --> 01:25:40,169 and all around that is our family. 1836 01:25:40,236 --> 01:25:41,337 Everybody signed it. 1837 01:25:41,404 --> 01:25:42,705 - Your brother is very important, 1838 01:25:42,771 --> 01:25:44,673 more important now than ever. 1839 01:25:44,740 --> 01:25:46,842 - Ritchie was a rock 'n' roll pioneer. 1840 01:25:46,909 --> 01:25:48,076 - He was. 1841 01:25:48,143 --> 01:25:49,645 - The first time I heard your song, 1842 01:25:49,712 --> 01:25:51,046 I had to keep listening to it, 1843 01:25:51,113 --> 01:25:52,781 because I thought, "Oh, my gosh. 1844 01:25:52,848 --> 01:25:54,883 "He's singing about my brother. 1845 01:25:54,950 --> 01:25:57,853 He's singing about the-- you know, the day the music died." 1846 01:25:57,920 --> 01:26:03,125 - If the song helps people love that music the way I do 1847 01:26:03,192 --> 01:26:05,994 and the way I did, then that's something I did 1848 01:26:06,061 --> 01:26:08,464 in my life that I'm very proud of. 1849 01:26:08,531 --> 01:26:10,065 We should never forget this music. 1850 01:26:10,132 --> 01:26:12,167 - Never. - And these guys were 1851 01:26:12,235 --> 01:26:13,602 incredibly important. 1852 01:26:13,669 --> 01:26:16,339 This was brand-new at the time. 1853 01:26:16,405 --> 01:26:17,773 - Yes. 1854 01:26:17,840 --> 01:26:19,875 - Ritchie was only 17. - He was only 17. 1855 01:26:19,942 --> 01:26:21,844 - So he started working as a musician, 1856 01:26:21,910 --> 01:26:24,247 making some money, and then he bought his Fender guitar. 1857 01:26:24,313 --> 01:26:25,548 - That's--yeah, that's right. 1858 01:26:25,614 --> 01:26:26,849 - So that's when he developed 1859 01:26:26,915 --> 01:26:28,717 that great sound on that guitar. 1860 01:26:28,784 --> 01:26:30,353 - Yes. - You know, it's that sort of 1861 01:26:30,419 --> 01:26:32,621 edgy, heavy sound, you know-- 1862 01:26:32,688 --> 01:26:34,890 [imitates guitar] 1863 01:26:34,957 --> 01:26:36,692 You know, it's got that thing to it, 1864 01:26:36,759 --> 01:26:38,361 very distinctive. 1865 01:26:38,427 --> 01:26:40,929 - * Para bailar La Bamba * 1866 01:26:40,996 --> 01:26:42,931 - You know, he sang that traditional "La Bamba," 1867 01:26:42,998 --> 01:26:45,133 which he probably sang with your family. 1868 01:26:45,200 --> 01:26:46,702 - Well, he made it rock 'n' roll though. 1869 01:26:46,769 --> 01:26:48,437 - Yeah. What's it about? 1870 01:26:48,504 --> 01:26:50,806 - "Para bailar La Bamba," to dance the Bamba, 1871 01:26:50,873 --> 01:26:53,141 "Se necesito una poca de gracia," 1872 01:26:53,208 --> 01:26:54,843 we need a little grace. 1873 01:26:54,910 --> 01:26:57,346 "Poquito para ti, poquito para mi," 1874 01:26:57,413 --> 01:26:59,147 a little for you, a little for me. 1875 01:26:59,214 --> 01:27:01,650 * Una poca de gracia, para mi, para ti * 1876 01:27:01,717 --> 01:27:03,352 * Y arriba, y arriba * 1877 01:27:03,419 --> 01:27:05,321 Higher and higher. - Great. 1878 01:27:05,388 --> 01:27:07,690 - Yeah. - So it's simple lyrics, 1879 01:27:07,756 --> 01:27:09,057 but just so great. - It is, yeah. 1880 01:27:09,124 --> 01:27:11,694 - Well, thank you for coming here. 1881 01:27:11,760 --> 01:27:13,296 This is a big deal for me. 1882 01:27:13,362 --> 01:27:14,597 - Thank you so much. 1883 01:27:14,663 --> 01:27:16,365 God bless you. 1884 01:27:16,432 --> 01:27:17,966 - You take care now. - I will. 1885 01:27:18,033 --> 01:27:19,201 both: Thank you. 1886 01:27:19,268 --> 01:27:23,506 [dreamy music] 1887 01:27:23,572 --> 01:27:25,374 - My name is Nelson Crabb, 1888 01:27:25,441 --> 01:27:28,711 and I happen to be the mayor of Clear Lake, Iowa. 1889 01:27:28,777 --> 01:27:31,314 February 3rd of 1959, 1890 01:27:31,380 --> 01:27:33,882 I was a freshman at Rutgers University. 1891 01:27:33,949 --> 01:27:37,152 Going back one Sunday, when on the car radio, 1892 01:27:37,219 --> 01:27:39,755 I heard about this terrible accident 1893 01:27:39,822 --> 01:27:41,624 just north of town here. 1894 01:27:41,690 --> 01:27:43,191 The car got quiet, 1895 01:27:43,258 --> 01:27:46,362 and, you know, very, very sad time, 1896 01:27:46,429 --> 01:27:49,298 but tonight is when we celebrate the music 1897 01:27:49,365 --> 01:27:53,302 of those three gentlemen, and tonight is especially neat 1898 01:27:53,369 --> 01:27:57,005 because we have Don McLean's "American Pie" here, 1899 01:27:57,072 --> 01:27:59,608 and that's very, very neat for our community. 1900 01:27:59,675 --> 01:28:01,444 - Hey, everybody. 1901 01:28:01,510 --> 01:28:05,681 Welcome to Clear Lake, Iowa and the legendary Surf Ballroom 1902 01:28:05,748 --> 01:28:08,751 for the 2022 Winter Dance Party. 1903 01:28:08,817 --> 01:28:13,055 Please welcome America's legendary singer-songwriter, 1904 01:28:13,121 --> 01:28:18,727 the American troubadour, Don McLean! 1905 01:28:18,794 --> 01:28:24,400 [cheers and applause] 1906 01:28:24,467 --> 01:28:25,801 - Well, all right! 1907 01:28:25,868 --> 01:28:27,670 So here we are, 1908 01:28:27,736 --> 01:28:30,072 50 years since that song came out, 1909 01:28:30,138 --> 01:28:32,174 50 years. 1910 01:28:32,240 --> 01:28:33,542 It's incredible. 1911 01:28:33,609 --> 01:28:35,844 You take a time like this to call that 1912 01:28:35,911 --> 01:28:38,381 "the day the music died" from my song. 1913 01:28:38,447 --> 01:28:44,520 I am so touched, really, to be here and to sing for you. 1914 01:28:44,587 --> 01:28:47,990 [cheers and applause] 1915 01:28:48,056 --> 01:28:50,893 * Did you write the book of love? * 1916 01:28:50,959 --> 01:28:54,863 * Do you have faith in God above? * 1917 01:28:54,930 --> 01:28:59,167 * If the Bible tells you so? * 1918 01:28:59,234 --> 01:29:02,738 * Now, do you believe in rock n' roll? * 1919 01:29:02,805 --> 01:29:07,843 * Can music save your mortal soul? * 1920 01:29:07,910 --> 01:29:12,214 * Can you teach me how to dance real slow? * 1921 01:29:13,682 --> 01:29:17,052 * Well, I know that you're in love with him * 1922 01:29:17,119 --> 01:29:21,156 * 'Cause I saw you dancing in the gym * 1923 01:29:21,223 --> 01:29:24,827 * You both kicked off your shoes * 1924 01:29:24,893 --> 01:29:27,830 * I dig those rhythm and blues * 1925 01:29:27,896 --> 01:29:32,100 * I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck * 1926 01:29:32,167 --> 01:29:35,337 * With a pink carnation and a pickup truck * 1927 01:29:35,404 --> 01:29:39,374 * But I knew I was out of luck * 1928 01:29:39,442 --> 01:29:43,846 * The day the music died * 1929 01:29:43,912 --> 01:29:45,548 Come on, sing it! 1930 01:29:45,614 --> 01:29:50,218 * Started singing, "Bye-bye, Miss American Pie" * 1931 01:29:50,285 --> 01:29:52,387 * Drove my Chevy to the levee * 1932 01:29:52,455 --> 01:29:53,989 * But the levee was dry * 1933 01:29:54,056 --> 01:29:57,560 * Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye * 1934 01:29:57,626 --> 01:30:01,830 * Singing, "This'll be the day that I die" * 1935 01:30:01,897 --> 01:30:05,333 * This will be the day that I die * 1936 01:30:07,002 --> 01:30:12,875 * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 1937 01:30:12,941 --> 01:30:15,310 - I think the song "American Pie" is just one 1938 01:30:15,377 --> 01:30:18,280 of those heartfelt American classics that just 1939 01:30:18,346 --> 01:30:20,449 makes you pause and be grateful 1940 01:30:20,516 --> 01:30:22,250 for everything that you have. 1941 01:30:26,154 --> 01:30:28,323 - "American Pie," one of my favorite songs. 1942 01:30:28,390 --> 01:30:32,127 This night in 1959, the day that music died, 1943 01:30:32,194 --> 01:30:34,530 but we believe the music's still alive. 1944 01:30:34,597 --> 01:30:37,600 [orchestral cover of "American Pie"] 1945 01:30:37,666 --> 01:30:44,507 * * 1946 01:30:44,573 --> 01:30:46,141 - It's a classic song. 1947 01:30:46,208 --> 01:30:48,677 It spans the generations, everyone loves it, 1948 01:30:48,744 --> 01:30:51,013 and it just will live on forever. 1949 01:31:04,459 --> 01:31:07,763 all: * Bye-bye, Miss American Pie * 1950 01:31:07,830 --> 01:31:09,732 * Drove my Chevy to the levee * 1951 01:31:09,798 --> 01:31:11,366 * But the levee was dry * 1952 01:31:11,433 --> 01:31:15,037 * Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye * 1953 01:31:15,103 --> 01:31:18,240 * Singing, "This'll be the day that I die" * 1954 01:31:18,306 --> 01:31:22,511 * This will be the day that I die * 1955 01:31:24,112 --> 01:31:26,782 - * Helter skelter in the summer swelter * 1956 01:31:26,849 --> 01:31:30,953 * The birds flew off with a fallout shelter * 1957 01:31:31,019 --> 01:31:36,024 * Eight miles high and falling fast * 1958 01:31:36,091 --> 01:31:38,994 * It landed foul on the grass * 1959 01:31:39,061 --> 01:31:42,164 * the players tried for a forward pass * 1960 01:31:42,230 --> 01:31:48,270 * With the jester on the sidelines in a cast * 1961 01:31:48,336 --> 01:31:52,107 - * Now the halftime air was sweet perfume * 1962 01:31:52,174 --> 01:31:55,844 * While the sergeants played a marching tune * 1963 01:31:55,911 --> 01:31:58,480 * We all got up to dance * 1964 01:31:58,547 --> 01:32:02,084 * Oh, but we never got the chance * 1965 01:32:02,150 --> 01:32:05,954 * 'Cause the players tried to take the field * 1966 01:32:06,021 --> 01:32:09,391 * The marching band refused to yield * 1967 01:32:09,457 --> 01:32:12,561 * Do you recall what was revealed * 1968 01:32:12,628 --> 01:32:18,266 * The day the music died? * 1969 01:32:18,333 --> 01:32:22,671 - * We started singing, "Bye-bye, Miss American Pie" * 1970 01:32:22,738 --> 01:32:27,175 * Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry * 1971 01:32:27,242 --> 01:32:30,545 * Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye * 1972 01:32:30,613 --> 01:32:34,883 * Singing, "This'll be the day that I die" * 1973 01:32:34,950 --> 01:32:38,253 * This'll be the day that I die * 1974 01:32:39,622 --> 01:32:44,059 - * Oh, and there we were all in one place * 1975 01:32:44,126 --> 01:32:47,295 * A generation lost in space * 1976 01:32:47,362 --> 01:32:50,899 * With no time left to start again * 1977 01:32:52,334 --> 01:32:56,138 * So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick * 1978 01:32:56,204 --> 01:32:59,274 * Jack Flash sat on a candlestick * 1979 01:32:59,341 --> 01:33:06,314 * 'Cause fire is the devil's only friend * 1980 01:33:06,381 --> 01:33:09,785 - * Oh, and as I watched him on the stage * 1981 01:33:09,852 --> 01:33:13,856 * My hands were clenched in fists of rage * 1982 01:33:13,922 --> 01:33:16,725 * No angel born in hell * 1983 01:33:16,792 --> 01:33:20,195 * Could break that Satan's spell * 1984 01:33:20,262 --> 01:33:24,466 * As the flames climbed high into the night * 1985 01:33:24,532 --> 01:33:27,235 * To light the sacrificial rite * 1986 01:33:27,302 --> 01:33:30,973 * I saw Satan laughing with delight * 1987 01:33:31,039 --> 01:33:36,679 * The day the music died * 1988 01:33:36,745 --> 01:33:41,049 * He was singing, "Bye-bye, Miss American Pie" * 1989 01:33:41,116 --> 01:33:44,953 * Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry * 1990 01:33:45,020 --> 01:33:48,290 * Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye * 1991 01:33:48,356 --> 01:33:52,527 * Singing, "This'll be the day that I die" * 1992 01:33:52,594 --> 01:33:56,564 * This'll be the day that I die *